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Have I got your attention now? Hope so. 'I've said it before and
I'll say it again. More times than those two and a half men can sing
"men."
It's. Not. All. About. You.
Here's some information from an earlier post:
There’s a misnomer going around (can a misnomer go around?). It’s
called “male menopause.” Now mind you, I’ve got no beef with da guyz
but to call a gradual decline in testosterone “menopause,” seems a bit
extreme. So, what’s the buzz about?
According to the Mayo Clinic,
menopause and “andropause” are two distinct animals. During menopause,
women undergo a cessation of menstruation and a rapid plummet in
hormone production. On the other hand, men experience gradual declines
in testosterone production after age 40. However, some men continue to
produce high levels of testosterone well into their older years. What’s
more, the problem does not appear to be universal; symptoms of
testosterone decline, which may include reduced sexual desire and
spontaneous erection, swollen breasts, a loss of hair from the body and
around the genitals, loss of muscle mass, depression, and rarely, hot
flashes and sweats vary from man to man and some men never experience
any symptoms whatsoever.
In fact, back in October, I cited data
suggesting that there is insufficient evidence supporting a decline in
androgen in a majority of men and that "the extent to which an
age-dependent decline in androgen levels leads to health problems that
might affect or alter the quality of life remains under debate."
Further, the medical community is not only in disagreement over “male menopause” but also its treatment.
There’s lots of controversy over testosterone replacement therapy and
whether or not it actually helps the symptoms of androgen deficiency.
What’s more, research suggests
that a large majority of men experiencing symptoms of androgen
deficiency do not seek care. (No surprise there, right?!)
Okay, so now that we've got that straight, may I reiterate that it's not all about you?
I ran across a disturbing piece in
this past Tuesday's Washington Post about how and why the country's
economic crisis is taking a greater toll on men. Entitled "Economic Crisis Hits Men Harder," the article relies on the psychotherapist and author Jed Diamond who is at the forefront of the male menopause movement. In addition to expounding on the distinction between male menopause and irritable male syndrome (for which Diamond continues to claim that he has supportive data) Diamond says:
"The loss of jobs, economic situations, crashing -- it affects men
in a profound way. The chaos is affecting men in very, very powerful
and negative ways...Men have a less resilient emotional system; women's
brains are more networked from left to right. They are balanced
socially. Men tend to be more isolated" (and therefore, don't have as
much social support).
I agree with Diamond's point that women tend to turn to social support in
times of stress and therefore, may be able to deal with it more
effectively than their male counterparts. However, to minimize the
impact on a majority of the population, many of whom work multiple jobs
while simultaneously caring for families, well, that's just wrong. In
fact, economic development expert Sara Gould writes
that "the current instability roiling Wall Street's markets will lead
to an increasingly dire economic situation for women. This is
especially true for low-income women, women of color, single mothers
and others who have long experienced the disproportionate impact of
flawed economic policies."
So, if women are bearing the brunt of the crisis and are facing
increasingly dire situations, is it accurate to say that the economic
crisis hits men harder? And likewise, is it reasonable to take a life
transition that is as natural to women as breasts and recreate it in
the male image?
What do you think? I smell a rat and his name is Jed.
[Cross posted on Flashfree.wordpress.com]