Depression in Men

While men are diagnosed with depression only half as often as women, they may contribute disproportionately to depression’s death toll. At least two-thirds of those who commit suicide are depressed, and men commit suicide more than five times as often as women. (Women attempt suicide more than four times as often as men, but typically employ less lethal means.) [19]

Men in this country are conditioned from childhood to believe that emotions are essentially feminine, and men are supposed to stoically endure pain, especially psychic pain. This leads many men to deny their depression, attempt to blunt the suffering by self-medicating with alcohol or drugs, or to give vent to their pain and frustration through angry, aggressive or even abusive behavior.

 They may become “workaholics” putting in very long hours at their jobs (often to compensate for their diminished energy and ability to concentrate).

The reluctance of men to seek help is only one of the barriers to effective treatment. The way the disease manifests itself—or, at any rate, the way its symptoms are reported by male patients—often differ significantly from those reported by women.

Men are more likely to acknowledge irritability, fatigue, sleep disturbances, difficulty focusing on work and loss of enthusiasm for work or hobbies than they are feelings of sadness, low self-worth and guilt. The feelings of worthlessness and despair may also lead to a pattern of high-risk behavior. It has been suggested by some researchers that the standard definition of depression and the diagnostic measures derived from that definition may need to be changed for male patients. [20]

Reluctance to seek treatment is a self-defeating attitude, since men are no more capable than women of “getting over” depression without proper treatment, either in the form of antidepressant medication, psychotherapy or both.

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