First the nerve-racking meeting in the office, then an accidental jostle on the road and now the cripplingly viscous after-work traffic … suddenly it’s time: man clenches his fists, angrily steps on the gas pedal or yells around for seemingly no reason. When peace-loving men suddenly “snap,” it’s often not just pent-up aggression that’s behind it. A hidden depression may also be the cause.
Women’s disease depression?
According to statistics, depression is a primarily female phenomenon: around two to three times as many women as men fall ill with it. In this case, however, the numbers tell only half the truth. “Women basically go to the doctor about twice as often as men,” explains psychologist Frank Meiners of the DAK. “Accordingly, they also show up more often in the statistics.”
The number of suicides says otherwise: according to the Federal Statistical Office, it is around three times higher for men than for women. Although not every suicide is due to a mental illness, “the large number of male suicides suggests that depression is often not recognized in advance,” says Meiners. According to the DAK Health Report, mental illnesses are on the rise overall: among men, for example, the number of days of absence due to mental illness has increased by 12.5 percent since 2000. Due to depressive disorders, there were even 26.2 percent more days of absence among them.
Men tick (off) differently
The blame for the fact that male depression often goes undetected lies in the supposedly atypical symptoms. Outbursts of rage, kamikaze maneuvers with the car or violent assaults do not correspond to the classic signs of depression and therefore fall through the detection grid. As in other cases, men tick differently here than women. Instead of withdrawing from the world dejected and despairing, their powerlessness turns into anger. “Men tend to behave aggressively because that is more in line with the typical male self-image than quiet withdrawal,” the expert explains. “That makes diagnosis more difficult.”
When the body suffers for the soul
Not all depressed men react with violence, however. Because they often find it difficult to talk about psychological problems, many transfer their discomfort to their bodies. “Instead of complaining about the wounds on their soul, men talk about tangible, physical problems: back pain, stomach or heart complaints are often physical expressions of mental illness,” Meiners reports. Many depressed men also suffer from sexual problems or have less desire for sex. This often makes things particularly difficult for them, as they fear for their masculinity.
