Depression in Men v/s Depression in Women: What’s the Difference?

The issues of gender differences in depression are widely recognized. Check out any statistics you can find about the disorder, and you will hear it screaming - that twice as many women suffer from depression than men do. However, recent studies have shown that the number of suicide cases in men is twice as high, when compared to women. This has opened up another debate as to whether depression is actually less prevalent in men or is it just not reported because depression symptoms can be harder to recognize among men than in women. For this reason, it is important to know that men and women do exhibit widely different (in some cases, opposite) symptoms of clinical depression. Here are some such differences:

Angry on others vs angry on self: When men are depressed they tend to be aggressive and show their anger on everyone else around. This can be bad because in such cases men, who actually need the support of their social circle and dear ones, tend to damage the same and thus deprive themselves of the help they require to get out of the situation. This perpetuates depression and makes life even more difficult for the affected male. Depressed women on the other hand, are more likely to be angry on their own self. They become extremely critical of the way they look, think or act and begin assuming low status. This is again dangerous because it may lead them to unhealthy relationships and habits which will in turn escalate the tendency of depression.

Workoholic vs Loner: Both a depressed male as well as a depressed female start spending their time alone on things they don’t like too much. But what they do with their time is very different. A depressed man is likely to turn into a workaholic, while a depressed woman may not spend too much time at work. She may just sit alone at home. Both of them do this because of a feeling of low self-worth and lack of enjoyable activities.

Controlling vs Controlled: A depressed man acts controlling. He is suspicious of everyone and everything. His low self-esteem makes him feel incapable of handling any trouble and he feels he will be deserted by the one he love, any minute. A depressed woman on the other hand, gets controlled. Her low self-worth makes her tolerate whims and fancies of her partner just to stay in the relationship.

What we need to understand is that there are differences in the way men and women react, even though they are dealing with the same feelings. Understanding the differences that arise depending on the gender of a person, are therefore important for both helping you or your loved ones come out of depression.

By profession, Alia Haley is a writer and blogger who believes that a healthy lifestyle is must for a happy life. She always makes it a point to write articles on home remedies which parents can choose for their little one.

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