Boys receive more diagnoses than girls, but as adults the trend reverses. For what ? Because men are less likely to seek help, even if their distress is real. The DD Mélissa Généreux demonstrated this this week during a videoconference at the opening of the 10e National meeting on men’s health and well-being. Overview in figures and reflection.
A positive affect, but…
Pandemic, loneliness, hyperconnectivity, division, inflation, housing crisis: “times are tough”, summarized the DD Mélissa Généreux, and men react on average differently from women to stress and adversity. They focus more on the problem, and less on their emotions. They are more likely than women to present a positive state of mind, but they are also more likely to respond by using and exhibiting aggressive behavior.
Upon entering school
From the moment they enter school, the gap between boys and girls is obvious, particularly in the social and emotional sphere. 17% of boys in kindergarten are classified as vulnerable in terms of emotional maturity, compared to 6% of girls. Boys are also more vulnerable than girls in terms of social skills, cognitive and language development, communication skills and physical health and well-being.
Source: Survey on child development in kindergarten, Institute of Statistics of Quebec, 2023
More diagnoses…and concerns
Throughout primary and secondary education, more boys than girls have an “HDAA” classification – disability, learning difficulties or adaptation difficulties. For example, at the beginning of primary school, boys are twice as likely as girls to have adjustment difficulties (ADHD, oppositional disorder, etc.). When parents are surveyed, they are more concerned about the future of their boys than the future of their girls.
Anxiety, dark thoughts, alcohol
During adolescence, many more young girls report anxiety, depression and dark thoughts, but the gap narrows or disappears in early adulthood, according to a survey of 17,000 Quebecers aged 12 to 25, in 2023, by the D teamD Generous. “Over time, boys tend to be more likely to report excessive alcohol consumption,” adds Dr.D Généreux, professor at the University of Sherbrooke.
No more distress… from 50 years old
“Is it true to say that young women or older women suffer more, present more psychological distress than men? The answer is yes… but not that much,” continues the DD Mélissa Généreux. 12% of Quebec men aged 18 to 34 consider their mental health fair to poor, compared to 15% of women of the same age. From the age of 50, more men than women have a negative perception of their mental health (11% of men aged 50 to 64, compared to 7% of women).
Source: Canadian Community Health Survey, 2022
Fewer requests for help
And here’s the striking graph: even if men are aware of their distress, from the age of 15, they systematically receive fewer diagnoses than women. In short, as soon as they are no longer under the responsibility of their parents, the trend reverses. “To receive a medical diagnosis, you must have asked for help,” recalls the DD Generous. Quebec men are also approximately half as likely as women to use antidepressants.
3 times
It is a well-known sad reality: although men make fewer suicide attempts than women, their suicide rate is three times higher than that of women. Men are also sadly well represented in Quebec’s overdose statistics (67%), overdose deaths (75%) and visible homelessness (66%).
Sources: INSPQ (2024) and MSSS (2023)
Domestic violence
To study the impacts of the pandemic, Mélissa Généreux’s team surveyed 8,000 Quebec men and women in relationships, in 2021, and four questions related to domestic violence experienced at the time of the survey. 20% of male respondents said they were victims of some form of violence, compared to 18% of women. “Violence exercised by men against women is more dangerous in terms of severity, consequences, recurrence, underlying motivation for control,” the researcher emphasizes. […] The discomfort suffered by men who experience violence must not be forgotten or dismissed. »
Taboo
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The DD Melissa Généreux
Are our systems sufficiently adapted to the needs of men – not just in adulthood, but from childhood? Is there still a taboo? Do I sound anti-feminist by saying this? These are questions that we ask ourselves, and perhaps we don’t talk about it enough, or we trivialize it. […] It’s a backdrop that we begin to accept, without really noticing it anymore.
The DD Melissa Généreux
Of construction
Director of the Montreal Men’s Resource Center, social worker Éric Couto proposed possible solutions: increase the number of models of men capable of expressing their vulnerability, offer services to men and those who help them, and take care little boys, who are taught competition and domination very early on. “It is quite well documented that we will console young boys less than little girls,” underlines Mr. Couto, according to whom this “deconstruction work” must be carried out collectively.