TO WRITE: Are Women and Men REALLY Different?
Gender differences have been discussed, and sometimes enforced, for eons, continuing in this election season, including tonight's VP debate. How real are these differences? More crucially, how important are they?
I'm observing all sorts of interesting things in this arena now that I have an 11-month-old daughter. Friends tell me they couldn't affect their girls' love of princess dresses even though they tried; men seem less likely to ask to hold the baby even when they beam contentedly when the offer is made and they reach out; strangers with a kind comment for the little one are unsure how to deliver it if s/he's wearing gender-neutral clothing below her short baby hair.
Play with this. . .
Write continuously for 20 minutes starting with: The real difference between men and women is... Or start with the differences between girls and boys. What differences have you observed recently? What conclusions have you drawn? Do you treat women and men differently? Do others role-cast you, and how does that feel? Is it advantageous or problematic to have differences? And do gender roles have any influence on your depression?
Showing posts with label men. Show all posts
Showing posts with label men. Show all posts
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Thursday, March 01, 2007
TO READ: Men and Depression
Conventional psychiatric wisdom has it that depression is twice as common in women as in men. But that rule of thumb may not be correct.
Newsweek's cover story last week (Feb. 26, 2007 issue) was on men and depression, and it reports that more and more medical providers are discovering that men just don't admit or even face up to their depressive symptoms at the rate women do. Six million men will be diagnosed with depression this year, and more and more men are seeking treatment as stigma gradually lessens. Still, many men feel they must maintain a certain image -- for themselves as well as for others -- of being "in control." As a result, the article claims, men's moods may manifest as irritability, anger, alcoholism and other substance abuse, even violence.
In addition to the untold suffering of these men and their families due to such effects, depression leads men to commit suicide at rates at least four times greater than women. At a societal level, depression's effects are enormous as well: studies estimate that adult depression leads to $83 billion (with a "b") worth of lost productivity.
I certainly know many men who have had the "manliness" to step up, realize they have a problem, and seek treatment for their depression. They, like women in our society, still face tremendous stigma. But they do it. "Coming out" with depression is often the wisest, and healthiest, thing they can do -- for themselves, their families and their careers.
Conventional psychiatric wisdom has it that depression is twice as common in women as in men. But that rule of thumb may not be correct.
Newsweek's cover story last week (Feb. 26, 2007 issue) was on men and depression, and it reports that more and more medical providers are discovering that men just don't admit or even face up to their depressive symptoms at the rate women do. Six million men will be diagnosed with depression this year, and more and more men are seeking treatment as stigma gradually lessens. Still, many men feel they must maintain a certain image -- for themselves as well as for others -- of being "in control." As a result, the article claims, men's moods may manifest as irritability, anger, alcoholism and other substance abuse, even violence.
In addition to the untold suffering of these men and their families due to such effects, depression leads men to commit suicide at rates at least four times greater than women. At a societal level, depression's effects are enormous as well: studies estimate that adult depression leads to $83 billion (with a "b") worth of lost productivity.
I certainly know many men who have had the "manliness" to step up, realize they have a problem, and seek treatment for their depression. They, like women in our society, still face tremendous stigma. But they do it. "Coming out" with depression is often the wisest, and healthiest, thing they can do -- for themselves, their families and their careers.
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