National biographer finds women are twice as likely as men to discuss and document their stories of struggle and strength 

Times of change: StoryTerrace finds a third of the population feel writing about their mental health experiences has enabled them to heal and overcome. Interestingly, spiking to 49% of Gen Z 

StoryTerrace, the US’ leading biography-writing service, reveals the stigma felt by American men 

StoryTerrace is the US’ leading national biographer. A service that partners thousands of ordinary Americans with biography writers nationwide, documenting some of the most astounding life stories from the very ordinary people that build this country. The accounts vary from emotional accounts of overcoming loss and disaster to epic love stories and history defining feats. 

Amidst a nation shrouded in a mental health crisis, StoryTerrace, has revealed through thousands of real-life stories that men are only half as likely as women to openly share their personal struggles. Just 37.9% of men’s books that are written via the service are focussed on overcoming personal adversity, in comparison to 62.1% for women. As it stands, nearly one in five U.S. adults currently live with a mental illness, and half who have a mental illness (nearly 27 million people) are battling without treatment.

Whilst a stigma can sadly still exist for women talking openly about their mental health too, research suggests that men appear to feel this more acutely, and as a result are also less likely to seek out help. Society has come on leaps and bounds in recent years in relation to breaking down the stigma, yet there is considerable progress still to be made. StoryTerrace has commissioned enlightening further research which suggests that significant change might not be so far away. The data found that 28% of the public stated they want to share their difficult experiences so others facing the same issues would feel more accepted and understood. Crucially, this percentage was identical for both men and women. 

There are several activities or techniques that have been evidenced to help improve our mental health and general wellbeing. Rutger Bruining, CEO/Founder of StoryTerrace has seen first-hand how thousands of people have positively transformed their mental health by developing a deeper connection with themselves through the memoir-writing process – but this journey doesn’t need to begin with an entire book. 

One stepping stone that has been evidenced to help with people’s mental health and softly introduces people to the world of writing, is journaling. In fact, the biographer found in their enlightening body of research that 22% of people agree that journaling has been their most beneficial aid to their mental health to date, with Google reports showing a 110 per cent increase in searches for journalling ideas over the past year. StoryTerrace’s research found that over a third (31%) of the population agreed that writing about their mental health experiences creatively has allowed them to better understand themselves. Interestingly, this trend was particularly evident amongst Gen Z’s, with a staggering 49% agreeing with this sentiment. 

Rutger Bruining, Founder of StoryTerrace, discusses the power of writing in supporting positive mental wellbeing:

“We can see from the books being written through our service that men appear much less likely to want to discuss their deepest internal struggles. This won’t come as a surprise to many – the stigma surrounding mental health in general, but particularly for men, has been well documented. However, I find it incredibly inspiring to see on a daily basis at StoryTerrace the amount of people that choose to share their most intimate struggles, often purely with the goal in mind of providing hope for others going through a similar situation. 

“I do think that as a society we are moving in the right direction, and this stigma is gradually being broken down. I also firmly believe that there is power in writing as a cathartic activity – and it doesn’t have to be writing a fully fledged book. Journaling has experienced a well-documented boom over the past few years and has been evidenced to make a real difference for our mental health.”