“And Who Set That System Up?” Laura Brown’s Feminist Therapy Theory as an Approach to Reducing Suicide Rates in Men

Abstract

The mental health field routinely fails to support men’s mental health and lacks adequate research to understand how to effectively treat people assigned male at birth. Symptoms of depression, specifically rates of suicide, in men are higher than their female counterparts; while depression itself is dignosed more in women. Feminist therapy aims to understand the structure of the partriarchy and it’s impact on those oppressed by it. Dr. Laura S. Brown (2018) describes a model of Feminist Therapy Theory that discusses the role of the patriarchy within different demographics. This paper agrees that women are not the only population affected by the patriarchy, and using Dr. Brown’s framework, explains how feminist therapy theory can be beneficial to men in to reduce the disparity betweeen sexes and improve efficacy in treating thoughts of suicide and suicidal tendencies as a result of depression in men.