these are my suggested changes:
The aim of this investigation is to illustrate
how, in comparison to women, men’s sensitivity to stereotyping keeps them from seeking medical treatment. To illustrate this idea, consider the recent article “Stereotypes keep depressed men from care” (2006). The article states
that stereotypes such as “real men don’t need help” tend to shy depressed men away from medical treatment. To avoid one’s masculinity
being questioned, men tend to “act out by anger, rage, self-medicate, and risky behavior” when they’re depressed
(“Stereotypes keep depressed men from care” (2006)
). The stereotypical “real men don’t need help” image may make some men
deny their depression and may make it more difficult for
them to identify symptoms of depression.
According to a research study that was conducted, of all depressed adults over the age of 60, men have a higher
suicide rate compared to women (Hinton, Zweifach, Oishi, Tang, & Unützer, 2006). The results were “rate of completed suicide among American men aged 65 and older is nearly 32 per 100,000, compared with about four per 100,000 for women in the same age group,” (Hinton, et al., 2006). This may be the result of men
's tendencies to react differently to depression than women. As quoted in the article, “Stereotypes keep depressed men from care” (2006), “men less often express common symptoms of depression, such as depressed mood or sadness, and may actively try to conceal or mask their depression, whereas women tend to be more open about their depressed mood.”
One explanation for this illustration may be how we perceive gender roles of men and women in society. Stereotypes often dictate what genders should and shouldn’t do
, and sometimes become
conflicted if someone breaches that stereotypical role. (Jones, 2002). Another explanation is
that men are often expected to hold their feelings in
, and to deal with the problems on their own
, rather than
seek help.
By comparison, women are expected to seek attention
, if they experience the need for help (Jones, 2002).
A few insights were learned from this investigation. First, older men are sensitive to stereotypical roles and often hold in
their feelings
, for fear their masculinity may be questioned. Second, depressed elderly men who hold in their feelings
, are less likely to seek help, and are at
a higher risk of committing suicide than those who do seek help. Third, stereotypical gender roles do have an impact
, by keeping depressed men from seeking medical care. In conclusion, the investigation indicates
that there is a correlation between men not seeking help and gender stereotypes.
Society needs to be willing to accept men who do choose to seek help. By shedding the old patterns for new ones, and encouraging men to reach out for help, we will set standards by which both men and women can be equally served best. References
Hinton, Ladson., Zweifach, Mark., Oishi, Sabine., Tang, Lingqi., Unützer, Jürgen. (2006, October). Gender Disparities in the Treatment of Late-Life Depression: Qualitative and Quantitative Findings From the IMPACT Trial. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14: 884-892.
Jones, Melinda. (2002). Social psychology of prejudice (pp. 36-37, 90, 100). New Jersey: Pearson Education
Stereotypes keep depressed men from care. (2006, October). Reuters Health-Yahoo. Retrieved October 9, 2006, from
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061003/hl_nm/depressed_men... **********************************************************
I hope this helps you. Please note that these are just my suggestions- The changes I have made, I marked in
bold. I have made some adjustments to the punctuation as well, and those are hard to see, even in bold.
It sounds like a great paper, and I wish you all the luck with it!! Please let us know how it goes for you!!
:hi: