Citation

Kilmartin C. J. Mens Health Gend. 2005; 2(1): 95-99.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jmhg.2004.10.010

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Women are diagnosed with depressive disorders twice as frequently as men, and yet evidence from differential rates of substance abuse, incarceration, and especially suicide calls into question the assumption that men are less susceptible than women to depression. It is possible that there is a "masculine" form of depression that is under-diagnosed and under-treated. Health professionals should work toward a greater understanding of cultural masculinity in the service of conceptualizing, diagnosing and treating male clients/patients who may be suffering from a disguised form of this common mental illness. Therapists who treat conventionally gendered male clients/patients should educate these men about masculinity as an important context of their problem, and should attend closely to issues of emotional expression, premature termination of therapy, and grief. © 2005 WPMH GmbH. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

Gender; masculinity; human; cognition; Depression; suicide; male; depression; aggression; anger; Masculinity; Diagnosis; Psychotherapy; substance abuse; article; risk; disease predisposition; priority journal; health practitioner; symptom; emotionality; diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders