Jake Gallagher
Doctor of Clinical Psychology, (Clinical Psychology)
Study Completed: 2021
College of Humanities & Social Sciences
Citation
Thesis Title
THAT FANTASY THAT YOU CAN DEAL WITH EVERYTHING YOURSELF AND MOVE MOUNTAINS’, AN EXAMINATION OF MEN’S BELIEFS AND MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Read article at Massey Research Online: 
Young men have poor rates of mental health related help-seeking, which results in negative health outcomes. There are many barriers to help-seeking in men; however, one barrier that has been shown to affect likelihood to seek help and that has not been well researched is attitudes towards services. Mr Gallagher investigated the beliefs and attitudes of young men who have never used services, and also investigated how services are discussed in New Zealand news media. He found that young men preferred to fix their own problems, were concerned about becoming reliant on medication, and tended to base their beliefs about services on what they had seen on television and movies. The news media tended to portray mental health services as having long wait lists, lacking funding, and attempting to deal with a mental health crisis. However, the news media also presented hopeful stories of recovery from mental illness.
Supervisors
Associate Professor Keith Tuffin
Associate Professor Clifford Van Ommen