November 19 is International Men's Day, a day to celebrate men and focus on issues specific to men, including their physical, mental, and sexual well-being. On average, cis-gender men in the United States die five years earlier than their cis-gender female counterparts. According to Harvard Health, there are multiple reasons for this:

Hannah Farrimond, a sociology researcher based in the U.K., describes this avoidance of medical help as a way for men to feel more masculine and in control. In a 2012 study, she reports that her subjects felt as though not seeking out help from anyone else was their way of acting responsibly and maintaining their masculinity. By taking matters into their own hands instead of relying on a medical professional, they feel stronger and more capable.

It is often very difficult for men to pull down the facade of strength and masculinity when dealing with their physical health, but things really compound when we talk about men’s mental and sexual health. An extensive 2018 literature review of 49 studies, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, addressed the nexus between erectile dysfunction (ED) and depression in men. The findings suggested that men with ED are significantly more likely to experience depressive symptoms than those without ED. While the review found this link, it remains unclear which is the cause and which is the effect.

From a behavioral model perspective, the authors state that “patients with depression tend to engage in negative thought and are less confident, which results in performance anxiety that further reduces erectile function.” On the other hand, the “biological model postulates that depression affects the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis, leading to excess catecholamine production, which in turn leads to poor cavernosal muscle relaxation and ED.”

In clinical practice,........

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