“I Don’t Think I Have Depression, but Just a Bad Self-Esteem and Self-Worth”: Accounts of Men’s Experiences of Depression in Online Interactions.

Across the world, depression rates are consistently lower for men compared to women, while suicide rates are higher, especially for middle-aged and elderly men. Evidence suggests that culturally dominant standards of masculinity restrict emotional expressiveness in men and render help-seeking unmasculine. This masculine norm of emotional restraint encourages some men to act out their emotional pain by adopting practices that are damaging to themselves and others. Researchers have suggested that the role of masculinity ideologies in the stoicism of men with depression deserves further exploration. In response to this call, the present study sought to explore how depression in men is constructed in online forums. Data were collected from five asynchronous discussion forums and one YouTube video and associated commentaries. Data were analysed using constructivist grounded theory. Findings show that the online interactions of men with depression often demonstrated stoic practices, which were underpinned by adherence to regressive masculinity norms (which uphold rigid gender performances and perpetuate gender inequality). Additionally, some men’s stoicism was supported through the subordination of female partners. Finally, younger forum users often expressed anti-stoic messages and took a more critical approach to conventional gender norms, often speaking out for the value of humanity and equality over gendered dominance and power.