> Putting this on gender is such a weird thing to do.

Yes -- this phenomenon is somewhat gendered, but not overwhelmingly so. From the article's own statistic:

A 2025 Pew Research Center study found that 54 percent of women say they turn to a friend for emotional support but only 38 percent of men say they do.

So I think this is a problem that affects men somewhat more often than women, but happens plenty to both.