This is exactly what Padalecki has done in his open confession. In a powerful media clip, he has broken down the walls of stigma that are especially thick for men, and joins other celebrity spokespeople for mental health such as actor Jon Hamm, columnist Art Buchwald, TV host Stephen Colbert, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, performer Adam Ant, Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, television personality Dick Clark, and journalist Mike Wallace.
“I think it’s less socially acceptable for men to be depressed or anxious,” says my friend Thomas, a college professor who has experienced depression and anxiety. “It can be, and has been, written off to women’s hormones or body chemistry in ways that it tends not to be for males, who (it turns out) also have hormones and body chemistry. I think male depression is seen as bearing too much stress from the outside, whereas female depression tends to be seen as something internal — if not self-generated, at least self-originating.
“If it’s true that depression is perceived as a woman’s illness, and I’m inclined to think it is,” Thomas tells me, “it adds a layer to this that is at least an implicit attack on one’s masculinity. And if that’s not an onramp to a vicious cycle, I’m not sure what is.”
In an interview in the Johns Hopkins Depression and Anxiety Bulletin, Peter V. Rabins, MD, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Maryland, explains some of the differences between male and female depression:
Men — more commonly than women — are likely to feel angry, irritable, and frustrated rather than sad when depressed.
Instead of withdrawing from the world, men may act recklessly or develop a compulsive interest in … a new hobby. Instead of crying, men may engage in violent behavior.
Men also are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol when in the midst of a depression, perhaps to find relief from the pain of depressive feelings.