In the spring of 2006, the depression of two very successful men made newspaper headlines in Maryland.
Phil Merrill, a renowned publisher, entrepreneur and diplomat in the Washington area took his own life. Eleven days later Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan withdrew his candidacy for governor of Maryland because of his struggle with depression. For weeks, newspapers covered male depression, including the stories of Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Archbishop Raymond Roussin, Mike Wallace, William Styron, Art Buchwald, and Robin Williams.
That was unusual. Because, in the majority of media stories and infomercials, depression is regarded as a feminine thing … a result of all of the hormonal shifts and baby-making stuff.
The reality? Six million men, or seven percent of American men, suffer from depression, and millions more suffer silently because they either don’t recognize the symptoms, which can vary from women’s, or they are too ashamed to get help for what they see as a woman’s disease.
These 12 techniques were written for men to address the hidden desperation so many feel, and to expose the truth about mood disorders and gender.
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Hi, Therese -
Thanks for this excellent and thorough post – also for the mention of Storied Mind. You’ve covered the bases so well here and remind me that truths I’ve come to take for granted need to be presented over and over. Your summary is fresh and energizing, even to someone like me who’s been there and done that far too often. I hear story after story of men destroying their marriages and refusing to consider the possibility that they are depressed. Or if they recognize what’s happening, their “solution” is to isolate themselves in the vain hope that they’ll figure it out on their own without the help of the person they’re closest to – and without the help of mental health providers. I hope this piece is read far and wide.
John