Zartaloudi Aphroditi
Background: Men’s experience of depression has not been as well understood as women’s experience of depression. Men are more likely to suffer in silence. It appears that what men “feel” is likely to be kept in for longer while women act upon their symptoms more readily as the symptoms arise. Purpose: To present the current research findings on depression and gender, with a focus on the factors that account for gender differences in rates of depression among women and men, and emphasis on the relationship between the male gender role and men’s experience of depression and coping with the symptoms. Method and Material: A critical review of this body of literature was carried out. Evidence was collected through Medline database. Results: Although depression is often traditionally thought of as a woman’s illness, there is growing evidence to suggest that men may not be adequately counted in studies examining rates of depression, that men are equally vulnerable to depression, and that depression in men is a serious and, if untreated, potentially fatal condition. This phenomenon is better supported by several explanations, namely, the gender bias explanation, and the gender role socialisation explanation. Conclusions: Depression predicted as the second leading cause of global disability burden by 2020 may well be underestimated if the direct and indirect effects of depression in men are not taken into account. Understanding depression in both men and women and help-seeking behaviours across genders is important because there are implications of the findings in the context of primary care in order to detect and cope with depressive symptoms in men.
