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The stigma of men's mental illness has been described as having wide-reaching and profound consequences beyond the condition[s] itself. Stigma negatively impacts men's mental health help-seeking and the use of services amid impeding disclosures, diminishing social connection and amplifying economic hardship. Although men often face barriers to discussing their struggles with, and help-seeking for mental illness challenges, research focused on men's lived experiences of mental illness stigma is, at best, emergent. This scoping review explores men's mental illness related stigmas synthesizing and discussing the findings drawn from 21 published qualitative articles over the last 10 years. Four thematic findings were derived: (a) the weight of societal stigma, (b) stigma in male-dominated environments, (c) inequity driven stigmas, and (d) de-stigmatizing strategies. Despite evidence that stigma is a common experience for men experiencing diverse mental illness challenges, the field remains underdeveloped. Based on the scoping review findings, research gaps and opportunities for advancing the field are discussed.

Background: Self-determination involves autonomy, agency, choice and control. This study investigated how these aspects of self-determination relate to engaging people with intellectual disability and complex support needs in setting goals and making plans. Method: Body mapping was used to understand the planning experiences of 30 adults with intellectual disability and complex support needs. Each participant created two body maps using a guided group-based process. Visual and text data were thematically analysed and a framework for planning engagement developed. Results: The framework identifies the centrality of having a well-developed sense of self which includes insight, motivation and agency, and which is shaped by contextual barriers and facilitators and influenced by helpful and unhelpful support. Conclusions: A well-developed sense of self and ability to harness resources and people is fundamental to the ability of individuals with intellectual disability and complex support needs articulating goals, identifying aspirations, and attaining valued outcomes.

Background: Planners will engage with people with cognitive disability and complex support needs in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme, but the specific skills needed to build sustainable plans with this group are not yet known. Method: A qualitative study was conducted to explore the barriers and facilitators to planning with people with cognitive disability and complex support needs. Focus groups were held with 99 planning practitioners across metropolitan and regional locations in New South Wales, Australia. Results: Thematic analysis showed planners need to build a partnership based on mutual trust and respect with a person with complex support needs and harness a range of skills to respond to individual support needs, learning capacity, systemic hurdles and life challenges. Conclusions: Planner skills can be used to address barriers to planning for people with cognitive disability and complex support needs. Gaining skills took professional support and personal commitment.

Men's mental health has remained undertheorized, particularly in terms of the gendered nature of men's social relations. While the importance of social connections and strong supportive networks for improving mental health and well-being is well documented, we know little about men's social support networks or how men go about seeking or mobilizing social support. An in-depth understanding of the gendered nature of men's social connections and the ways in which the interplay between masculinity and men's social connections can impact men's mental health is needed. Fifteen life history interviews were undertaken with men in the community. A theoretical framework of gender relations was used to analyze the men's interviews. The findings provide rich insights into men's diverse patterns of practice in regards to seeking or mobilizing social support. While some men differentiated between their social connections with men and women, others experienced difficulties in mobilizing support from existing connections. Some men maintained a desire to be independent, rejecting the need for social support, whereas others established support networks from which they could actively seek support. Overall, the findings suggest that patterns of social connectedness among men are diverse, challenging the social science literature that frames all men's social relationships as being largely instrumental, and men as less able and less interested than women in building emotional and supportive relationships with others. The implications of these findings for promoting men's social connectedness and mental health are discussed.