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Male Depression Rising due to Western
Socioeconomic Changes
"Men in the changing economy will face the same
risks for depression that women faced in older
economies: trapped in a family role from which they
cannot escape because of an inability to find
employment." - Boadie W. Dunlop, M.D., Tanja
Mletzko, M.A., Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program,
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta,
Georgia.
Although world-wide research over the last 20
years has indicated that women experience
depression at 1 ½ to 2 times the rate of men,
recent research conducted by Jed Diamond, Ph.D, and
others, indicates that male depression has been
under-reported and is beginning to rise
significantly. In his 2009 book, Male vs. Female
Depression: Why Men Act Out and Women Act In
Diamond reported on a major research study that
concluded “Women seek help—men die.”
The study found that 75% of those who sought
professional help at a suicide prevention program
were female. Conversely 75% of those who committed
suicide in the same year were male.
These findings are corroborated by men’s
health expert, Will Courtenay, Ph.D. in his
forthcoming book, Dying to be Men: Psychosocial,
Environmental, and Biobehavioral Directions in
Promoting the Health of Men and Boys (April,
2011, Routledge). Courtenay reports the following
suicide and death rates (per 100,000 U.S.
population) from the National Center for Disease
Control, for males and females in various age
groups:
We see that the suicide rate for young men is
more than 4 times the rate for young women and the
suicide rate for older men is more than 6 to 17
times the rate for women of the same age. Clearly
men are at great risk and as populations age
throughout the world, more men are likely to give
up hope and kill themselves.
|
Age Group
|
Male Rate
|
Female Rate
|
Male/Female Ratio
|
|
15-19
|
10.9
|
2.7
|
4.0
|
|
20-24
|
21.4
|
4.0
|
5.4
|
|
25-29
|
19.5
|
4.7
|
4.2
|
|
30-34
|
18.3
|
5.2
|
3.5
|
|
35-44
|
23.9
|
6.8
|
3.5
|
|
45-54
|
25.8
|
8.8
|
2.9
|
|
55-64
|
21.4
|
7.0
|
3.8
|
|
65-74
|
21.5
|
3.4
|
6.3
|
|
75-84
|
27.3
|
3.9
|
7.0
|
|
85+
|
38.6
|
2.2
|
17.5
|
|
Total
|
17.8
|
4.6
|
3.9
|
Randolph Nesse, M.D. and colleagues at the
University of Michigan examined premature deaths
among men in 20 countries. They suggest that as
many as 375,000 lives could be saved in the U.S.
alone if male mortality rates were brought into
line with those of women. Being male is now the
single largest demographic factor for early death,
the study concluded. "If you could make male
mortality rates the same as female rates, you would
do more good than curing cancer," Nesse says.
As Diamond reports in his recent book, Mr.
Mean: Saving Your Relationship from the Irritable
Male Syndrome, one of the primary reasons
that male depression often goes unrecognized,
undiagnosed, and untreated is that most depressed
men “act out” their depression by
becoming irritable, angry, and withdrawn, while
women tend to “act in” their depression
and become anxious, sad, and “teary.”
Women’s response often brings sympathy and
support, while men are often viewed as
“mean” rather than
“depressed.”
In Diamond’s book, The
Irritable Male Syndrome: Managing. The 4 Key Causes
of Depression and Aggression, he offers a
short summary of the differences he has found
between the ways men and women experience
depression. These differences, of course, are not
true of all men and women, but are tendencies seen
in over 40 years of clinical practice.
|
Women tend to:
|
Men tend to:
|
|
Blame themselves for problems
|
Blame others for problems
|
|
Feel sad and tearful
|
Feel irritable and unforgiving
|
|
Sleep more than usual
|
Have trouble sleeping or staying
asleep
|
|
Be vulnerable and easily hurt
|
Be suspicious and guarded
|
|
Try to be nice
|
Be overtly or covertly hostile
|
|
Withdraw when feeling hurt
|
Attack when feeling hurt
|
|
Be more obviously depressed
|
Hide their depression and “act
out.”
|
|
Feel they were set up to fail
|
Feel the world is set up to fail
them
|
|
Be slowed down and nervous
|
Be restless and agitated
|
|
Maintain control of anger/ May have
anxiety attacks
|
Lose control of anger/ May have sudden
attacks of rage
|
|
Be overwhelmed by feelings
|
Have blunted feelings, often numb
|
|
Let others violate boundaries
|
Have rigid boundaries; push others
out
|
|
Feel guilty for what they do
|
Feel ashamed for who they are
|
|
Be uncomfortable receiving praise
|
Be frustrated if not praised enough
|
|
Accept weaknesses and doubts
|
Deny weaknesses and doubts
|
|
Fear success
|
Fear failure
|
|
“Blend in" to feel safe
|
Try and be "top dog" to feel safe
|
|
Use food, friends, and "love" to
self-medicate
|
Use alcohol, TV, sports, and
“sex” to self medicate
|
|
Believe their problems could be solved
if only they could be a better…
(spouse, co-worker, parent, friend)
|
Believe their problems could be solved
if only their… (spouse, co-worker,
parent, friend) would treat them
better
|
|
Wonders, "Am I loveable enough?"
|
Wonders, "Am I being loved enough?"
|
A recent editorial in the March, 2011 issue of
the British Journal of Psychiatry, indicates
that depression rates in men are likely to increase
even more due to the socioeconomic changes going on
in the world. The study’s author Boadie
Dunlop, M.D., from Emory University School of
Medicine in Atlanta writes, "Compared to women,
many men attach a great importance to their roles
as providers and protectors of their families.
Failure to fulfill the role of breadwinner is
associated with greater depression and marital
conflict."
Research shows that since the beginning of the
recession in 2007, roughly 75 percent of the jobs
lost in the United States were held by men. On the
other hand, women are increasingly becoming the
primary household earners with 22 percent of wives
earning more than their husbands in 2007, versus
only 4 percent in 1970. Unfortunately, there is
little reason for anyone to believe that
traditional male jobs will return in significant
numbers even if the economy fully recovers.
“The recent recession afflicting Western
economies serves as a harbinger of the economic
future for men, especially for those with lower
levels of education,” says Dunlop.
“Dubbed by some the ‘Mancession’,
the economic downturn has hit men particularly
hard, because of its disproportionate effect on
traditional male industries, such as construction
and manufacturing, although of course working women
have also been affected.”
In my clinical practice, I’ve seen an
increasing number of men who are out of work or are
afraid of losing their jobs. The experience is
often devastating. They become anxious, irritable,
angry and sometimes suicidal. It not only impacts
the men, but also their families. Underlying these
behaviors are experiences of loss and persistent
feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, and
worthlessness, the hallmarks of depression. Yet,
social pressures continue to discourage men from
reaching out for help despite the increasing
stresses they are experiencing.
"Men in the changing economy will face the same
risks for depression that women faced in older
economies: trapped in a family role from which they
cannot escape because of an inability to find
employment," says Dunlop and co-author Tanja
Mletzko, research coordinator in the Mood and
Anxiety Disorders Program at Emory University.
“Recent data from the World Health
Organization suggests small declines in the gender
difference in rates of major depression across
younger versus older cohorts, associated with
changes in traditional female gender roles.”
Dunlop concludes by saying, “Perhaps the
changing socioeconomic position of the West will
lead to further narrowing of this difference, with
prevalence rates of depression in men increasing
while rates in women decrease. Such changes would
bring a new perspective to the concept of gender
equality.
©2011 Jed
Diamond
See Books,
Issues
+ Suicide
* * *
Wealth can't buy health, but health can buy
wealth. - Henry David Thoreau
Jed Diamond
is the internationally best-selling author of nine
books including Male
Menopause,
The
Irritable Male Syndrome: Managing. The 4 Key Causes
of Depression and
Aggression. and
Mr.
Mean: Saving Your Relationship from the Irritable
Male Syndrome. His
upcoming book, Tapping Power: A Man’s Guide to
Eliminating Pain, Stress, Anger, Depression and
Other Ills Using the Revolutionary Tools of Energy
Psychology will be available next year. For over 38
years he has been a leader in the field of men's
health. He is a member of the International
Scientific Board of the World Congress on
Men’s Health and has been on the Board of
Advisors of the Men’s Health Network since its
founding in 1992. His work has been featured in
major newspapers throughout the United States
including the New York Times, Boston Globe, Wall
Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and USA
Today. He has been featured on more than 1,000
radio and T.V. programs including The View with
Barbara Walters, Good Morning America, Inside
Edition, CBS, NBC, and Fox News, To Tell the Truth,
Extra, Leeza, Geraldo, and Joan Rivers. He also did
a nationally televised special on Male Menopause
for PBS. He looks forward to your feedback.
E-Mail.
You can visit his website at www.menalive.com
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