Depression and masculinity
Depression is a mental, mood disorder that is unfortunately quite common. It can be considered mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the intensity of the symptoms. It is estimated that more than 300 million people of all ages suffer from this disorder. It is a form of suffering, of illness, that can be extremely debilitating and may lead to suicide. The lifetime prevalence of depression in Brazil is around 15.5%, with a ratio of 2.3 cases in women for every 1 case in men. Generally, diagnostic/classification manuals, the ICD and the DSM, are used to diagnose it. A discussion is needed regarding the gendered descriptions in these manuals, which can lead to overdiagnosis in women and underdiagnosis of this disorder in men (Zanello, 2014). Gender seems to affect not only the description of disorders, but also the expression of suffering (differently for men and women) and the identity issues that are challenged/affected (which appear in patients' speech in the clinic).
To consider male depression, this live session adopts the perspective of masculinity studies, especially the concept of "efficacy device" (Zanello, 2018), in its two pillars, labor virility and sexual virility. Male suffering appears through the dimensions of ineffectiveness and impotence. The special guest is the psychologist, Master in Clinical Psychology and Culture, Naiara Windmöller.
Bibliography
Windmöller, N.; Zanello, V. (2016). Depression and masculinities: a systematic review of the literature in Brazilian journals. Revista Estudos em Psicologia, V. 21, N.3.
http://www.periodicos.uem.br/ojs/inde...
Windmöller, N.; Zanello, V. (2019). Depression in men: a reading from the perspective of masculinities. In: Masculine plurality: contributions to research in men's health, Brasília: CRV, 2019, v. 1, p. 549-568.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N6z3...
Zanello, V. (2014). Mental health from a gender perspective: a gendered reinterpretation of epidemiology, semiology and diagnostic interpretation. In: Mental health and gender - Dialogues, Practices and Interdisciplinarity. Curitiba: Appris.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m912...