A Manly Way to Seek Therapy

Men in the United States commit suicide at a rate four times higher than women, despite the fact that women are more likely to have suicidal thoughts. Suicide researchers call this the “gender paradox,” and traditional prevention efforts have struggled to overcome it. Now, online mental-health services are attempting to bridge this gap by specifically targeting and tailoring their efforts to men.

Why are men more likely to kill themselves? Because they tend to be unwilling to acknowledge mental-health problems or to seek support. A number of academic studies have found that traditional gender roles often impose negative attitudes towards expressing emotion on men, making them less likely to exhibit “weakness,” or ask for help, lest their male identity be