Keeping this within the narrow limits of what can be discussed, in essence counselors IMO are there not for the individual but for the state to identify, and control thru medications, and in a worst removal of rights and incarcerating, the individual who doesn't fit in with society. Some medications prescribed make the situation worse, not better.
And you seemingly grew up in a normal time where strong gender norms existed, and presumably men had good paying hard work jobs while not competing against women in the workplace. Nations with strong gender rolls tend to have low depression and suicide rates. Gender norms are critical for society to function correctly. In the US, since the destruction of gender norms and along with it the normal family unit, suicide rates have increased 35%, since 1999 and accelerating since 2006. In spite of the broader acceptance of women being men and men being women. In spite of the advent of a myriad of new drugs, and the broader acceptance of counselors. There have been several major changes in the last 20 years. 1) Institutionalized emasculating of men and destruction of gender roles and family units, where men are replaced by the state, 2) Exporting or automating of blue collar and white collar jobs, mostly held by men, under NAFTA and TAFTA, gutting the male earners of the middle class, while white collar jobs were taken by women. 3) Global war on terror and secondary impacts that disproportionately harmed men, & 4) Social media and internet dating has radically harmed men.
In men, sadness and depression stems from loss of masculinity due to tectonic societal shifts where machines, exporting careers overseas, or women have taken their breadwinning jobs, and the state has replaced the dad who is no longer the head of the household. And men for 20+ years have been told we are expendable, replaceable, and useless. (True, men of prior generations have always had a level of expendability, such as wars, but men were respected and deemed very valuable in the labor force, unlike today.) It also stems from the myriad of micro and macro economic and global events far too political for this forum, but all lead to a level of male powerlessness. And it stems from a significant amount of PTS and death, disproportionately shouldered by men in the last 2 decades of fighting unsuccessful wars. Whereas men have been emasculated, belittled, and pushed down, women have been largely propped up by society, and aided in social media. Men have suffered significantly, social media has made men feel very isolated romantically, and social media is generally very toxic for men. Men suffer a suicide rate of 4x that of women, so naturally I think men are overall having a much harder time in the last couple decades.
That's my general assessment.
