Tag: suicide

Men Don’t Cry

Of course, they do! Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar cried on the pitch in 2018, for instance. Whether that made them lesser of men or not is debatable only in a congregation of fools.

7096efcf57f1ce710c3b95ac48d2164c.jpg

Believe us, crying and other emotional stuff never causes any physical changes in you that strip you of your masculinity in any way! Yes, not crying and pretending to be ever-so-tough would definitely lead to worsening of psychological problems that men might have. The fact is that a large number of men do suffer from clinical depression and yet, don’t acknowledge it. Nor do a majority of men get treated for depression as they find talking about it a taboo. As a result, more men who have depression end up losing their lives to suicide than women do. In this article, we aim at identifying the symptoms that constitute and point towards the possibility of clinical depression among men.

There may be small episodes of sadness and depression in everyone’s life. However, any depression is termed as clinical depression if the symptoms last for two weeks or more. Such a depression may affect one’s work, relationship as well as physical health. Not to say, it may sometimes lead to attempted suicides. Here is a list of symptoms that may indicate depression in men.

  • Men, unlike women, feel an increased aggression and irritable behavior when in depression.
  • Men in depression may sometimes report as feeling anxious or panicky, rather than the sadness reported by women.
  • There may be a loss of interest in work or hobbies including social activity as well as loss of libido.
  • Depression in men may also be associated with a lack in ability to concentrate on things as well as remember things.
  • There may be deficient or excessive appetite as well as sleep. This may be associated with physical manifestations like tiredness, digestive disorders or pains, and aches.
  • There may be thoughts or attempts to commit suicide.

A knowledge of these symptoms may help an individual in identifying the possibility of depression. If someone has even some of these symptoms, we suggest that one should see a mental health specialist or least confide in a close relative or friend who might be able to find one for you and help you in seeking care. Remember that the treatment of depression doesn’t always involve medication. Even if you are prescribed medicine, their benefit will always outweigh the risks that you have in going without medicine.

Always remember that the first step in getting out of depression is to acknowledge that it is there and talking about it to loved ones. If you have it, you are not the only man in the world who has depression. There are many others who have it, and many are becoming better every day with the help of their close ones and friends along with proper treatment.

 

Manovember!

Dear Readers,

moustache

 

Many chronic and lifestyle-related diseases have a high predilection towards men [1]. Two of the most common modern epidemics – diabetes and cardiovascular disease have been consistently found to be more common in males than in females[2,3]. On the other hand, silent epidemic of depression in males has been mostly left unacknowledged and often under-diagnosed and untreated [4]. This has led to an increased incidence of suicides among men [5]. On the other hand, many cancers have a higher incidence in males as compared to females [6].

However, traditionally the domain of men’s health has either been left neglected [7] or has been limited to sexually-transmitted disease and malignancies of the prostate. Instead, due to taboos, discussion on men’s health has often been detoured into domains of physical fitness and diet [8]. Popular and commercially available literature fans these prejudices and makes venturing into men’s health issues like depression and suicide even tougher. It has been seen that men rarely if ever talk about their depression, stress and anxiety to even their closest ones. This leads to an increased impact of SAD trio and poorer outcomes. In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) gave the slogan – Depression, Let’s talk! in order to improve people’s attitude towards depression and make more people get themselves treated [9, 10].

As November closes in, various public health campaigns on men’s health like Movember and No-shave November have started gathering momentum. Our team at Vivact has picked this opportunity to make November a month on men’s health. Our boys have decided that they would write a blog on men’s health each week – particularly targeting the epidemic of depression among men. We will have a weekly article on this topic for the whole month as a part of our initiative named – Manovember! We invite you to discuss and think of men’s health this month to realize the goal of health for all.

Regards.

Team Vivact!

References:

  1. Sex and gender differences in health. Science & Society Series on Sex and Science. EMBO Rep. 2012;13(7):596-603. Published 2012 Jun 15. doi:10.1038/embor.2012.87
  2. Weidner, Gerdi. Why do men get more heart disease than women? An international perspective. Journal of American College Health6 (2000): 291-294.
  3. Kautzky-Willer A, Harreiter J, Pacini G. Sex and Gender Differences in Risk, Pathophysiology and Complications of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Endocr Rev. 2016;37(3):278-316.
  4. Ogrodniczuk JS, Oliffe JL. Men and depression. Can Fam Physician. 2011;57(2):153-5.
  5. Ogrodniczuk J, Oliffe J, Kuhl D, Gross PA. Men’s mental health: Spaces and places that work for men. Can Fam Physician. 2016;62(6):463-4.
  6. Dorak MT, Karpuzoglu E. Gender differences in cancer susceptibility: an inadequately addressed issue. Front Genet. 2012;3:268. Published 2012 Nov 28. doi:10.3389/fgene.2012.00268
  7. Baker P, Dworkin SL, Tong S, Banks I, Shand T, Yamey G. The men’s health gap: men must be included in the global health equity agenda. Bull World Health Organ. 2014;92(8):618-20.
  8. Men’s Health: What Should We Know?. World J Mens Health. 2015;33(2):45-9.
  9. Chong, Siow Ann, Yee Ming Mok, and Mythily Subramaniam. Depression: Let’s Talk. 2017; 121-123.
  10. Behere PB, Kumar K, Behere AP. Depression: Why to talk?. Indian J Med Res. 2017;145(4):411-413.