Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Capitalism makes men ill

Men are struggling to cope with the emotional impact of the recession . Almost 40% of men admit to feeling low at the moment with job security, work and money playing on their minds, a Mind survey of 2,000 adults found.

Research shows one in seven men develop depression within six months of losing their jobs.

Paul Farmer, chief executive at Mind, said: "The recession is clearly having a detrimental impact on the nation's mental health, but men in particular are struggling with the emotional impact. Being a breadwinner is something that is still crucial to the male psyche so if a man loses his job he loses a large part of his identity putting his mental wellbeing in jeopardy. "

Peter Cooper, spokesman for the British Psychological Society, said "With men there's much more shame about say the loss of a job or the loss of a home..."

Oxford University researchers recently found that the children of fathers with mental health disorders such as depression are more likely to develop anxiety, alcoholism and psychiatric problems in later life.

No comments: