Male Menopause: Men and Depression

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Male Menopause

Men and Depression

The most common problem associated with male menopause is depression which is closely related to impotence and problems with male sexuality. Approximately 40% of men in their 40s, 50s and 60s will experience some degree of difficulty in attaining and sustaining erections, lethargy, depression, increased irritability, and mood swings that characterize male menopause. The symptoms of depression in men are commonly not recognized for several reasons:

The symptoms of male depression are different than the classic symptoms we think of as depression
Men deny they have problems because they are supposed to "be strong"
Men deny they have a problem with their sexuality and don't understand the relationship with depression
The symptom cluster of male depression is not well known so family members, physicians, and mental health professionals fail to recognize it.


Author Jed Diamond

Male depression is a disease with devastating consequences. To paraphrase from Jed Diamond's book Male Menopause:

80% of all suicides in the US are men
The male suicide rate at midlife is three times higher; for men over 65, seven times higher
The history of depression makes the risk of suicide seventy-eight times greater (Sweden)
20 million American will experience depression sometimes in their lifetime
60-80% of depressed adults never get professional help
It can take up to ten years and three health professionals to properly diagnose this disorder
80-90% of people seeking help get relief from their symptoms

Differences between Male and Female depression:

Men are more likely to act out their inner turmoil while women are more likely to turn their feelings inward. The following chart from Jed Diamond's book Male Menopause illustrates these differences.

Female Depression	Male Depression
Blame themselves	Feel others are to blame
Feel sad, apathetic, and worthless	Feel angry, irritable, and ego inflated
Feel anxious and scared	Feel suspicious and guarded
Avoids conflicts at all costs	Creates conflicts
Always tries to be nice	Overtly or covertly hostile
Withdraws when feeling hurt	Attacks when feeling hurt
Has trouble with self respect	Demands respect from other
Feels they were born to fail	Feels the world set them up to fail
Slowed down and nervous	Restless and agitated
Chronic procrastinator	Compulsive time keeper
Sleeps too much	Sleeps too little
Feels guilty for what they do	Feels ashamed for who they are
Uncomfortable receiving praise	Frustrated if not praised enough
Finds it easy to talk about weaknesses and doubts	Terrified to talk about weaknesses and doubts
Strong fear of success	Strong fear of failure
Needs to "blend in" to feel safe	Needs to be "top dog" to feel safe
Uses food, friends, and "love" to self-medicate	Uses alcohol, TV, sports, and sex to self medicate
Believe their problems could be solved only if they could be a better (spouse, co-worker, parent, friend)	Believe their problems could be solved only if their (spouse, co-worker, parent, friend) would treat them better
Constantly wonder, "Am I loveable enough?"	Constantly wonder, "Am I being loved enough?"

Male Menopause Men and Depression

Differences between Male and Female depression:

Female Depression

Male Depression

RELATED LINKS AND INFO

Male Menopause

Men and Depression