The Trouble With “Depression”

I used to do Google news searches for the word “depression” to kind of get a sense of what was happening in the world of sadness. (For a while it was a Google alert, but I got tired of being alerted all the time.) About four months ago, I noticed a change: The word is now appearing frequently in reference to stories about the economy, as in the Great Depression. Though I personally feel I’ve suffered through many a Great Depression of my own, that’s not what these news articles are referring to.

Today I found a double whammy: an article about the recession and resultant depression, which is not only concordant in terms of themes, but also rhymes. The major mental health charity organization in Britain, Mind, released a study that says that men are more prone than women to recession-related blues. Yet men are less likely to tell someone about it and get help. From BBC.com:

Paul Farmer, chief executive at Mind, said: “The recession is clearly having a detrimental impact on the nation’s mental health, but men in particular are struggling with the emotional impact.

“Being a breadwinner is something that is still crucial to the male psyche so if a man loses his job he loses a large part of his identity putting his mental wellbeing in jeopardy.

“The problem is that too many men wrongly believe that admitting mental distress makes them weak and this kind of self stigma can cost lives.”

Stephen Fry, our beloved, is supporting Mind’s campaign to educate men. One thing that’s notably different in Britain: the admirable insistence on therapy. Peter Cooper, of the British Psychological Society, was quoted as saying: “The type of help that men need includes psychotherapy but what they are also desperate for is pragmatic practical help.”

No mention of meds. Jolly well done.

Men ’suffering recession blues’

liz | 9:39 AM | alternative treatments, depression, media, meds