DEPRESSION, The Disease Men Don't Talk About (PART 1) ~ Bloggerin Info

Unexplained anger or apathy may signal something even deeper

Carrie McIntyre and Damon Thompson were eagerly planning their future together. The young couple had good jobs and were sports enthusiats. Damon was an avid basketball player and a competitive cyclist and golfer. But when his employer announced a downsizing, he started to worry that he might be fired. Gradually he began to withdraw, declining social invitations and refusing to play sports. Instead he watched TV for hours on end.

CARRIE CHALKED UP his moods to job concerns and thought they would pass. But months later when Damon hadn't been dismissed, he was still lethargic and cold. When Carrie tried to find out what was wrong, all he would say was, "Nothing."

Damon's career worries had triggered a bout of depression that he couldn't shake, even when its cause was gone. But instead of showing Carrie he needed her, he shunned her. To Carrie, his behaviour made no sense at all. Eventually she broke off their relationship.

"Women in our culture know they are distressed and they reach out for help," says Terrence Real, a family therapist and author of I don't Want to Talk About It. "men express depression differently," he adds.

Depression afflicts more than 33 million people in Asia and the Western Pacific, according to the World Health Organisation. The WHO's 1999 World Health Report says approximately 6 per cent of all women and about 3 per cent of men worldwide suffer from depression --- but some researchers question the low number for men. "Men are less likely than women to seek mental-health treatment in general," says Michael Addis, assistant professor of psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachussets. The tendency to though it out rather than ask for help is just one of several reasons why experts believe the statistics are artificially low. Men express emotional pain differently from women, so their symptoms are not always recognised and their depression goes undectected. Fortunately, however, when the condition is recognised, there are many ways it can be successfully treated.

Feeling Down? Why It's Different for Men

COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE David Binder couldn't sleep and had no desire for sex. He vaguely worried about his loss of libido, but decided that source of his problem was chronic sleeplessness. His lack of emotion was such that even when his marriage ended, he barely seemed to care. His career also ceased to matter to him.

The problem was not a sleep disorder, however. While the outward signs - insomnia, apathy, lost libido --- didn't match the tearful, unhappy state often associated with the disorder, his problem was depression, and it lasted for about five years before a doctor diagnosed and then successfully treated it with antidepressants.

Most people assume sadness always accompanies depression. But that's not necessarily true for men. "With men, you may see more of the angry and irritable depression than the typical sad depression that we are used to seeing in women," notes Kenneth Carter, assistant professor of psychology at Emory University's Oxford College in Atlanta.

While depressed women tend to cling to sources of comfort and turn their angst against themselves, depressed men often do the opposite, says Real. They may isolate themselves from family and friends and act aggressively. "Men may strike out at their wives, children and coworkers," Real explains.

Societal norms can exacerbate these destructive behaviours, say Addis. "We do not encourage men to express their feelings or to seek help, but rather to deal with it independently, 'like a man.'"

What cause male depression in the first place? Neurotransmitters, including serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine, which relay signals from one brain cell to the next, play key roles. If, because of a genetic abnormality or other cause, neurotransmitter stores are affected, we may suffer depression or any of a number of other psychological problems.

In some cases of mild depression, says Harvard Medical School endocrinologist Laurence Katznelson, the cause may be testosterone deficiency, which can bring on classic symptoms such as fatigue, lack of initiative and sexual difficulties.

Hormones are only part of the story, of course. As with depressed women, a man's negative life experience - job loss, rejection in love - can devastate the mood and affect neurotransmitter flow. "You take a perfectly normal person and put him under stress, you'll produce biological abnormalities that can be treated biologically," says Real.

Alcohol can boost moods temporarily, which may be why some people with depression drink. But heavy drinking itself may produce or worsen symptoms of depression. According to the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, men are two to three times more likely than women to become alcoholics.

to be continued - DEPRESSION, The Disease Men Don't Talk About (PART 2)