Framework 05, Rutz and colleagues
Male depressive syndrome
In men, depression often looks like anger, drinking, risk, or overwork rather than sadness.
Wolfgang Rutz and colleagues, working on the Swedish island of Gotland, observed that depression in men often does not present the way screening tools expect. Instead of sadness and tearfulness, it can show up as irritability, anger, risk taking, heavier drinking or drug use, overwork, and physical complaints. Their work led to the Gotland Male Depression Scale, which was designed to pick up those signs.
Why it matters
A man who is angry, drinking more, and working eighty hours may not look depressed to himself, to the people around him, to his doctor, or to a standard questionnaire. That gap matters, because depression that goes unrecognised goes untreated.
When it looks like anger, it is worth asking whether it is only anger.
What it is not
This page is education, not a self test. Only a clinician can tell you whether what you are experiencing is depression. If you recognise yourself in the list above, especially if it has lasted for weeks, the next step is a doctor, and the piece on how to tell you need a clinician includes the first sentence of that call.
If you are having thoughts of ending your life, call or text 988 now, at any hour.
If this sounds like you
A doctor is the right next step. How to tell you need a clinician, and what to say when you call. If you are thinking about ending your life, reach a crisis line in your country now.