Why So Many Men Are Choosing Buddies Over Therapy (And What It Means)

They don’t call it “therapy.”
They don’t schedule appointments.
But every Saturday morning, without fail, they meet at the same coffee shop. Or go for a drive. Or just sit in silence, watching the game.
For many men, healing doesn’t happen on a therapist’s couch — it happens with a buddy.
In this powerful and honest episode, mindfulness and emotional wellness expert Dr. Soha dives into the growing trend of men turning to close male friendships — what some are calling “buddy systems” — as their primary source of emotional support. With rising loneliness, societal pressure to “be strong,” and stigma around mental health, many men are bypassing therapy — not because they don’t need help, but because friendship feels safer than treatment.
Dr. Soha explores:

• Why traditional therapy can feel intimidating, alienating, or “feminine” to many men
• How casual, low-pressure bonds (“just hanging out”) become lifelines for emotional release
• The hidden mental health crisis behind male isolation — and how buddies fill the gap
• When a buddy helps — and when professional support is still essential
• How we can honor these bonds while encouraging healthier, more open paths to healing

This isn’t about replacing therapy.
It’s about understanding how men actually heal — and creating a world where they don’t have to choose between pride and peace.
🎧 If you’ve ever said, “I don’t need help — I’ve got my guy,” this conversation will hit home.
Because sometimes, the most profound therapy… never looks like therapy at all.

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Theraputic Session by [Dr.Soha] "Why So Many Men Are Choosing Buddies Over Therapy (And What It Means) – Dr. Soha."
Produced by [Team Relaxire]
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All our listeners on all platforms]
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hello, and a very warm welcome to all of you
and your Alexi podcasts and I'm your friend, host talk
and coach. So on, how are you beautiful people? And
how I've treating you? And what about today? How today
was for you? And don't worry you got this? Everything

(00:27):
is okay, all It's going to be fine. So today
the topic I'm about to discuss is we talk about
female friends and also about women more, but what about men?
Do they need more friends? Their men friends? And are

(00:52):
they enough for them? Do they need more men's close friendships?
How they are important for them and for their mental
and physical well being. Let's try to know. Okay, there
were many studies conducted and then there were reports receiving

(01:15):
that men were feeling lonely. Men were feeling isolated. And
this happens even if men have got a why or
a girlfriend and they are comfortable in that relationship, understanding
is there. Even then, they feel uncomfortable at times and
they want their bodies to be there for them at

(01:37):
that very point. Men friends, and this is a real feeling,
not a joke and not a prank, but something which
is emotionally important for men and they should receive it.
This feeling of this they should associate with there they

(02:00):
should deliver to this feeling. Oftentimes men are too busy,
you know, trying to have good relationships one after another
with one women and then the second women. But while
doing so or keeping your spouse happy, they tend to

(02:20):
forget who they are. Sometimes it is so obvious that
they just can't handle that truth. And then at times
when they are feeling this kind of loneliness, we're not
having men friends alongside them as it used to be

(02:43):
in their childhood. Sometimes they get even violent with their partners.
So need is that they should understand their feeling, and
need is that they don't have to suffer from this
loneliness because it is affecting their health. And loneliness is

(03:07):
getting on our nerves, isn't it? My e once? And
it is quietly becoming an epidemic. We're not seeing this,
but it is happening very fast. Everybody is talking about loneliness,
and several studies have indeed shown that loneliness is a
serious health concern, a mental health concern, and an analysis

(03:31):
of seventy studies are more. They found that three million
participants were there in those studies. According to the researchers
who reported these studies, and they said that they were
feeling lonely or socially isolated at least twenty to twenty

(03:52):
six two thirty two percent of them. And this study
was conducted Halt Loon Step in twenty fifteen. And now
they're saying that this number is doubling down. And this

(04:12):
means that if one is unhappy to feel oneself, one
seeks for more food, and this leads to obacity. They
try to seek other ways like addiction, smoking, you know, alcohol,
and at times loneliness leads to premature death. So this

(04:38):
is not easy to deal with loneliness. And even if
you have a spouse, you have a girlfriend, at times
you will feel lonely. And if this loneliness is prevailing,
then need is that you realize this need and associate
with your men friends, you know, go on a coffee

(05:03):
with them, sit over there, chat with them, discuss men's stuff,
anything you like. But don't let yourself be absorbed in
this darkness of loneliness. Okay. A recent study that analyzed
the frequency of loneliness for more than forty six thousand individuals,

(05:26):
and they conducted the study across too thirty seven countries,
islands and territories. They reported that men experience more loneliness
than even women, particularly in western countries like Unisis and
you know other countries as well. Why because there you

(05:49):
can't talk about how you're feeling, especially if you're a man,
then you have to behave like one and often the
relationships they are complicated for them, even if in case
they're having only female friends, even then this is a
complicated relationship for them. At times marriage is also complicated,

(06:16):
but it's happening and they are feeling in this way.
They're feeling lonely and stressful. So according to all these studies,
what should be done then, As I've told you before,
you don't have to suffer alone. Bottom line is find

(06:36):
your social connection. Be with other men, enjoy similar sports,
enjoy similar kind of activities, and you don't have to
pressurize yourself for doing so. Just make it a habit
of yours. And when you're going out, it shouldn't have

(07:02):
to be that you have to go with your spouse
only or your female friend only, your girlfriend only. Men
can have a very healthy relationship. They can go out,
they can chat as it used to be in past times,

(07:23):
no nineteen hundreds, and they can enjoy several sports as
I've told you, and several activities together. And for them,
they don't have to be sexually attracted to each other.
There's no need. If you don't want to do that,
there is no need for you to do that. You

(07:44):
just have to have a healthy relationship with the male bodies.
That's it, and you'll feel less lonely, less detached, and
more associated with what socialization and socializing with others. So

(08:04):
in this very thought, I wind up today's session and
hopefully and this was helpful for you. And as I
always say that it's an hour for me to connect
with you every time I do, and I feel very pleased,
very lucky, and very happy to be connected with you.

(08:26):
So if you feel the same way, then spread the
good word, spread the feeling, and spread the good word
ahead and guess what, You've got this, as I've said
in the picnic, You've got this and we got this together.
So whatever your careers are, and you can always email

(08:47):
me and we can solve them, work on them together.
You've been listening to Relax a podcast and I'm your friend,
your host, dark and coach, So bye for now, my
dear ones, and thank you very much for your time.