Understandings of men’s depression in published research, news media portrayals, and men’s accounts of their experiences.
type: CreativeWork
description: Within the next two decades, depression is predicted to become the leading cause of disease burden in developed countries, and the second leading cause of disease burden globally. There is a relatively large body of research on women’s experiences of depression, but research on men’s depression, and their experiences with depression, has been fragmented. The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to the understanding of depression in men through the triangulation of three diverse sources of data that deal with men’s experiences of depression. These data sources are: existing published research studies, media portrayals, and in-depth interviews with men. Applying a systematic review methodology, the first study explores current knowledge about the factors associated with depressive symptoms in men. These factors include social and demographic factors, occupational factors, health behavioural factors, and psychological or cognitive factors. I discuss the relevance of these findings in relation to diathesis-stress models of depression, and to theories of pathoplasticity which describe an individual’s vulnerability to potential stressors. In the second study, I extend the theory that ‘softer’ masculinities are becoming increasingly valued in modern society, through an investigation of how depressed men are positioned by particular discourses in news media articles. I explore news media portrayals of men’s communication about their depression in relation to theories of stigma and masculinity. The findings of this study highlight the role media can play in reproducing or challenging such stigma. The third and final study addresses the limited research on men’s subjectivities of distress. I add to the body of knowledge about men’s discourses of depression by exploring how men draw on medical understandings of depression and how they talk about the broader social contexts of their experiences. The focus of this study is to explore the understandings of depression experie…
abstract: Within the next two decades, depression is predicted to become the leading cause of disease burden in developed countries, and the second leading cause of disease burden globally. There is a relatively large body of research on women’s experiences of depression, but research on men’s depression, and their experiences with depression, has been fragmented. The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to the understanding of depression in men through the triangulation of three diverse sources of data that deal with men’s experiences of depression. These data sources are: existing published research studies, media portrayals, and in-depth interviews with men. Applying a systematic review methodology, the first study explores current knowledge about the factors associated with depressive symptoms in men. These factors include social and demographic factors, occupational factors, health behavioural factors, and psychological or cognitive factors. I discuss the relevance of these findings in relation to diathesis-stress models of depression, and to theories of pathoplasticity which describe an individual’s vulnerability to potential stressors. In the second study, I extend the theory that ‘softer’ masculinities are becoming increasingly valued in modern society, through an investigation of how depressed men are positioned by particular discourses in news media articles. I explore news media portrayals of men’s communication about their depression in relation to theories of stigma and masculinity. The findings of this study highlight the role media can play in reproducing or challenging such stigma. The third and final study addresses the limited research on men’s subjectivities of distress. I add to the body of knowledge about men’s discourses of depression by exploring how men draw on medical understandings of depression and how they talk about the broader social contexts of their experiences. The focus of this study is to explore the understandings of depression experie…
author: Scholz, Brett David
keywords: men's health; mental health; depression; masculinity
date published: 2015
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:50:56Z
provider: University of Adelaide
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Adelaide

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2440/92598