Depression in Men

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Fri, August 31, 2007

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It is estimated that for every six people, one will be clinically diagnosed with depression. In real terms the figures for depression are likely to be much higher and a good proportion of those left undiagnosed will be men. Depression has previously, if wrongly, been thought of as a problem ...

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liam1965

9/ 5/07 10:54pm

What you say may be statistically true for men in general, but most of it rings hollow and completely untrue for me in specific.

Not sure why I feel compelled to say this, I guess I just want other men out there who read this and think "Something must be wrong with me, this guy says that's not how my depression is supposed to go, as a guy" to know that while maybe many of our fellow men are fortunate enough to have shorter depressions and the rest, there are cerainly those of us who suffer severely, frequently and regularly.

Liam.

liam1965

9/ 5/07 11:05pm

I suppose I shouldn't have said "most of it". The part about men being less likely to have sustained or recurring depression. Liam.

Jerry Kennard

9/ 6/07 6:36am

There's always an issue about how inclusive to be when writing an article so the tendency, rather like research, is to talk in terms of averages and general trends. I think my central message is that men really do suffer from depression (something you don't need convincing about, but many others do) and that the information that is currently available shows some differences in how this is expressed and how patterns differ or compare with women. The more information we gather, the more refined our understanding will be over time.

liam1965

9/ 6/07 11:54am

That's true. It was a bad night last night all around, and so I suppose I took umbrage where none was deserved.

It is certainly far more important to make sure people know that depression is not just a female condition than to worry about whether everyone fits into a single category or pattern.

Liam.

Jerry Kennard

9/ 6/07 2:41pm

Hey - no umbrage taken at this end Liam. But I'm interested in the nature and pattern of your depression?

liam1965

9/ 6/07 3:17pm

I'm inclined to say that there's no real pattern to it, but I'd probably be misstating the facts; my wife has proven to me that I have a lower than average ability to spot trends and patterns.

What in specific do you want to know? The first thing you should probably do is read the essay "What Depression Means to Me" that I posted on my blog some years back (wrote it for my wife when we were dating, so she knew some of what she was getting into).

You can find it here: http://liam-and-janet.blogspot.com/2005/02/what-depression-means-to-me.html

After that, if you want to go into specifics, I'd be happy to talk with you further!

Liam.

Depression in Men

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