Depression Symptoms Can't Hide - From You

Most of us men are clueless when it comes to recognizing the signs and symptoms of depression. Life's pressures and our own ambitions conspire to make us blind and deaf to sights and sounds of our impending collapse.

But you can see something happening in his life that is more than the proverbial "hitch in his giddy-up."

Recognizable signs of major or "clinical" depression differ from the early warning signs mostly by intensity. As you examine your husband's behaviour look for tell tale changes in:

Sexual habits and libido

Ability to focus

Body weight

Equanimity/irritability

Appetite

Tendency to worry

Decision making ability

Risk taking

Fatique

Weepiness

Avoiding people

Workaholism

Relational distance

Alcohol intake

Drug abuse

Spending habits

Verbal expressions of helplessness, hoplessness, exhaustion

For a more in depth discussion of symptoms see chapter 5 in the book.

But My Husband is a Rock...

Depression is not just a few days of feeling "down". When you see multiple signs occuring in his behaviour over a sustained period of time (several weeks) suspect impending depression.

Some men feel the changes happening and intuitively take stock and shift gears. Several men described their coping mechanisms for me. They didn't know the name of the problem but they could feel it coming.

They are the fortunate ones.

Most men shrug the early warning signs off until depression shuts them down.

Then they suffer greatly, unable to stop the pain, employing strategies and coping mechanisms that usually make things worse. Worse for them, and much worse for you.

You can be his eyes and ears to identify the enemy and then plan a counter attack. Don't give up!