Before You Forget: A Crash Course About Men’s Depression

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Depression isn’t only men’s issue. In fact, it’s everyone’s dilemma regardless of the different social level. Depression can destroy a life of a person no matter what is the gender. In most study, women are more likely to suffer depression and anxiety compared to men. However, men suffering depression must not be disregarded, because men usually fall behind when it comes to handling stress. Most men often commit suicide because they have a hard time controlling their depression.

Due to the stupid ideas about men and their masculinity, depression, anxiety, and stress have also become a bigger issue for men. People always rely on men as the tough and self-reliant ones, the people that can handle any pain and take charge of different situations. However, men can be as weak as women, but they, themselves, try to brush off the fact that they might have health problems.

Deeper Understanding: What is Depression?

Depression is a severe but a treatable medical condition. It is a disease that can affect anyone. It is a condition that is much more than feeling sad. Depression is a serious disturbance of someone’s normal way of thinking, acting and feeling. Most men that suffer depression commits suicide.

Everyone occasionally feels down, but if a man has been unable to focus, feels overly sad, angry, moody or having a hard time to sleep for a couple of weeks, it can be depression. It can also affect the usual activities that he enjoys.

Knowledge: The Symptoms and Signs of Depression in Men:

Here are the most common overlooked signs of depression in men:

They are experiencing physical pain. Sometimes when men are depressed, it shows as physical symptoms. Typical examples of the pain are headaches, difficulty in sleeping, backaches, erectile dysfunction or even digestive problems. The following also doesn’t respond to treatments.

They are always irritable. Sometimes because of depression men cannot suppress their anger and would be sensitive. Some men also lose their sense of humor. Due to their anger, men resorts to violence or becomes dominating and abusive.

They are always restless and tired. Due to the difficulty in sleeping, men becomes agitated that later on causes them to have problems in their concentration and focus. Because of this, their anger and restlessness also causes them to feel sad and lose interest to activities that they usually do.

Their behavior becomes reckless and which often leads them to thoughts of death or suicide. If a man is suffering from depression, he will most likely become restless. Their ideas will be most likely to exhibit suicidal thoughts that push them to perform dangerous tasks. They usually engage themselves to reckless driving, unsafe sex and even abuse of drugs and alcohol.

Since men don’t easily recognize or admit that they feel depressed, it’s hard for them to seek help. For the same reason, depression in men has become untreated or unidentified.

Discovering: Different Forms of Depression

1. Major Depression

For this form of depression, the symptoms usually hinder the ability to perform well in work, sleep, and eat. The symptoms are serious that lasts at least for few weeks or even months.

2. Bipolar Depression

For the bipolar disorder, there are chapters of depression alternating with rage. It becomes an excessive “high” mood with too much energy and even sleeplessness. In cases of sleeplessness, it can be a severe condition already.

3. Psychotic Depression

If a person has psychotic depression, he is unable to separate reality to non-reality. In this form, he can experience unwavering thought that he deserves a punishment and he is worthless. It will also stick in his mind that he committed a grave crime or even feeling doomed with his problems. Psychotic depression patients have a higher risk of engaging to suicide.

4. Persistent Depressive Disorder

The episode of this form can last for at least two years. The disease includes a deep-rooted depressed mood accompanied by subtle depressive signs that are less compared to patients with major depression.

Causes: Things that Triggers Depression in Men

Though no one can pinpoint the real causes of depression, some things might trigger depression in men. Stressful events can have a great impact that will trigger depression.

Here are some that might trigger depression:

• Too much work from school, home or work.
• He is currently in a relationship bump.
• A sudden death of a loved one.
• Always having problems with money or finances.
• Just recently quitted smoking or any vices.
• Failure in achieving an important goal.
• Acquired a serious health problem like serious injury and disability.
• Losing a job or serving the military.
• Substantial family responsibilities like caring for an aging parent.

Prevention: Things Men Can do To Prevent Depression

For now, there are no medicine, herb or supplement that will help avoid episodes of depression. Most likely, if men experience depression, there will be other recurrences. However, there are ways to reduce these episodes:

1. The avoidance of using prohibited drugs and alcohol. Both can worsen or even cause depression. It will also block the effectivity of the treatments that the person is undergoing.

2. Taking anti-depressant supplements regularly as prescribed by a doctor. Drinking medicine for at least six months after the first episode of depression will help in preventing recurrences to take place.

3. A person should always perform the cognitive therapy techniques. If the techniques are well-performed, there are high chances that it will work alongside with medicines that will help prevent future episodes. It will also contribute to reducing stress in the daily routine. Having too much stress can provoke depression. However, there are healthy ways that will help a person manage stress.

A relaxed activity can assist in aiding the symptoms of depression. Enrolling in a yoga class can be beneficial because it involves progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, and deep breathing.

4. A regular exercise routine and enough sleep. If the person is depressed, simple activities like getting out of bed are a terrifying task, how much more exercising. However, a regular exercise is as effective as a medication for men suffering depression. It will also help in boosting the mood of a person.

At least aim to have a regular exercise every day for 30 minutes. They can also break the exercise routine into a half. Even just a 15-minute walk can improve their mood for three hours. Rhythmic exercise like weight training, dancing, martial arts or swimming can add effectiveness.

Completing an eight to ten hours of sleep will also help in boosting their mood. Sleep and exercise work helps in clearing disturbing thoughts. If the patient is exercising, his sleeping activities will also be productive. Also, not having enough sleep can worsen the symptoms of depression.

5. To improve the depressing feeling, having a healthy diet can help. The intake of food affects the mood and feeling of a person. Eating right and eating healthy can help boost the mood.

Avoid too much sugar and refined carbohydrates intake. People who feel depressed will most likely crave for unhealthy foods like baked goods, sweet snacks and even pasta and french fries. The “comfort food” will only lower down the energy and mood of the person.

Reducing the intake of food that adversely affect the mood, like trans fat, alcohol, caffeine, and foods that have high level of preservatives would be beneficial.

If possible, eating more Omega-3 rich food will boost the mood. Fatty fishes like salmon, mackerel, herring, and sardines are the best sources. Food like walnuts and seaweeds are excellent as well.

Regularly eating food that are rich in nutrients can enhance the mood. Eating spinach will be a great help, spinach contains folate and magnesium can improve sleep and reduce disturbance. Another great example is a banana that contains magnesium, vitamin B6 and tryptophan all are nutrients that decrease anxiety, promotes alertness and even helps boosting the serotonin level.

Medication: Available Professional Treatments

If the change in lifestyle and support from loved ones, seeking help from a medical professional is the best step. Try not to hide the feelings inside the cabinets in the room, but instead be honest in admitting the feeling and physical symptoms. Here are some treatments that can help:

Therapy. It may feel unmanly to talk to a stranger about the problems that they are facing. However, it can bring a feeling of relief if a male would attend therapy.

Medication. Taking antidepressant pills can help relieve symptoms of depression. However, the medication doesn’t cure root problems. It can’t also serve as a permanent solution. Like other medication, antidepressant drugs have side effects as well.

Takeaway

A male suffering with depression will keep his mouth shut even if he is suffering. People should not tease men for having that medical condition. The wife or any family member should take caution about a member who might have depression. Always check them and if symptoms are showing up, try applying the prevention techniques.

However, if it doesn’t work, ask for professional advice from medical doctors. Medication and treatment might be a concrete solution that the patient needs. Every depressed person needs someone to understand their needs and care for them. And the stupid idea of men being the strong and tough one always, must be eradicated.

Author Bio: Alyssa Mason Prout is a health enthusiast, a designer and a budding writer. Alyssa likes to read books about Psychology. She also likes to make designs for furnitures like tables, chairs and cabinets. She often contributes articles for Focus on Furniture. She spends some of her free time planting in her garden.