Depression is a significant problem among college men. This qualitative study examines the interplay between masculinities and depression among Canadian-based college men who self-identified or were formally diagnosed with depression. The resulting three themes – mind matters, stalled intimacy and lethargic discontent – reveal the recursive relationships between masculinities and depression whereby depression quashed men’s aspirations for embodying masculine ideals, with depression potentially triggered by self-doubt and concerns about harbouring a faulty masculinity. Key findings include participants’ juxtaposing their private negative self-talk with attempts to pass as self-assured in public; anxieties about neediness and vulnerability negating their efforts to initiate or maintain an intimate relationship; and ruptured ideologies about a mind–body dualism whereby severe depression negatively impacted physical wellbeing.
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