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Bipolar Disorder Essay

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There are many factors that influence the treatment outcomes of individuals experiencing bipolar disorder. Demographic variables such as gender, socioeconomic status, and ex-offender status may have an impact on an individual’s overall perspective towards mental health, thus affecting the willingness to seek treatment and overall outcomes. Recent research examined the relationship between gender differences and counseling outcomes and found both genders responded positively to psychotherapy (Watson & Nathan, 2008). Specifically, Watson & Nathan (2008) found no differences in gender on treatment outcomes between individual and group cognitive behavioral therapy amongst depressed clients. Men and women presented with symptoms of depression …show more content…

In respect to males, adherence to masculine norms may strongly influence their willingness to address mental health concerns (Berger, Addis, Green, Mackowiak, & Goldberg, 2013). Generally speaking, men are socialized to adhere to certain behavioral characteristics such as being stoic and being portrayed as invulnerable, therefore they may be less inclined to seek help to deliberately avoid labels of diagnoses (Berger, Addis, Green, Mackowiak, & Goldberg, 2013). Additionally, Berger, Addis, Green, Mackowiak, & Goldberg (2013) found that overall, men had ambivalent attitudes towards seeking help and were found to be strongly opposed to using medication to treat their mental health condition. A plausible explanation could be that medication was perceived as a threat to their sense of autonomous coping (Berger, Addis, Green, Mackowiak, & Goldberg, 2013). In contrast, psychotherapy was not correlated with adherence to masculine norms and was the treatment method men were the most accepting of (Berger, Addis, Green, Mackowiak, & Goldberg, 2013). Psychotherapy could be an effective treatment for men because they are able to feel a sense of independence while relying on their coping skills (Berger, Addis, Green, Mackowiak, & Goldberg, 2013). It is promising to have data suggesting that although perceptions of mental health treatment may differ between

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