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You Can’t Fix Your Mental Health With Duct Tape.
The opinions in this blog do not necessarily reflect the opinions or thoughts of Men’s Health Network. This blog was contributed by Man Therapy®
By: Trip Starkey, VP of Partnerships, Man Therapy®, Dr. Jodi J. Frey, Professor and Associate Dean for Research, University of Maryland School of Social Work, Amanda Mosby, Program Manager, University of Maryland School of Social Work, and Erika Shook, Public Relations Specialist, University of Maryland School of Social Work
In his 2020 book, Upstream, Dan Heath set out to explore the importance of reimagining system-level interventions that are designed to support individuals upstream of crisis.
In the book’s introduction, he writes, “When you spend years responding to problems, you can sometimes overlook the fact that you could be preventing them . . . Upstream efforts are broader, slower, and hazier – but when they work, they really work. They can accomplish massive and long-lasting good.”
By his estimation, if we could shift our efforts to focus more on prevention of problems, rather than reaction to them, society could more effectively and efficiently address problems at their root instead of constantly trying to address symptoms of a problem. Not only would this ideological shift ensure more people are better equipped to help themselves, access support, and lead healthier, more-fulfilling lives, it would also help break the cycle of always responding to crises which increases the burden on already-taxed systems of care.
Starting In 2012, our team brought a similar mindset to one increasingly challenging, yet vital area of need: men’s mental health. Through a collaborative partnership between the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver-based marketing agency, Cactus, and Grit Digital Health, a team of clinicians, suicidologists, public health workers, technologists, and marketing experts set out to build a creative approach that took rising rates of suicide and increasing mental health concerns among working-aged men head on.
The result of that collaborative effort was the first mental health campaign designed to show men that addressing their mental health is the manliest thing a man can do – Man Therapy®. Our foundational research revealed that, while many men have addressable mental health needs, a large percentage of them are hesitant, or even resistant, to seeking help. This barrier to help-seeking results in negative downstream consequences, like an increase in suicide deaths and more acute mental health crises. It also highlights a gap in messaging and resources that are designed for men, effectively resonate with them, and encourage them to take action.
Man Therapy’s core belief is that, when it comes to mental health, the best defense is a good offense, and, with a little effort and elbow grease, we can build tools that provide mental health education and support for men upstream of crisis. In this article, we’ll explore why it was essential to build a male-centric mental health tool, the importance of continuing to smash stigma around men’s mental health, and the future of Man Therapy as a vital public health tool.
1. Bridging the Gap: A Manly Approach to Mental Health
The conversation around the importance of supporting men has taken on new life in recent years, and many individuals and organizations are now dedicating their efforts to solving the problem of “what to do about men.” However, this has not always been the case, and many men still deal with the lingering support gap caused by a lack of tools and programming that meet their unique needs. In the United States, statistics around men’s mental health highlight this:
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SAMSHA data shows that over 24.6 million men experience a mental health condition, yet many men often choose to not seek help for their mental health due to stigma.
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The CDC reports that, while males make up 50% of the population in the United States, they account for ~80% of suicide deaths and are ~4x more likely to die by suicide than women.
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The National Institute of Health notes that 1 in 5 adults live with a mental health condition, but only 40% of adult men seek help for their mental health.
On top of the data highlighting this men’s mental health crisis, we are also up against a negatively labeled view of masculinity that reinforces how men should be strong and stoic, bury their emotions, and keep a stiff upper lip. While this “cowboy up” mentality can be argued to drive outcomes like resilience and fortitude, when harnessed in the wrong way, it can lead to a damaging view of one’s mental and emotional health that leaves many men feeling isolated in their struggles. Not to mention, it reiterates the false notion that seeking help, and relying on community for support, is a weakness, not a strength. What is increasingly obvious to many now is that men are struggling in a unique way, and to effectively address these struggles, an equally bold and unique solution is needed.
When we started work on Man Therapy, the men we interviewed provided feedback that the best way to connect with them was to talk to them the way they talked to each other. So, we built a tool that leaned into humor to subvert those same masculine tropes that often prevent men from reaching out for help. In doing so, we were able to get men to do something about their mental health. In a recent interview, our Founder – Joe Conrad – put it this way, “Oftentimes when men want to deflect a topic or a tension, they use humor. And so we’re using that same technique to get them to drop their defenses, lean in a little bit, and be open to thinking about mental health in a whole new way.”
In short, Man Therapy’s “big idea” is that using humor and male stereotypes – with a fictional therapist named Dr. Rich Mahogany, and taglines like “It’s a physical for your feelings, but you get to keep your pants on” – is an effective way to bridge the support gap and deliver on our three main goals:
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Smash through mental health stigma
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Get men thinking differently to take action with their mental health
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Reduce suicide in our communities
From the onset, our objective has been to build a framework of support that resonates with men across lived experiences, is readily accessible, and helps connect men to actionable resources that ensure they have the tools necessary to support themselves, no matter what curveballs life throws their way.
2. Smashing the Stigma & Supporting Men Upstream
While Man Therapy has helped move the needle on overcoming many help-seeking challenges for men – ManTherapy.org has over two million visitors, we’ve had over 500,000 completed Head Inspections, and we’ve connected hundreds of thousands of men with mental health resources – we are also keenly aware that the challenges around men’s mental health persist.
In their 2025 report on The State of American Men, the Equimundo:
Center for Masculinities and Social Justice shows the different ways that many men continue to struggle in silence:
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86% of men believe the top trait related to being a man is “being a provider”
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Men who face financial instability are 16x more likely to have suicidal thoughts.
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71% of men believe they can have their reputation destroyed if they speak their mind.
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65% of men believe that “no one really cares if men are okay.”
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53% of men believe that “no one really knows” them
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48% of men believe that it is better if they hide parts of themselves.
Couple these statistics with increasing tensions caused by conflicting ideological viewpoints on how a man “should” be, and we are left with many men feeling like they lack a clear path forward to get help. This lack of places for men to connect with care, and each other, allows the harmful stigma to persist, and it also creates a void in being able to effectively connect men to the care they need prior to finding themselves in a crisis.
The challenge in addressing stigma and the negative perception of masculinity is offering a life raft to men in a way that does not come across as belittling or talking down to them. The Man Therapy perspective is that mental health isn’t taboo, shouldn’t be ignored, and with the right messaging and tools, we can smash through the stigma to build men up in their daily lives.
How we can break stigma, and actually support men, is by catching them upstream with tools that resonate and help them navigate what they’re experiencing. Fundamental to this is helping men understand that mental health does not exist in a vacuum. Emotional health, physical health, spiritual health, relational health all plays a role in one’s ability to care for themself and cultivate a healthy lifestyle.
A key part of this psychoeducation for Man Therapy comes through our Gentlemental Health resources on topics like anger, anxiety, depression, and more. As it goes, you cannot address a thing you don’t understand, and so building out educational resources for men can help them learn about what they’re going through, look for warning signs, create actionable plans to address those things, and will ultimately help them build a healthier mindset and view of themselves. It’s a no-B.S. approach to mental health aimed at driving action and helping men thrive.
3. Looking to the Future of Man Therapy®
Finally, as any craftsman knows, a tool is only as good as the one who uses it. What makes Man Therapy successful, and ultimately able to deliver real-world change for men, are our partners and users who leverage the campaign for support. Man Therapy began as a grassroots effort to reduce suicide and improve mental health for men at the local level, and it has grown an international audience because of its unique ability to resonate with men and plug into public health initiatives.
In 2021, the results of a four-year, $1.2 million CDC-funded study showed that Man Therapy, as well as broader public health initiatives targeting men, are successful in engaging men wherever and whenever they might need help in online screening and referrals to resources with online programs such as Man Therapy. This research, led by Dr. Jodi J. Frey and her team at University of Maryland, School of Social Work through her Center for Behavioral Health and Well-Being Research (BHWell) found that men in the study who used Man Therapy reported less depression and suicidal ideation over a three-month time period, reduced stigma toward mental health, and increased intentions to seek treatment.
In fact, men who used Man Therapy, when compared with the comparison group in the study who only received online depression and suicide screening with resources, were statistically more likely to engage in formal help-seeking behaviors in the three-month time period after using Man Therapy. This included actions such as making an appointment with a mental health counselor, talking to their primary care doctor about depression and suicide, and participating in a professional online support group. Following this seminal study of Man Therapy, Dr. Frey’s research in Michigan and Ohio continues to support positive outcomes from Man Therapy, demonstrating that the online program is not only reaching men at greatest risk, but helping them improve their mental health and well-being.
In addition to mental health outcomes described above, our team works closely with community organizations within the two states to support a state-wide public health campaign for men’s suicide prevention, centered around the use of Man Therapy. To date, we have over 750 community partners in Michigan, and in just 1.5 years of launching the more recent campaign in Ohio, we have 362 community partners. These partners use Man Therapy as a tool in their broader work to prevent suicide, and they are also able to access county-level data within a few days from the research team to help drive their prevention efforts, in addition to demonstrating outcomes of engagement and use of the 988 Crisis Line within their counties.
The impact of community-research partnerships like the ones between Man Therapy, Dr. Frey and her team, and leaders within Michigan and Ohio cannot be overstated. In Ohio, our funder and lead partner is the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation. In the short time that the research and community partners have been working together, they have seen significant impacts in reaching men at risk for suicide across Ohio. As a result of our partners’ efforts to share Man Therapy information and promotional materials, the Man Therapy website saw nearly 80,000 unique users, and over 1.2 million page visits, with users spending an average of over two minutes per session (which is above industry standards). The 18-Point Head Inspection (Man Therapy’s online risk assessment) also proved highly engaging, with 62% of all website visitors completing the online assessment. Importantly, over 3,200 resources were accessed, and 462 crisis actions were taken while on the Man Therapy website — underscoring the platform’s role in connecting men to critical mental health support.
Our 13-year history of partnering to address the systemic challenges and unique barriers that discourage men from seeking care have taught us that supporting men’s mental health is a team sport and men should not feel that they must go at their problems alone. Our team remains committed to ensuring that men across lived experiences have a safe, confidential place to turn to pop the hood on their mental health, while also supporting our broader communities with a turnkey solution that shows addressing mental health is the manliest thing a man can do.
As a wise, mustachioed therapist once said, “You can’t fix your mental health with duct tape.”
While the bootstrap mentality can go a long way, it has a ceiling. Now, more than ever, men need a place to turn to learn about, and address, life’s challenges. So, when you need a pork shoulder to cry on, there’s Man Therapy. It’s therapy, the way a man does it.
