The guy who wrote this was referenced in my Social Problems
class.
Seemed like a valid thing to post- informative if nothing else.
Maybe it'll start a discussion inside someone, or outside
Depression: The Hidden Epidemic - Brief Article
Depression is often considered a "female disease," since affected
women reportedly outnumber men by four to one. Yet male depression
may
be more rampant than we realize.
Many men try to hide their condition, thinking it unmanly to act
moody.
And it works: National studies suggest that doctors miss the
diagnosis in
men a full 70% of the time. But male depression also stays
hidden because
men tend to express depression differently than women
do, as I explained
at the recent annual meeting of the American
Psychological Association.
Research shows that women usually internalize distress, while men
externalize it. Depressed women are more likely to talk about their
problem
and reach out for help; depressed men often have less tolerance
for internal
pain and turn to some action or substance for relief. Male
depression isn't
as obvious as the defenses men use to run from it. I
call this "covert depression."
It has three major symptoms. First, men
attempt to escape pain by overusing
alcohol or drugs, working
excessively or seeking extramarital affairs. They go
into isolation,
withdrawing from loved ones. And they may lash out, becoming
irritable
or violent.
The causes of depression differ in men and women, as well. While
depressed
women often feel disempowered, depressed men feel
disconnected, from their
needs and from others. This begins in
childhood, as society teaches boys early
on to pull away from their
mothers, their emotions and their vulnerabilities.
Reconnection is key. Treatment first requires resolving the violent
or
self-medicating behaviors--the affair, the drinking, the
workaholism--so that
the underlying condition can be grappled with. But
the ultimate cure lies in
reestablishing connection. The ideal of male
stoicism and the ensuing isolation
lie at the root of male depression.
Intimacy is its most lasting solution.
--Terrence Real, M.S.W.., author of I Don't Want to Talk About It
(Scribner, 1997), co-director of the Gender Research Project at the
Family Institute of Cambridge, Massachusetts
COPYRIGHT 2000 Sussex Publishers, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
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