Depression is a serious disorder that can severely impact the lives of Americans, leading to decreased performance at work, problems at home, and worse. One of the earliest misconceptions about depression is that it was a woman's disease; but in fact, male depression is common as well as depression in females. In fact, one of the problems of male depression is that it is not as often diagnosed. This is partly because male depression seems to have different signs in males than in females. Let's explore some of the characteristics of male depression and discuss what makes it a danger.

Causes

Male depression is often a result of life stresses adding to emotional stress, resulting in problems. One of the biggest triggers for men is workplace stress, so if you know someone that is suffering from workplace stress, you may want to watch for signs of depression. Usually, this stress stems from some sort of feeling that they have no control over their responsibilities at work, lack of job security, working the night shift, or any number of problems.

Outward Signs

In females, depression is often marked by a withdrawal from friends and family, a tendency to avoid conflict, and feelings that they could be better to those around them. In contrast, male depression is often marked by displays of anger or irritability. Depressed men tend to be more argumentative and even seek out conflicts. They worry that they don't receive enough attention or love. In many ways, signs of male depression are the opposite of what you'd see in men.

A danger male depression, however, is that some men are unwilling to admit to depression or to seek help for it. Often, because of associations of showing sad feelings or having depression is viewed as a sign of weakness by some men, they will often not seek help for their depression. Still, there are other symptoms that men might be willing to report, such as fatigue, loss of interest in activities, and irritability, so if you are trying to find out if someone close to you is suffering from male depression, you might want to try to get them to talk about those latter symptoms instead.

Dangers Of Depression

One of the most serious problems with male depression is that it can often lead to suicide. In the United States, more males than females commit suicide, which makes depressed males particularly at risk. As men get older, the risk of depression only grows, so if you have someone hitting middle age that you think is depressed, you may want to find a way to intervene. Male depression, while misunderstood, needs to be taken seriously and treated, for the mental health of the men you know.