Open AccessMapping Men’s Mental Health Help-Seeking After an Intimate Partner Relationship Break-Up
Author(s) -
John L. Oliffe,
Mary Kelly,
Gabriela Gonzalez Montaner,
Zac E. Seidler,
David Kealy,
John S. Ogrodniczuk,
Simon Rice
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
qualitative health research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.303
H-Index - 113
eISSN - 1552-7557
pISSN - 1049-7323
DOI - 10.1177/10497323221110974
Subject(s) - mental health , psychology , promotion (chess) , help seeking , health promotion , social psychology , nursing , psychiatry , medicine , public health , politics , political science , law
Deleterious effects of separation and divorce on men's mental health are well-documented; however, little is known about their help-seeking when adjusting to these all-too-common life transitions. Employing interpretive descriptive methods, interviews with 47 men exploring their mental health help-seeking after a relationship break-up were analyzed in deriving three themes: (1) Solitary work and tapping established connections, (2) Reaching out to make new connections, and (3) Engaging professional mental health care. Men relying on solitary work and established connections accessed relationship-focused self-help books, online resources, and confided in friends and/or family. Some participants supplemented solitary work by reaching out to make new connections including peer-based men's groups and education and social activities. Comprising first-time, returning, and continuing users, many men responded to relationship break-up crises by engaging professional mental health care. The findings challenge longstanding commentaries that men actively avoid mental health promotion by illuminating wide-ranging help resources.