Nearly 20 and 70 percent of Canadians suffering some form of mental illness rarely approach medical help , and this tendency is more common among men,according to a recent study published in the Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research.

In Canada, less than 10 percent of the population utilizes mental health services for problems ranging from depression to schizophrenia. But this number isn't representative of the real number of people suffering from mental illness, according study author Aline Drapeau, a researcher at the Université de Montréal's Department of Psychiatry and Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin of the Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital.

According to data from the Statistics Canada Canadian Community Health Survey, women are 1.5 times more likely than men to turn to psychiatric services, twice as likely to consult a psychologist and 2.5 times more likely to turn to a general practitioner.

While these numbers might suggest that more women suffer from mental illness, Drapeau disagrees. "In comparable circumstances, women consult more often than men," she says. The discrepancy, says Drapeau, shows how men and women do not perceive symptoms in the same way as programmed in their social anchorages.

"Social anchorages is an enculturation mechanism by which a person learns his or her social roles," says Drapeau. "Men and women don't always have the same cultural reference points because socially acceptable attitudes and behaviors can vary for both sexes."