Slender Agenda
Member
- Aug 26, 2014
- 57
- 45
Men are today, confronted as never before with mediated messages that invite them to openly confront their emotions, be sensitive, caring and feel comfortable seeking help, whilst at the same time they are expected to be appear powerful, strong and self-reliant (Gough, 2009). It is these ideological dilemmas that Lott and MIND identify as often leading to men suffering depression.
In my search for something entertaining to read last week I visited one of the sites I frequent and there came upon an article titled Men are suffering a depression epidemic. Needless to say, I was disappointed, no, defeated and somewhat flabbergasted (and I never use that word lightly), at the contents of the article.
The first accounts of depression were recorded in ancient Mesopotamian texts in the second millennium B.C. At this time, depression was not known as we now refer to it, it was called melancholia which is a deep feeling of sadness. Hippocrates, a Greek physician suggested that personality traits and mental illnesses were related to balanced or imbalanced body fluids, however, at that point in time, all mental illnesses were seen as a result of demonic possession and were attended to by priests.
The latter article goes on to explain how depression in men is a result of the fluidity in the roles that they are currently expected to play: That is, men are expected to be strong yet sensitive, successful but not materialistic, caring yet masculine. This change, apparently has men confused as to what to be and thus all these expectations, and change in roles they should play has them confused and thus results in their depression.
My problem with the article is the fact that it appears to discard all previous cases of mens depression and puts it all in a box that blames women, feminists, for giving men the option of being other, the option to play roles that patriarchy and society had not allowed them to play for years. Secondly, the article refuses to acknowledge the roles that patriarchy has played in contributing to depression in men.
If you only knew one way of living your life, lets assume that your world is as big as your house, your yard, and someone told you, hey, do you know that there is another world right outside your gate? Would you not peep outside the gate to see it? And if you were curious enough to even think of going outside that gate, dont you think you would receive some kind of antagonism for your curiosity? Dont you think that the people in your household will judge you for going out the gate? Will not what they think about you affect how you feel about yourself?
That I believe is one of the reasons for depression in men. Not the fluidity in their roles, or the emotions they are expected to play now, but the antagonism faced by a patriarchal society that will refuse them to be anything other than their definition of masculinity. Men are today, confronted as never before with mediated messages that invite them to openly confront their emotions, be sensitive, caring and feel comfortable seeking help, whilst at the same time they are expected to be appear powerful, strong and self-reliant (Gough, 2009). It is these ideological dilemmas that Lott and MIND identify as often leading to men suffering depression.
In my search for something entertaining to read last week I visited one of the sites I frequent and there came upon an article titled Men are suffering a depression epidemic. Needless to say, I was disappointed, no, defeated and somewhat flabbergasted (and I never use that word lightly), at the contents of the article.
The first accounts of depression were recorded in ancient Mesopotamian texts in the second millennium B.C. At this time, depression was not known as we now refer to it, it was called melancholia which is a deep feeling of sadness. Hippocrates, a Greek physician suggested that personality traits and mental illnesses were related to balanced or imbalanced body fluids, however, at that point in time, all mental illnesses were seen as a result of demonic possession and were attended to by priests.
The latter article goes on to explain how depression in men is a result of the fluidity in the roles that they are currently expected to play: That is, men are expected to be strong yet sensitive, successful but not materialistic, caring yet masculine. This change, apparently has men confused as to what to be and thus all these expectations, and change in roles they should play has them confused and thus results in their depression.
My problem with the article is the fact that it appears to discard all previous cases of mens depression and puts it all in a box that blames women, feminists, for giving men the option of being other, the option to play roles that patriarchy and society had not allowed them to play for years. Secondly, the article refuses to acknowledge the roles that patriarchy has played in contributing to depression in men.
If you only knew one way of living your life, lets assume that your world is as big as your house, your yard, and someone told you, hey, do you know that there is another world right outside your gate? Would you not peep outside the gate to see it? And if you were curious enough to even think of going outside that gate, dont you think you would receive some kind of antagonism for your curiosity? Dont you think that the people in your household will judge you for going out the gate? Will not what they think about you affect how you feel about yourself?
That I believe is one of the reasons for depression in men. Not the fluidity in their roles, or the emotions they are expected to play now, but the antagonism faced by a patriarchal society that will refuse them to be anything other than their definition of masculinity.
In my search for something entertaining to read last week I visited one of the sites I frequent and there came upon an article titled Men are suffering a depression epidemic. Needless to say, I was disappointed, no, defeated and somewhat flabbergasted (and I never use that word lightly), at the contents of the article.
The first accounts of depression were recorded in ancient Mesopotamian texts in the second millennium B.C. At this time, depression was not known as we now refer to it, it was called melancholia which is a deep feeling of sadness. Hippocrates, a Greek physician suggested that personality traits and mental illnesses were related to balanced or imbalanced body fluids, however, at that point in time, all mental illnesses were seen as a result of demonic possession and were attended to by priests.
The latter article goes on to explain how depression in men is a result of the fluidity in the roles that they are currently expected to play: That is, men are expected to be strong yet sensitive, successful but not materialistic, caring yet masculine. This change, apparently has men confused as to what to be and thus all these expectations, and change in roles they should play has them confused and thus results in their depression.
My problem with the article is the fact that it appears to discard all previous cases of mens depression and puts it all in a box that blames women, feminists, for giving men the option of being other, the option to play roles that patriarchy and society had not allowed them to play for years. Secondly, the article refuses to acknowledge the roles that patriarchy has played in contributing to depression in men.
If you only knew one way of living your life, lets assume that your world is as big as your house, your yard, and someone told you, hey, do you know that there is another world right outside your gate? Would you not peep outside the gate to see it? And if you were curious enough to even think of going outside that gate, dont you think you would receive some kind of antagonism for your curiosity? Dont you think that the people in your household will judge you for going out the gate? Will not what they think about you affect how you feel about yourself?
That I believe is one of the reasons for depression in men. Not the fluidity in their roles, or the emotions they are expected to play now, but the antagonism faced by a patriarchal society that will refuse them to be anything other than their definition of masculinity. Men are today, confronted as never before with mediated messages that invite them to openly confront their emotions, be sensitive, caring and feel comfortable seeking help, whilst at the same time they are expected to be appear powerful, strong and self-reliant (Gough, 2009). It is these ideological dilemmas that Lott and MIND identify as often leading to men suffering depression.
In my search for something entertaining to read last week I visited one of the sites I frequent and there came upon an article titled Men are suffering a depression epidemic. Needless to say, I was disappointed, no, defeated and somewhat flabbergasted (and I never use that word lightly), at the contents of the article.
The first accounts of depression were recorded in ancient Mesopotamian texts in the second millennium B.C. At this time, depression was not known as we now refer to it, it was called melancholia which is a deep feeling of sadness. Hippocrates, a Greek physician suggested that personality traits and mental illnesses were related to balanced or imbalanced body fluids, however, at that point in time, all mental illnesses were seen as a result of demonic possession and were attended to by priests.
The latter article goes on to explain how depression in men is a result of the fluidity in the roles that they are currently expected to play: That is, men are expected to be strong yet sensitive, successful but not materialistic, caring yet masculine. This change, apparently has men confused as to what to be and thus all these expectations, and change in roles they should play has them confused and thus results in their depression.
My problem with the article is the fact that it appears to discard all previous cases of mens depression and puts it all in a box that blames women, feminists, for giving men the option of being other, the option to play roles that patriarchy and society had not allowed them to play for years. Secondly, the article refuses to acknowledge the roles that patriarchy has played in contributing to depression in men.
If you only knew one way of living your life, lets assume that your world is as big as your house, your yard, and someone told you, hey, do you know that there is another world right outside your gate? Would you not peep outside the gate to see it? And if you were curious enough to even think of going outside that gate, dont you think you would receive some kind of antagonism for your curiosity? Dont you think that the people in your household will judge you for going out the gate? Will not what they think about you affect how you feel about yourself?
That I believe is one of the reasons for depression in men. Not the fluidity in their roles, or the emotions they are expected to play now, but the antagonism faced by a patriarchal society that will refuse them to be anything other than their definition of masculinity.
