What Causes Depression And Anxiety In Men – What Can We Do?
Depression and anxiety are 2 of the most common mental illnesses that men are suffering with in today’s world.
Situations can often change quickly and without warning, which can give rise to depressive or anxious states.
The main causes for depression are negative, significant changes in a mans life. Leading to his reduced sense of happiness and well being.
The main causes of anxiety can be attributed to fear of situations in which the man feels he cannot overcome or do well in. Like public speaking or difficult clients.
Anxiety
For most people stress and worry are normal parts of our lives and we just get on with them and take these negative feelings in our stride but for some men these worries can build and manifest into anxiety.
There are times when all of us feel anxious on a very temporary basis, a first date, a job interview or even driving somewhere new. The task or situation, when complete, usually takes the anxiety with it, replacing it with a sense of relief.
For some men that anxiety does not simply go away. The fear remains. It’s a feeling of dread, that something could and will go very wrong causing major problems. Often, anxiety comes about as a result of ongoing stressful situations which may be unsolvable by the guy who then dreads that event happening and then becomes anxious about its impending arrival.
If anxiety is left unchecked it can bleed into other areas of a mans life, even where no stress exists, to a point where everything becomes untenable and he withdraws into himself and from the rest of society.
On average around 20% of all men experience anxiety in their lives. Recognizing it as the serious issue that it is and seeking medical assistance early on can help to stop the problem becoming much worse, thus requiring more intense treatment.
Depression
Depression, like anxiety, is a debilitating condition but for different reasons. Usually as a result of a lack of happiness, fulfillment, or positive things in a man’s life. He may then feel strong negative emotions like sadness, feeling down or flat, miserable, irritable, or even angry.
If you feel like this for more than a couple of weeks straight then you be be experiencing depression yourself and should pay a visit to your doctor, just in case.
Men commonly notice the physical signs before realizing it as a depressive state. Feeling tired is very common as it apathy and a lack of interest in things you used to enjoy. Changes in weight are common too, either gaining a lot (maybe comfort eating) or losing weight (not eating well, if at all)
Depressed people shut themselves away from family and friends too. Being around people who seem oblivious to your plight can be troubling and make actually make you feel worse as a result.
Depression can come about as a result of big or dramatic changes in your life. Common causes are:
- Job losses – Being unable to support you and your family.
- Breakups or divorce – Losing someone you care about deeply from your life
- Bereavement – Having some pass away in your family or a close friend.
- Health problems – Getting a long term health issue, especially those that cause pain or are incurable.
Fixes:
Make an action plan: One of the first things you can do to get you on the road to recovery is to make a plan to be more healthy, a healthy body will help you to get a healthy mind. It may be quite difficult so you can start by getting a pen and paper and writing down a couple of easy to achieve things that can contribute to your health.
Going for a walk can be something easy to achieve, the walking will make you feel healthy and getting out into the fresh air and sunshine will be a nice change of scenery for your mind and you will also get some vitamin D from the sun to give you an added boost.
Drinking a glass of water or 2 in the morning. This will help flush out your system and keep you hydrated for the day. Proper hydration is essential for your body and also for good brain function and concentration.
When you have written your list, place it near your bed so you see it when you wake up. You can make it your new goal. performing the tasks on the list will help you begin to form new habits to replace some of the old, negative ones. This may get easier over time as you begin to change how you think and feel about life and the possibilities it can bring.
Spend time with friends and/or family who care: Spending time with people who truly love and care for you may be difficult but they are your lifeline to recovery. Talking with them sharing your feelings can help you and you may actually get help from them in the form of advice or a more substantive form of help.
Help them to understand what you are going through and allow them input, shutting people out will hamper your chances of recovery.
Speak with your doctor: This is similar to speaking to your family and friends but your doctor can provide you with professional medical treatment to help your recovery if your condition is severe.
Most men are brought up in society to be strong and accepting of life’s issues and as a result we often keep quite about personal problems but we need to change this by speaking out.
Speak out: It’s high time we men started speaking out about the issues we face. It’s a bygone age where we keep quiet about everything from feeling sad to a mild heart attack. It’s not weak to ask for help if you need it.
Is it weak to ask someone to fix your computer, your electrical fuse box or your car if you know nothing about them? No of course not, so why do we balk when it comes to talking about ourselves?
Most of us are not doctors or psychiatrists so why do we think getting medical professionals to fix a problem we are not trained for, is weak?
In conclusion:
Men are facing an ever increasingly steep slope with the rules and expectations that modern society wants us to adopt. Be a man, don’t be a man. Be strong but also weak. A lot of the time it makes no sense.
It’s no wonder then with so much anti men rhetoric being thrown around that mental health issues amongst men is on the rise.
The good news is that there is plenty of help available, from medical professionals to family and friends. We are not alone so there is no reason for these issues to exist. But they do. Why? Because even with these support groups it’s nowhere near enough. Men’s health is widely considered to be a joke which needs to change.
We need to not only stand up but stand together and make the changes that we want to see not just for ourselves but for all men.
