More men likely to feel the blues

WASHINGTON - More men are likely to feel the blues as the century progresses, a new study says.

“Compared to women, many men attach a great importance to their roles as providers and protectors of their families,” says study author Boadie Dunlop of Emory University in the US.

“Failure to fulfil the role of breadwinner is associated with greater depression and marital conflict,” Dunlop adds, according to the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Research shows that since the beginning of the recession in 2007, roughly 75 percent of the jobs lost in the US were held by men, according to an Emory statement.

On the other hand, women are increasingly becoming the primary household earners with 22 percent of wives earning more than their husbands in 2007, versus only four percent in 1970.

Unfortunately, there is little reason for anyone to believe that traditional male jobs will return in significant numbers with economic recovery.

Additionally, biological and sociological differences in men and women may make it harder for men to fit into the role of primary care provider to young children than most women.

“Men in the changing economy will face the same risks for depression that women faced in older economies: trapped in a family role from which they cannot escape because of an inability to find employment,” Dunlop says.

Finally, the societal expectancy of men to be tough, stoic and hiding their feelings is being significantly eroded.