Part 3—Gender Specific Therapy and Androtherapy
In Part 1, I answered the questions, “Men and mental health, what are we missing?” Part 2 focused on how “mental health crises put everyone at risk”. In Part 3, I will explore my own journey addressing the unique issues men face and how the emerging field of Gender-Specific Medicine and Men’s Health is key to the future of healthcare.
I have become an expert in the field of Gender Specific Therapy and Men’s Mental Health due, in large part, to the fact that my interest began over 80 years ago. Before my much-anticipated birth, my parents were convinced I was going to be a girl and had picked out girls’ names as well as a variety of girls’ cuddly dolls that were popular in 1943, the year I was born. It took my parents several days to accept the reality of my small penis and agree on a name for their new baby boy.
At the age of three I announced that I no longer wanted to wear my white “baby shoes” and announced that I wanted a change. My mother took me to the shoe store for my first pair of “big-boy shoes.” After searching the store I found my shoes and jumped for joy when my eyes landed on a pair of red Keds. The salesman measured my feet and returned with a box which he carefully opened and took out a beautiful pair of blue shoes. I was upset and did not understand the logic of his cheerful explanation. “Blue is for boys” he told us smiling at my mother. “Red is for girls and we wouldn’t want our little man to step on the wrong foot… laughs, laughs.”
Bless her heart, my mother was not amused and told the clerk in no uncertain terms to give her son what he asked for and I danced out of the store wearing my beautiful red Keds. I’ve been thinking since I was a boy and I liked the color red, back then red was obviously boyish.
When I grew up and married and our son, Cemal, was born on November 21, 1969, and our daughter, Angela, on March 22, 1972, my wife and I promised that we would not try to pigeonhole our children into society. holes or gendered boxes of what boys and girls should do and be. However, like most parents, it soon became apparent that each of our children was unique and different, and that there were clearly some differences that seemed gendered beyond the obvious reality that a penis was part of Jemal’s anatomy and part of Angela’s body cavity.
After receiving a Master of Social Work degree (and later a PhD in International Health), I began to specialize in working with men and their families. My first book, Inside Out: Becoming My Own Man was issued in 1983 and followed Looking for love in all the wrong places, and The Warrior’s Journey Home: Healing Men, Healing the Planet.
My work achieved international success with its publication Male menopause in 1997. After working with many middle-aged men and their wives, it became clear to me that men also went through a biologically based “life change” that had many similarities and differences from what women experienced. The book was translated into fourteen foreign languages, and I spent the next seven years speaking around the world and offering trainings for professional work on midlife and aging.
In 2002, I met Marianne Legato, MD, after the publication of her book, Eve’s Rib: The New Science of Gender-Specific Medicine and How It Can Save Your Life.
“Until now, we have acted as if men and women were essentially identical except for differences in their reproductive function.”
Doctor Legato said.
“In fact, the information we’ve been collecting over the past ten years tells us that this is far from true, and that wherever we look, the two sexes are initially and unexpectedly different not only in their normal functioning but also in the way they experience . disease.”
The need for gender-based health care is gaining increased support. According to David C. Page, MD, professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
“There are 10 trillion cells in the human body, and each of them is sex-specific. We had a unisex vision of the human genome, but men and women are not equal in our genome, and men and women are not equal in the face of disease.”
Dr. Page summarizes the significance of his research.
“We need to create a better toolkit for XX and XY informed researchers than our current gender attitudes. We need a toolkit that recognizes the fundamental difference at the cellular, organ, system and individual level between XY and XX. I believe that if we do this, we will arrive at a fundamentally new paradigm for understanding and treating human disease.”
Man Therapy: The Future of Gender-Specific Health Care for Men
Although research on gender-based medicine was intended to be for both men and women, Dr. Legato acknowledges that men’s health has been neglected. In a recent interview she told me that gender-specific medicine is not just about women’s health, but the health of both sexes, funding for our initial research came from companies focused on new health products and services for women. women.
In an article, “Heal, Heal Yourself,” Dr. Legato told me candidly,
“My doctor father demonstrated many of the biological and social dangers of being male. My mother outlived him by a decade, mourning his absence every day. The premature death of men is the most important – and neglected – health issue of our time.”
I first heard about Man Therapy’s work when I met its founder and creator, Joe Conrad, in November 2021. I was impressed with the creative ways Man Therapy tackled serious issues like male-type depression and suicide prevention . I invited Joe to join a new venture I called Moonshot for Humanity and Humanity. Joe’s team helped us create one website and introductory video.
The purpose of Moonshot for Mankind is to bring together organizations and individuals who are doing positive and important work to help improve men’s mental, emotional and relational health. Man Therapy is one of the best I have seen as it has proven effective in preventing suicide and engaging men in improving their lives.
“What started as a suicide prevention campaign has turned into a men’s mental health campaign, where the goal is to support all men before they ever get into crisis,” says Conrad. “We’re reminding men that taking care of their mental health is the most manly thing a man can do, that treatment comes in many forms, and connecting men and their loved ones with information, tools and resources. Our goals remain to overcome stigma, increase help-seeking behavior and reduce suicide among working-age men.”
In 2022, I interviewed Joe Conrad and wrote an article, “Men’s Therapy: Why Gender-Based Health Care Is Good for Men, Women, and the World.” Joe told me,
“Man Therapy started in 2010 and has had over 1.5 million website hits. Visitors have completed 400,000 ‘head inspections’ and 40,000 judgment line clicks have been made.’
That was impressive enough, but I also learned that the program had been evaluated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study shows that men who access Man Therapy, a digital mental health intervention, experience a decrease in depression and suicidal ideation, a decrease in poor mental health days, and an increase in help-seeking behavior. In addition, the study shows that men in the Man Therapy control group reported statistically significantly improved rates of engaging in formal help-seeking behaviors through tools such as online treatment-finding systems, making or following mental health treatment appointments, or attending a professionally guided support group.
The Man Therapy community and provider directory: You can join now
When I started working in the field of gender therapy and men’s health, there was a huge need for services, but very few professionals focused on the unique health issues that men face. The need continues to grow, but now there are many more health care providers. For the first time, Man Therapy is creating a Man Therapist directory.
Joe Conrad says,
“The Man Therapy team is excited to announce that their own Man Therapist Provider Directory is officially live. Knowing that men face unique mental health challenges, our goal in building this tool is to create a first-of-its-kind network of therapists and providers who are uniquely qualified and passionate about working with men.”
He goes on to say,
“By signing up to our Provider Directory, you can leverage Man Therapy’s thousands of unique visits to the site every day to market your services directly to men who are actively seeking help. This listing includes your headshot or logo, a brief description of your services, and a link directly to your personal website for more information about working with you.”
I was excited to join and signed up immediately. You can see my entry here. Joe’s long-term goal, which I’m excited to support, is to make Man Therapy the world’s leading mental health brand. If you are a mental health professional or know someone who is, you may want to learn more about Man Therapy.
“Man Therapy officially invites you to be one of the first to join our growing network.”
says Joe Conrad.
“Please click this link and follow the instructions to submit your application. Once you’ve reached the checkout section, enter this discount code – mtlaunch50 – to receive 50% off an annual subscription to our network as a thank you for all you do to support men.”
This is a wonderful opportunity to get in on the ground floor and join this community of healers and those seeking to improve their own health. Stay tuned for more articles that will explore additional topics related to the importance of men’s mental health. If you don’t already receive my free weekly newsletter, you can sign up here.
