Is the Economy Killing You?

8/7/2019 Is the Economy Killing You?

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Is the Economy

Killing You?



Male Depression Rising due to

Western SocioeconomicChanges

Special Report from MenAlive

Jed Diamond, Ph.D. has been a health-care professional for the last 45 years.He is the author of 9 books, including Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places,Male Menopause, The Irritable Male Syndrome, and Mr. Mean: Saving Your Relationship from the Irritable Male Syndrome . He offers counseling to men,women, and couples in his office in California or by phone with people throughoutthe U.S. and around the world. To receive a Free E-book on Men’s Health and afree subscription to Jed’s e-newsletter go to www.MenAlive.com. If you enjoy myarticles, please subscribe. I write to everyone who joins my Scribd team.

"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

http://www.menalive.com/mrmean.htm








http://www.menalive.com/






reported on a major research study that concluded “Women seek helpmen

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:

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

65-74 21.5 3.4 6.3

75-84 27.3 3.9 7.0

85 or older 38.6 2.2 17.5

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.



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: Understanding and

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.”

For more than 40 years Diamond has specialized in men’s health and has

developed new and innovative programs to treat male-type depression and other

problems that are common in males. For more information on Dr. Diamond’s

work contact:

Jed Diamond, www.MenAlive.com, [email protected], Phone: 707 459-5505.


mailto:[email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

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Is the Economy Killing You?