The Effect Of Gender Role Socialisation On People’s Behaviour Towards Mental Illnesses

Attitudes surrounding mental illness cannot be considered in isolation from the context of gender role socialisation. Male gender role conflict and the resulting fear of femininity have both been closely linked to the stigmatisation that underlies societal attitudes towards mental health issues. Because traditional masculine gender roles emphasise self-reliance, emotional restrictiveness and power, those suffering from mental illnesses fear of stigmatisation from society. The stigma can be categorised into two: substantiated stigma that comes from negative attitudes towards mental health, and an internal, perceived self-stigma.

Attitudes towards Mental Health

As mentioned briefly in chapter 4b on the fear of femininity, restrictive gender role norms can manifest into an extreme where rigid gender roles and behaviours are reinforced onto others, sometimes subconsciously. Male gender role conflict and the correlated fear of femininity has been linked to the stigmatisation that underline our perceptions towards depression, especially in men. Simplified, it is the association between “mental weakness” and “femininity”. Individuals may punish and devalue those who deviate from traditional gender roles and behaviours due to the values instilled in them in their upbringing. Men can unwittingly deny others rights to emotional expressiveness by proclaiming outbursts of emotional expressions as feminine. It has become an erroneous association that any display of emotion is a lack of control, and thus, a liability. Public stigma becomes prevalent when men who exclusively commit to the rigid masculine gender role discredit or punish other men who deviate from these traditional traits.

In this sense, it can be viewed that gender role conflict manifests itself into stigmatisation. However, it has also been claimed that it is that stigma that propagates the social pressure for all men to adhere to the masculine stereotype. The two arguments hold, demonstrating how gender role conflict and stigmatisation are linked in a vicious cycle whereby stigma has encouraged men to disassociate themselves from mental illness perpetuating gender role conflict, and conforming to the male gender role involves devaluing the ‘feminine’ characteristics of depression stigmatising the mental illness. The differing experiences and attitudes towards depression between genders is explored from multiple perspectives in Out of Sight, Out of Mind. The animation opens with an open conversation between Stephanie and Meghan about Stephanie’s depression. The flow of support between the two are of stark contrast to the way John informs Dan of Paul’s leave of absence. The gendered nature of attitudes is further portrayed in John’s extension of sympathy towards Stephanie when he checks in on how she is feeling.

Self-Stigma

Self-stigma occurs when individuals are aware about the stereotypes and internalise them. It occurs when a discrepancy between the real self, and an idealised self exists. In the context of gender role socialisation, it is an individual’s personal feelings and beliefs and values that may conflict with the culturally accepted behaviours for their gender. This is relevant to depression, as it is fundamentally incompatible with masculinity. Masculinity practices competence and achievement while depression is accompanied by powerlessness and lack of control. Masculinity requires men to be tough and self-reliant, whereas depression leaves people feeling weak and vulnerable. When considering how antithetical mental health instability is with being a man, it is easy to understand why self-stigma is especially prevalent and damaging to men with depression.

The difficulty in self-disclosure and processing their own feelings can cause hostile feelings directed internally, causing self-hatred and self-sabotage to spiral further. Thus depression is intolerable for men as it makes them feel like women. Men share a common belief that other men will be unsympathetic if they discuss emotional problems, viewing them as weak, unable to cope and a potential subject of ridicule. These feelings are internalised and can be summed up in a quote from a Ted Talk on masculinity: “I either had to reject embodying any of these qualities, or face rejection myself”. The fear of stigmatisation by others causes a conflict between an individual’s true feelings, and how they are expected to behave. It is self-stigma that increases Dan’s mental distress. Not only does it prevent him from discussing his depression and potentially seeking professional help, but it places him in a position to take on more stressors by agreeing to help out with Paul’s work.

Male Experience of Depression

The two concepts of gender role conflict and stigmatisation are the two main influencers on how men experience depression. The three patterns of behaviour

a) power and control,

b) avoidance of vulnerability, and

c) emotional disconnection all instigate mental health problems and exacerbate the condition.

It can also explain why men are misrepresented in statistics regarding its prevalence and thus why minimal research exists on the male experience of depression.

Power and Control

The reason why men are misrepresented in mental health statistics can be attributed to stigmatisation. In the stereotype of men as tireless, invincible, and with superhuman limits, men are pressured to overachieve in all aspects of their lives causing great physical and mental strain. But they are also socialised to ignore any symptoms that may be a deterrent to continue as a workhorse. With the pressure to overachieve in all aspects of their lives, health care becomes neglected. However, to maintain the façade of control, men must deny their physical problems to escape the feminine label. Ultimately, it is the need for power and control that causes men to overwhelm themselves, producing emotional and physical problems. The second component of power and control in the experience of depression, is the inability to then seek professional help for the strain caused. Adherence to the traditional male role is antithetical to seeking help as it involves giving up power to a therapist, conflicting with male socialisation regarding control. When a man is weak or sick, he must admit his dependence and vulnerability in front of others. Consequently, men may deny their problems to prevent guilt for not measuring up to their male role. The reluctance of men reporting the traditional depressive symptoms that are at odds with societal ideas of masculinity causes depression in men to be underdiagnosed and under-researched. In Out of Sight, Out of Mind, this ripple effect is embodied in Dan’s boss John, who whether intentionally or not, enforces the masculine ideals of emotional stoicism and strength, by belittling Paul’s leave of absence to tend to his mental health. John places further pressure on Dan by demanding him to ‘step up’ and effectively become Paul’s successor.

Self-Destruction and other Responsive Behaviours

As mentioned previously, the fear of stigma causes men to hide their mental state, presenting as a barrier to accessing health services. Studies have found consistently that men are less willing than women to seek professional help for psychological problems. In general, men rely on denial of their mental state as it misaligns with that they should feel as a man. Consequently, rather than expressing sadness, men experiencing emotional pain are more likely to react with anger, self-destructive behaviour or numbing of pain with substance use, gambling, and workaholism. These behaviours can be classified as a method of coping through avoidance. The use of distraction allows them to forget their problems rather than reflecting or solving, allowing their mental health issues to persist in the background. As they persist, men may resort to sedative substances such as alcohol and drugs in attempt to escape reality as they are shamed into hiding their pain. The resulting compulsive and antisocial behaviour increases interpersonal conflict. Along with higher anxiety and decreased social intimacy the consequences of their reluctance to surrender control create a self-destructive path towards depression.

Emotional Disconnection

Aside from neglecting health, the power play between men introduces a new aspect in the experience of depression: a reduction in meaningful connection. The difference between the experiences of depression in men and female boils down to the previously discussed gender roles. Men continuously seek power and control and see it to be taken from others. In seeking power and control, men are pitted against each other, especially in the workplace. Where women are able to share their feelings and seek comfort in one another, men feel they must put down one another to get ahead resulting in dysfunctional personal relations. The consequences are two-fold. Not only does it restrict their ability to create meaningful connections instead causing isolation, it also prevents their ability to express themselves receive support. These factors may be attributed to the inability to share true feelings, and as a result, limits their ability to connect to others on an emotional level to form reciprocal relationships. These facets of the male experience of depression are explored in the relationship between Dan and Paul and that of Stephanie and Meghan. While Stephanie is able to confide in Meghan and receive reassurance, Dan denies an opportunity to defend Paul despite going through the same thing. The fear of being seen or associated with a “weak” male competitor prevents Dan from forming a possible meaningful and supportive connection with Paul. The fear of being vulnerable with a male “alpha” further becomes a great barrier in Dan’s ability to seek help.

Subjective Experience of Depression

Subjective experiences are difficult to describe, let alone portray visually. They evolve from emotional responses that are specific to internal events relevant to self-regulated feelings and desires. As such, the perception of any one event is not only unique to each individual, but is also not open to public observation and verification. This section will discuss the challenges with understanding, and representing subjective experiences.

Problems with Subjective Experiences

Very little attention and information exists on subjective experiences. There are two main reasons for the lack of research into subjectivity: emotional experiences are often unpleasant topics, and subjectivity often contradicts rationality. Traditional methodologies limit emotion to behavioural expressions, resulting in an unbalanced emphasis on outward displays of emotion. Emotions are treated separately from human cognition rather than as part of a person’s stream of experience. When emotions are further removed from their social context, it misleadingly implies subjectivity reflects only a personal response to a unique situation. It is evident how this method of thinking is flawed when considering the male experience of depression. Without the context of male gender role conflict and the restriction of behaviour and expressions, male depression, from a physical, viewable standpoint, does not exist. It can be argued that the male experience of depression may have historically been misconstrued as a consequence of men restricting their behaviour and expression leading to inaccurate research findings. A discrepancy exists where researchers who write about their own emotions risk being seen as impartial and unprofessional, but at the same time emotional lived experiences cannot be studied ‘scientifically’. Depression has been conceptualised as a clinical problem, contained within an individual.

Consequently, there is little consideration of what those experiences mean to them. Brett Smith wrote that by relying on traditional logical-scientific modes of knowing, the very nature of how humans think and experience is ignored. The current scientific approach society takes to men's experiences of depression depersonalises and takes away the relatability of the experience. It has further been suggested that the difficulty in articulating subjective experiences has contributed to the misunderstanding surrounding mental illness and is another factor towards its stigma. The aim of the animation is to overcome this flawed approach. Instead, it will represent the subjective component to allow greater connection. Out of Sight, Out of Minds aims to portray depression through emotions. ‘Depression’ will be personified in Out of Sight, Out of Mind, as a simplified blur of dark purple matter. These exist within the character’s mind as a direct representation of their mental state and negative emotions and thoughts with their size and density. Depression, itself, becomes an embodied experience.

Engaging with Lived Experiences

Personal stories remind us that emotions aren’t the exclusive properties of subjects. Instead, they are someone’s experience of thoughts and feelings. Subjective processes are experienced in the lived body and has an integral role in the evolution of self-image. It plays a large part in sense of self, which plays a role in mental health, and subsequently a role in the experience of depression. Simply portraying a man’s experience of depression from a third person’s perspective won’t communicate anything any ordinary interaction with someone suffering from depression doesn’t. It is only through sharing the streams of thoughts of depression, that the subjective, lived experience of depression can potentially be understood. Psychology studies that involved interviews and personal accounts by those who suffered from depression became more relevant in informing the experiential aspect of depression. Through this research, two components of the male experience were identified: the public act of strength, and inner turmoil. The imagery of inner turmoil was informed through narrative of his experiences of depression that evoked vivid scenes of twisting vortexes, overwhelming suffocation and images of drowning, darkness and sorrow giving the illness a visual physicality. The described inner voices telling them to “pull yourself together” and “just get on with life” because men don't “go and see anyone about these ‘soft’ and ‘wimpy’ things” gives further credence to the turbulence experienced.

Excerpts of interviews were also included where men expressed with vivid imagery their feelings of isolation and imprisonment. Feelings of isolation can be felt through the use of metaphors of “being in a glass tube where you can see everybody but can't reach them”, “rotting in the depths of hell”, of “darkness and torment”, and of being imprisoned in a hole with no light. Abstract ideas are best illustrated through metaphors. They allow us to express concepts and link the abstract with that is already known. One concept of losing contact with one’s self is richly described in the quote “something in me has become inhuman”, demonstrating how the mental disorder has the potential to unhinge one’s experience of self. Similar descriptions demonstrate how the mental disorder has the potential to unhinge one’s experience of self. Ted talks offered an additional perspective as the nuanced emotions behind the story being told are realised visually. These gave greater understanding to the emotions of shame and struggle through the insecurities surrounding stigma. Justin Baldoni spoke about the paralysing fear of judgement, of being seen as weak and losing standing as a leader which has caused him to put on a show of strength when he felt weak, confidence, when he felt insecure, and toughness when he was hurting. Connor Beaton described the "man mask" that he puts on - one that doesn't openly express emotions unless its anger and aggression. These ideas shaped the manner in which Dan interacts with his boss and colleagues in spite of how he's feeling inside. Ultimately, these personalised stories share the emotions of loneliness and sadness and also creates understanding for the thought processes behind it. A greater understanding behind the reasons that shape and contribute to these feelings can thus be garnered. These ideas informed the motivations and character development in Out of Sight, Out of Mind. By personifying depression into an embodied murky “mind-fuzz” (Figure. 1), the audience will be able to gain insight into the thought processes behind the actions as characters interact with each other and events unfold. Thus, Out of Sight, Out of Mind will portray the experiences from the perspective of the thoughts and feelings to ground the lived subjective experience from within.

Conclusion

There is a clear relationship between gender role socialisation and how it influences people’s behaviour towards mental illnesses. Considering the problematic masculine stereotypes are a product of upbringing within a heavily gender stereotype-influenced society, rather than maliciousness, creating more awareness around the negative repercussions of gender role socialisation and the correlated stigma may ignite a shift in thinking. Informed by the findings patterns of power and control, its relationship with emotional disconnection and avoidance, the animation will identify the damaging nature of gender role socialisation. The problems identified with the current clinical approach towards the topic guided the empathetic direction and personified portrayal of the subjective experience of depression. Out of Sight, Out of Mind hopes to bring greater awareness to the toxicity with how depression is currently perceived, and how stigma may be exacerbating the symptoms and problems associated with mental illnesses.