"It Feels a Bit Like Imposter Syndrome": Examining the Issue of Masculinity and Depression in Male College Students

This research seeks to examine the intersectional relationship between depression and identity development of male students at a liberal arts institution. The present study focused on the statistics of male students attending the university counseling center alongside multiple conversations with three counselors who help depressed male students and two students whose personal accounts detailed the interaction between their depression and male gender identity. The findings suggest male students’ depression may be rooted in the incongruence between students’ self-perceived identity and the culturally-demanding narratives of male behaviors and thought patterns. Students detailed their experience navigating shame, loneliness, comparison, and their hesitancy to share struggles with depression to peers. Campus climate for the university provided inconclusive results, dictating historic rises and falls within the percentage of male students who experience depression or are likely to see a counselor. The impacts of depression and male identity development on male students’ willingness to see a counselor were also examined.