The Grass Isn't Always Greener On the Other Side

      Throughout our American Studies class their year our teachers have tried to really push us to include an "AOS" or "address the other side" in every paper we write, and Junior Theme is no exception. What they mean by AOS is that we should make sure that we acknowledge other opinions on the topics we are writing about. An argument becomes more well-rounded this way and shows that you have looked into alternative views or explanations for your topic. For my AOS, I decided to look into suicide and depression for women. I thought that maybe there was another possible explanation for the extreme suicide numbers for men in the comparatively low ones for women. The Encyclopedia of Gender and Society turned out to be a great source to help me look into this.

      I found that there is a lot of confusion surrounding suicides for women because of the methods they chose. Females suicides tend to be "misclassified as accidental" because of the "ambiguity" in their methods (817). While men tend to use violent methods, like shooting themselves, women tend to have more subtle ways. "Drug overdoes and poisoning" are common methods for women and it is often difficult to determine whether or not their deaths were purposeful or accidental. I concluded that since female suicides can often be misclassified it is possible that the male suicide rate seems larger simply because they have the wrong numbers for suicide rates for women.

Do you think this is a viable explanation for the difference in suicide rates? Why or why not? Why do you think women tend to use more ambiguous methods to commit suicide?

Felon On Himself

      As part of our Junior Theme, we're supposed to have a "historical look-back" in our paper. Basically what that means is that we research an event that happened in the past that is similar to our current issue that is the main idea of our paper. This is supposed to help show how our issue has been a constant problem in American history and give the argument more strength. At first, I was worried that I would not find anything that would work, but thankfully I found an article that helped lead me in the right direction. The article was called "Felo De Se: Soldier Suicides in America's Civil War" and it looked into the rise in suicides during and after America's Civil War and possible factors.

      The article led me to look into the military and the affect it has had on male suicide statistics. The article concluded that "emotional disorders and alcohol misuse, when combined with the hardships of war, contributed to a steady rate of suicides during the Civil War" (Lande). Men had difficulties keeping up with the harsh military bearing necessary to survive in the war. They were away from their families for extended periods of time and when they finally returned home, they realized they had changed so much they could not relate to their families anymore. A fellow class member Leah Roche echoed these ideas when I talked with her about the research she had been doing for her own Junior Theme on the military. She said that the one of the biggest problems soldiers face, even today, was "reintegration into society." Returning soldiers feel isolated and filled with anxiety from their past traumas, these feelings lead to depression and thoughts of suicide.

      An additional interesting thing I learned from the article was that "Felo de se" was a military term for suicide, meaning "a felon on himself."Suicide was very negatively looked upon in society as most people found it to be a moral sin and not a last cry for help by hurting individuals.

How do you think opinions on suicide at the time affected the suicide rate? How big of an influence do you think the military has on suicide rates for returning soldiers?

Covert Depression

      As I've started to do research for my junior theme I've been looking into male suicide and depression. Throughout my research, a name kept popping up, Terrence Real. I learned that he was a therapist that had written a book specifically about male depression and the experiences he has had with it in his many years as a therapist. It turns out this book was exactly what I had been looking for and began to help me answer my why question. It gave me a lot of insightful research about why men were not getting help with their depression and consequently committing suicide.

      In his book, I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression, he talks about the problems men face receiving help for their depression. He talks about what he calls "covert depression." Basically, he believes male depression tends to be hidden under other behavioral aspects thought of as typically male. So the family and the man himself does not believe that he is depressed, simply just having typical male problems with "alcohol and occasional violence" (30). Instead of being sad or tired all the time, like most women, men become more violent and irritable. There is then difficulty diagnosing and treating depression for men because most people, including psychologists, do not quiet understand the differences yet in symptoms for depression between genders.

      Even more so, men are afraid that if they admit to having a problem they will be rejected. In his book he talks about a study where males tried to get support from their roommates about their depression and "they met with social isolation and often with outright hostility" (38). Men are often expected to be stronger and able to handle their problems by themselves. Our society tells them that they have to be the strong and fearless ones, any weakness must be squelched. Depression is seen as a weakness, not as a medical issue, so men have trouble seeking or accepting help for it. Overall, I thought it was a really interesting book and have gained a lot of insight from it. I would recommend it to anyone looking into the topic of male depression.

What are your thoughts on "cover depression"? Why do you think men are unable to talk about their depression? Does our society hold men back from expressing their feelings?

The Beginning of the End of Junior Year

      It's that time of year that every junior dreads. The time of year where everyone is stressed out about junior theme. Before I could even start worrying about writing the paper I had to pick a topic that I would be able to research thoroughly and not get bored. At first there seemed to be a surplus of various topics and I did not think I'd ever be able to chose. But as I walked around the library looking at books, I found one called Guyland that seemed interesting. It was a book that described the difficulties men face growing up in todays society. This started to get me thinking about masculinity and the various social pressures that men face. My mom always said that I should try to remember that it's not easy being a teenage boy. My brothers had just as hard of a time growing up as I have had.

      So I had a general topic: masculinity. I thought it would be something a little different since there is a lot of research and understanding about feminism and problems women have faced in society, but there is not as much emphasis on the struggles men face. A poster I found hanging on the wall in the library echoed this idea. It started with, "For every girl who is tired of acting weak when she is strong, there is a boy tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable." It calls to attention the flip-side of gender stereotypes. Most people just think about women being discriminated against, but men face a lot of difficulties too. However, masculinity is quiet a large topic still and I need a why question to focus my research. As I looked online for general research, I kept coming across the statistic that men were three time more likely to commit suicide than women. I figured there must be some reason behind this shocking fact. This intrigued me so much that I realized I finally had my why question. Why are men three times more likely to commit suicide than women?