Depression in men is less common but more severe

Gender differences in depression

19/08/2011

Depression is often more severe in men than in women. Although significantly more women are due to the mental illness in treatment, the suicide rate is significantly higher for the depressive men. In the vicinity of Hannover, therefore, Germany's first day clinic is explicitly dedicated to the treatment of men with manifest depression.

Generally speaking, men are more likely to talk about their mental health problems and seek help than women, the experts at the German Society for Men and Health (DGMG) report to the news agency „dpa“. The depression researcher Mathias Berger from the University Hospital Freiburg added: „Men try to suppress depression for a long time, then it quickly becomes life-threatening.“ In the opinion of the experts, this is also the reason for suicides in depressed men .

First day clinic for depressed men
Since the beginning of the year, the first day clinic for depressive men has been running in the hamlet of Ilten in the Lower Saxon town of Sehnde in the Hanover region. As the institution of the institution, the Wahrendorff Hospital can look back on many years of experience in the care of patients with mental health problems and also serves as the academic teaching hospital of the Hannover Medical School (MHH). In the day clinic, the depressed men learn to communicate about their problems with other fellow sufferers and receive professional support in order to get their mental illness under control. According to the DGMG, men tend to suppress their mental health problems and flee into their work or exaggerated sporting activities if depression persists. Increasing alcohol consumption is often a symptom of depression in men, the experts report. The willingness to talk about one's own psychological problems with others was until recently relatively low for men, said Frank Sommer, President of DGMG and Professor of Men's Health at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. But the tragic death of goalkeeper Robert Enke became the German male world shaken up, summer stressed.

Men are often ashamed of their mental health problems
Although the suicide of the former national gatekeeper has somewhat negated the topic of depressive illness in men, the readiness to seek medical help is, according to the DGMG, far lower among male victims than it is in women. According to the experts, the significantly higher number of patients with depression, as proven by current studies, also goes back to the men's unwillingness to talk about their mental health problems. According to the DGMG, women suffer from depression two to three times more frequently, but the suicide rate in depressive men is about three times higher. Frequently, the mental illness is recognized in women at a much earlier stage and so the patients can often be helped with the existing different treatment options. The men, on the other hand, usually go into treatment only when their mental health problems have already reached a much greater level, the experts explained. In addition, in another study, GPs recognized depression in men in only 20 percent of cases, compared to 40 percent in women. Thus, the prospects for a successful therapy in depressed men are often difficult from the outset, which, according to experts, the increased suicide rate can be explained. For this reason, the German Society for Men and Health has, among other things, developed special training programs for GPs to help physicians to detect early-stage patients at risk.

Depression has the status of a widespread disease
In the day clinic for depressive men of the clinic Wahrendorff the 20 to 50-jährigen patients are treated on the basis of a special psychotherapeutischen approach, with which the stress tolerance training according to the statement of the chief physician Michael Hettich opposite the „dpa“ has a significant meaning. Relaxation exercises and the conversation with the other depressive patients are also a focus of the therapeutic approach, Hettich continued. According to the company, the nine patients currently being treated at the day clinic benefit considerably from the unique project in Germany. A model that could make school, especially considering the dramatic increase in the number of depressive illnesses urgently new therapeutic approaches seem necessary. According to experts, around four million people in Germany are currently undergoing therapeutic treatment for depression. Around 121 million people around the world suffer from depressive symptoms, an international science team from the State University of New York reported in the science magazine at the end of July „BMC Medicine“. Symptoms such as sleep problems, inner restlessness and listlessness can often be the first signs of depression, often accompanied by psychosomatic complaints such as headache, dizziness and fatigue. The mental illness is further characterized above all by a clearly sinking zest for life, persistent indifference, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts. Depression has become a widespread disease in Western industrialized nations.

Alternative treatment approaches for depression
As the growing number of patients with depression puts conventional medicine before a task that can hardly be mastered, conventional medicine is increasingly resorting to naturopathic treatment approaches in the search for alternative treatment methods for treatment of depression. Researchers at the Berlin Charité, for example, are investigating the effects of lavender oil on symptoms such as inner restlessness, sleep disorders or depression. The use of light radiation with a power of 2,500 to 4,000 lux has also been successfully tested during so-called winter depression. In addition, researchers from the University of Bochum have achieved positive effects in the treatment of depression patients with acupuncture and an Israeli-American research team was able to demonstrate in laboratory experiments in mice that inhaling incense fragrance may also be accompanied by an alleviation of depression. But even the most unusual treatment methods can only be used if there is a corresponding diagnosis, that is, the affected persons face their problems and seek medical help. The day clinic in the Hanover region, which was specially set up for men, offers a good approach in this respect, according to the DGMG, in order to make it easier for men to seek professional support. (Fp)

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