More than 5 million men in the U.S. experience depression each year.
Clinical depression in women or mencan cause sadness and a loss of interest in once pleasurable activities. But depression can sometimes manifest in different ways in different people.
"While the symptoms used to diagnose depression are the same regardless of gender, often the chief complaint can be different among men and women," says Ian A. Cook, MD, the Miller Family professor of psychiatry at the University of California–Los Angeles.
Here are 7 signs of depression in men.
1- Fatigue:
People who are depressed undergo a series of physical and emotional changes. They can experience fatigue, as well as psychomotor retardation, or a slowing down of physical movements, speech, and thought processes.
According to Josh Klapow, PhD, a clinical psychologist with the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Public Health, men are more likely than women to report fatigue and other physical symptoms of depression as their chief complaints.
2- Sleeping Too Much Or Too Little:
Sleep problems such as insomnia, waking up very early in the morning, or excessive sleeping are common depression symptoms.
Some people sleep 12 hours a day and still feel exhausted or toss and turn and wake up every two hours," says Dr. Cook.
Like fatigue, sleep troubles are one of the main symptoms that depressed men may discuss with their doctor, experts say.
3- Stomachache or Backache:
Health problems such as constipation or diarrhea, as well as headaches and back pain, are common in people who are depressed.
But men often don't realize that chronic pain and digestive disorders go hand in hand with depression, according to focus groups conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health. Norman Sussman, MD, a professor of psychiatry at the NYU Langone Medical Center, says people who are depressed do genuinely feel bad physically.
"It is a medical disorder," says Dr. Sussman.
4- Irritability:
Instead of seeming down, men who are depressed often show signs of irritability. "If they talk about an emotional component, it could be sadness with irritability," says Dr. Cook.
In addition, says Klapow, negative thoughts are a common aspect of depression. "Men will report feeling irritable because they are having negative thoughts constantly," he says.
5- Difficulty Concentrating:
Psychomotor retardation can slow down a man's ability to process information, thereby impairing concentration on work or other tasks.
"Depression fills one with negative thoughts, almost like an intrusion," Klapow says. "You're slowed down and constantly thinking about negative things in your world. As a result it makes it very difficult to focus on anything."
"I describe depression as a form of reversible brain failure, Dr. Sussman says. "When you're depressed, it's like your CPU [central processing unit] isn't working properly."
6- Anger or Hostility:
Some men manifest depression by being hostile, angry, or aggressive, says. Dr. Sussman. "A man who realizes something is wrong may need to compensate by demonstrating that he is still strong or capable," he says.
Anger and hostility are different than irritability. "Anger tends to be a stronger emotion," Klapow says. "Irritability is a crankiness."
Dr. Sussman says he's also seen men become hostile when they have withdrawn as a result of their depression and feel under pressure by friends or family to rejoin society.
7- Stress:
"Men might be more likely to report symptoms of depression as stress. It's not that they have more stress; it's that it's more socially acceptable to report it," Klapow says.
According to Dr. Cook, stress and depression can also travel a two-way street. "It's accurate to say that feeling stressed can be an indicator of having clinical depression but also be part of the cause," he says.
Research has shown that prolonged exposure to stress can lead to changes both in the body and brain, which can in turn lead to depression.
