A Qualitative Study to Explore Young British Pakistani Men’s Experiences of Help-Seeking When Distressed

This qualitative study explores young second-generation British Pakistani men’s experiences of help-seeking when distressed. This group experiences high rates of mental health distress and are less likely to utilise mental health services compared to the white majority. However, there is a gap in understanding their experiences, especially the second-generation who face increased distress due to navigating contrasting value systems of their heritage and western cultures. Moreover, the extant research has predominantly focused on their views regarding professional psychological support and hence, there is a gap in understanding how they cope with their distress. This study aims to explore help-seeking more broadly, including why they do not seek professional support and how they seek support to gain an understanding of their overall experiences of help-seeking. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven British Pakistani men aged from 18 to 24, who had experienced emotional distress and never sought professional psychological support. The interviews were analysed using the methodological approach Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The analysis resulted in three group experiential themes: Veiled distress, External help-seeking vs. self-reliance, and Coping strategies. Each of these consisted of three or four sub-themes.

The findings highlight the significant role that cultural factors, including stigma and masculine identity play in influencing help-seeking behaviours. The findings reveal new insights into how these individuals conceal their distress, and how they are unable to seek informal or formal support ultimately dealing with their distress alone. Another key novel finding was participants’ internal struggle and ambivalence towards seeking external support, thus providing insight into the complexities of their help-seeking experiences. Participants employed practical coping methods, including physical exercise and problem-solving, with some relying on religious faith. These strategies reinforced their belief in self-reliance.

These findings contribute to the limited literature on this community, helping us understand their help-seeking experiences within their unique socio-cultural contexts. The findings from the study offer suggestions for service providers and clinical practitioners to adapt their services to become more accessible to this group and offer tailored gender and culturally sensitive interventions. Future avenues for research are recommended in order to deepen our understanding of how these men speak about their distress. This may help health care providers to better understand how they express distress, helping with early identification and intervention, potentially preventing more severe mental health problems.