Depression in Males
by: Stephanie Charron and Noah Boland
Causes of Depression among men
- Overwhelming stress at work, school, or home
- Marital or relationship problems
- Not reaching important goals
- Losing or changing a job
- Embarking on military service
- Societal Image of a "real man"
- Constant money problems
- Health problems such as chronic illness, injury, disability
- Emasculation
- Death of a loved one
- Family responsibilities such as caring for children, spouse, or aging parents
- Retirement/ loss of independence
Side-effects of Depression
Women tend to:
Blame themselves
Feel sad, pathetic, and worthless
Feel anxious and scared
Avoid conflicts at all costs
Feel slowed down and nervous
Have trouble setting boundaries
Find it easy to talk about self-doubt and despair
Use food, friends, and "love" to self-medicate
Men tend to:
Blame others
Feel angry, irritable, and ego inflated
Feel suspicious and guarded
Create conflicts
Feel restless and agitated
Need to feel in control at all costs
Find it “weak” to admit self-doubt or despair
Use alcohol, TV, sports, and sex to self-medicate
(Adapted from: Male Menopause by Jed Diamond)
Male depression video
Society and Depression
Society also plays a key role in Depression among men. The media, our favorite television shows, and most commercials these days all view men in horribly drastic, and unfair, ways. You are either a scumbag like the "rest of men" thanks to the news or you are an imbecile because that is the only type of male portrayed on television, besides the scumbag previously mentioned. Society deems that a man has to fit 1 image, 1 emasculate image in order for a female to like them. The image below is what everything we see, hear, and experience nowadays say is what a girl wants. If you are not this, then you can only be one of the prior things explained.
Ways Men can get Help
- Excersize regularly
- Seek out help (therapy)
- Join a support group
- Hang out with friends/loved ones
- Eating well
- Getting enough sleep
Meninism Movement
Support is a big way for a man to push past his prideful feelings and realize he can get help without feeling like a coward, weak, or a wuss. The Meninism Movement, while yes starting out as a joke, is one of the big movements that depressed men will join. "Meninism is a reaction not so much to Feminism, but to its offspring, that is a feminized male populace, that in its effort to accommodate the desires of women has lost its own identity and has gone too far in its efforts to please and has now left women wondering, “where have all the real men gone?” " People falling under the category of "feminazis", "male bashers", and "men haters" that verbally abuse men publicly for the wrongs of others are largely a new cause for male depression, helping to fulfull this new angst men feel if they wanna be in any way a man.
Vocabulary:
Emasculate- to deprive a man of his male role or identity
Depression- feelings of severe despondency and dejection
Suicide- The action of killing oneself intentionally