“Jag har känt mig nedstämd under en längre period, på grund av att jaginte har känt mig som en riktig man” -En kvalitativ studie om maskulinitetsnormer och psykisk ohälsa

Sammanfattning: This study aims to investigate how young men experience the norms of masculinity in societywith a special focus on mental illness. Previous research in the field clarifies that there aremasculinity norms in society that men are expected to relate to. Consequences that can occurfrom masculinity norms are a stigmatization of men's mental illness, which can lead to menrefraining from seeking care. Research also shows that men who do not seek care for theirmental illness can develop self-harming behavior. This is a qualitative study with a resultbased on six semi-structured interviews with young men aged 18 to 25. The empiricalmaterial from the qualitative interviews has been analyzed on the basis of a theoreticalframework containing social constructivist perspectives on masculinity, hegemonicmasculinity and homosociality. The results show that young men experience that masculinitynorms affect the jargon between men and that the norms also affect how young men perceivethe difference between what is manly and unmanly. Young men also experience that there areexpectations regarding how they should behave.The results of the study also show that youngmen experience that men and women feel equally bad, but due to the stigma that men have todeal with, they refrain from seeking care for their mental illness. Finally, when men feel thatthey do not live up to the norms of masculinity, it leads to a feeling of exclusion. When theyinstead try to live up to the norms, they become someone they do not identify as.