Gender stereotypes and Depression

[Adelaide]

I wasn't sure whether to post this in medicine/health or here, but I'm going to place it here for now, (feel free to move it, mods).


Something similar, it seems, may happen when men and women start to show signs of depression. A new study, published this week in the journal PLoS ONE, suggests that people of both sexes are less likely to view men as being depressed and in need of professional help - even if a man's symptoms are identical to a woman's.

...

Why the difference? Male stereotypes that emphasize traits such as toughness and strength may dissaude both women and men, and especially the latter, from identifying or acknowledging the signs of depression in men, says study author Viren Swami.

...

On a deeper level, a man's failure to recognize the symptoms of depression in a fellow male may represent a kind of defense mechanism prompted by an "unconscious identification" with that man, says Dr. Radu Saveanu, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.



How Gender Stereotypes Warp Our View of Depression (http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/15/how-gender-stereotypes-warp-our-view-of-depression/)

Interesting article - I tried to grab the best parts but I suggest reading it in its entirety. I have been in situations where both males and females with diagnosed depression and/or anxiety were interacting with one another in group therapy, and it was interesting how differently they viewed themselves in relation to their disorder.

[Peter1469]

Proper nutrition and exercise. No depression.

[KC]

Proper nutrition and exercise. No depression.

It certainly helps. Some of the people I have known with clinical depression started changing their attitudes when they started getting on regular exercise routines.

When I went through my first tough break up, from a relationship that lasted years, I started getting serious about eating right and exercising for the first time in my life. I went from overweight and pushing obese to the right weight for my BMI, and more importantly it really got me through the tough feelings I had.

We ended up getting back together though, about a year later. We still are :cool2:

[Carygrant]

Proper nutrition and exercise. No depression.


Far too simplistic , once you deal with people whose environment is out of control ( not much chance of that in the services) .
No money / job undermines the ability to obtain consistent good nutrition . And as depression and lack of motivation walk hand in hand , exercise is invariably ruled out .
I believe that your recipe is one of the best approaches to prevent Depression occurring in the first place , but most people need some sort of carer or mentor to make any sorts of personal change of any significance .
That is not a "liberal"approach . It is empirical .

[IMPress Polly]

It's definitely not that simple Pete. First off, many people who find themselves depressed wind up with overeating as a consequence more than as the cause of their ailment, albeit one that probably exacerbates their plight. Comfort eating and whatnot. But I eat in a basically healthy manner, exercise regularly, am considered healthy by my doctor, etc., yet I've had clinical depression since I was 12. It's entirely possible that I will for my whole life. There is simply no undoing the things that I'm told led to my depression, and you all know what those were by now. I really don't know what to do about it except try to move on and not care and get counsel regularly.

[Peter1469]

It's definitely not that simple Pete. First off, many people who find themselves depressed wind up with overeating as a consequence more than as the cause of their ailment, albeit one that probably exacerbates their plight. Comfort eating and whatnot. But I eat in a basically healthy manner, exercise regularly, am considered healthy by my doctor, etc., yet I've had clinical depression since I was 12. It's entirely possible that I will for my whole life. There is simply no undoing the things that I'm told led to my depression, and you all know what those were by now. I really don't know what to do about it except try to move on and not care and get counsel regularly.

I certainly accept that some people really are clinically depressed. I can certainly understand your position.

My point is that most people are misdiagnosed and probably for profit.

[Adelaide]

It's definitely not that simple Pete. First off, many people who find themselves depressed wind up with overeating as a consequence more than as the cause of their ailment, albeit one that probably exacerbates their plight. Comfort eating and whatnot. But I eat in a basically healthy manner, exercise regularly, am considered healthy by my doctor, etc., yet I've had clinical depression since I was 12. It's entirely possible that I will for my whole life. There is simply no undoing the things that I'm told led to my depression, and you all know what those were by now. I really don't know what to do about it except try to move on and not care and get counsel regularly.

There are also many who develop other eating-related issues, such as anorexia (note: not the same thing as anorexia nervosa, the eating disorder). It's basically about developing coping mechanisms to manage stress and internal conflict and especially with untreated or poorly treated depression and other mental illnesses those coping mechanisms are often on the negative end of the scale, termed maladaptive coping strategies. So, behaviours such as substance abuse, alcohol abuse, self-injury, promiscuous sexual behaviour, gambling, compulsive shopping, eating problems, etc.. These behaviours do more harm than good, but people under a great amount of stress with little to no support or no access to supports will resort to them in place of healthier coping strategies. This is where you get complex mental health issues such as dual diagnoses which require specialist treatment in comparison to simply having a mental illness.

Positive/adaptive coping mechanisms are a healthier responses to stress and include things like exercise, healthy eating, proper sleep hygeine, avoiding substances/alcohol, and so on. Often psychologists and therapists will suggest also using other adaptive techniques, such as journaling (which is something I do, and find therapuetic), or even encouraging more social exposure since depression causes many to retreat from social relationships, (which is also harmful).

As for your situation: Have you tried CBT or DBT? Related to the abuse I read about in another post, have you tried EMDR or prolonged exposure therapy?

[Adelaide]

I certainly accept that some people really are clinically depressed. I can certainly understand your position.

My point is that most people are misdiagnosed and probably for profit.

I think that "most" is probably an over-estimation, though it certainly happens. Somewhat unrelated but certainly on topic in terms of coporations capitalizing on the sick: non-complex wound care treatment in Ontario (possibly Canada) used to be based around the HEAL protocol which has now been replaced with best practice protocols because HEAL required that you use a specific type of material that was only manufactured by one company under a specific patent. So basically, the medical community was catering to big pharma by following HEAL protocols for many, many years. Kind of an interesting case. The "as per best practice" protocols are almost identical but do not require the use of this specific product.