Machismo and Melancholy
According to The National Institute of Mental Health, in America alone, more than 6 million men have depression each year.
Here are some excerpts from a Los Angeles Times article:
In May 2003, four-time Superbowl quarterback Terry Bradshaw embarked on a multi-city campaign sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, maker of the antidepressant Paxil, to discuss his own lifelong depression and urge sufferers to get help.
“Taking the first step toward a diagnosis and treatment was one of the bravest thing I’ve ever had to do,” said Bradshaw.
Philip E. Burguieres was once the youngest chief executive of a Fortune 500 company. In the early 1990s, Burguieres says he was an outwardly successful workaholic problem-solver.
But he never slept more than a few hours at a time — and inside, worry gnawed at him so furiously, “I almost wanted to peel my skin off,” he says.
In 1991, after wrestling for weeks with a particularly intractable business challenge, Burguieres passed out in his office. A psychiatrist bluntly told him he was clinically depressed and prescribed medication, psychotherapy and participation in a mental health support group.
Continued in Depression’s Machismo Mask, By Melissa Healy.
