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Common Humanity

Common humanity is recognizing the common human experience. As Neff writes, it

Approximately twelve percent of the patients seen by a primary care physician have major depression.  Recognizing that these patients-particularly male patients-have depression may be difficult as they usually describe symptoms such as fatigue, sleep problems, headaches, unspecified pain, or other vague symptoms. Other medical conditions may also be present and have similar symptoms, thus contributing to the failure to treat depression.  In addition, the rate of depression secondary to some other disorder is high.  Not only can depression co-occur with substance abuse, anxiety disorders or personality disorders, but is also seen with heart disease, diabetes, and many other illnesses.  Depression can be a risk factor for other illnesses, can impair the ability to participate in treatment, or can be stimulated by the stress of such illnesses.

For more information about counseling and psychology, check out my site at RMarcAndrews.com

Self-Kindness

In the book, Neff writes that self-kindness

Because men aren’t diagnosed with depression as often as women, we tend to downplay the wreckage this illness makes in their lives. Crying mothers makes for better footage on the evening news. So here’s a refresher on some sobering statistics you need to know: 80 percent of all suicides in the US are men; the male suicide rate at midlife is three times higher than women and for men over 65 seven times higher; more than four times as many men as women die of suicide in the United States; even though women make more suicide attempts during their lives, men attempt suicide using methods that are generally more lethal than those used by women; suicide accounts for 1 in 100 deaths, and, as noted above, the majority of those are men; the suicide rate among young men is increasing (not so among young women), and the majority of these men have not asked for help before their deaths.

For more information about counseling and psychology, check out my site at RMarcAndrews.com

Do you think you might be a sex addict? These days it

Part of what makes male depression so misunderstood is that a depressed guy doesn’t act the way a depressed lady does, and the feminine symptoms are the ones most often presented in pharmaceutical ads and those glossy brochures you pick up at your doctor’s office . For example, it is not uncommon for a man to complain to his primary care physician about sleep problems, headaches, fatigue and other unspecified pain, some or all of which may be related to untreated depression. In her Newsweek article, “Men & Depression,” Julie Scelfo writes, “Depressed women often weep and talk about feeling bad; depressed men are more likely to get into bar fights, scream at their wives, have affairs, or become enraged by small inconveniences like lousy service at a restaurant.”

For more information about counseling and psychology, check out my site at RMarcAndrews.com

Guys, you are not invincible. That’s the message men’s health experts wish you would learn. The earlier, the better. You already know the drill: That means a good diet , frequent exercise , and routine trips to the doctor. But it’s often not until men are into their 60s, after decades of self-neglect, that their thinking begins to change.

For more information about counseling and psychology, check out my site at RMarcAndrews.com