Middle Aged Men Depressed

African-American Male Depression The cultural group I selected for this assignment is African-American men. Oftentimes, there is an aura of hyper-masculinity that surrounds this particular cultural group (despite the best efforts of Western society to marginalize and disempower it), which is what attracted my attention to studying it. Moreover, I believe there is an interesting dichotomy between this perception and the sort of mental health problems that are precariously balanced by this group -- partially because of the systematic attempts to disenfranchise this group.

On the one hand, it seems natural that those within this demographic should experience mental health problems because of the typical socio-economic problems to which they are frequently subject. The article reviewed for this assignment provides a fair amount of insight into this phenomenon, since it focuses on clinical expression experienced by African-American men, and provides information how to best treat this group for depression. The key points of this article relate to the experience of Major Depressive Disorder by middle-aged African-American men.

To explore this phenomenon and to understand what the perception of depression is like for this specific cultural group, the authors engaged in original empirical research in the form of a qualitative study. They found 10 participants between the ages of 40 and 59 years old and conducted semi-structured interviews with them. Doing so enabled the authors to find emergent themes regarding the commonalities experienced of depression. These were handily stratified into three codifications including life events, the funk, and the breakdown.

Significantly, the theme of the breakdown included information about how treatment was procured and the various degrees of efficacy of it. The sort of life events that the research participants indicated that contributed to depression included drugs, family problems, and financial issues. Such a "strong negative association with income" is typical of Major Depressive Disorder. These immediate concerns led to the "stressors" (Bryant-Bedell, 2010, p. 2053) that precipitated symptoms of depression. The most widely discussed of the themes was the funk, which immediately preceded the onset of full-fledged depression.

During this stage the participants described a feeling of awareness of something bothering them -- yet could not quite diagnose what it was. Thus, it was characterized by confusion, isolation, emotional fluctuations and physical changes (Bryant-Bedell, 2010, p. 2054). The breakdown theme was synonymous with depression recognition and was characterized by uncontrollable crying, standoffs with authorities, and perceptions of having reached one's nadir. Key cultural differences that one should take account of when attempting to treat or even counsel African-American patients is knowledge of their lexicon.

There are a number of colloquial terms that the participants in this group used to refer to symptoms of depression, and which might allude a health care professional not familiar with these terms. These include referring to aspects of depression as the mounting pressures of stress and as going through a funk (Bryant-Bedell, 2010, p. 2057). Additionally, it is important for clinicians or counselors to allow patients to both feel comfortable and speak freely about their experiences. These professionals should guide patients, and not dictate the tone of their sessions with them.

Conventional indicators of depression such as the DSM do not account for these cultural differences (Bryant-Bedell, 2010, p. 2058). When attempting to demonstrate cultural sensitivity to a middle aged African-American man, it is important to let him initiate the conversation and the scope of the subject matter discussed. It is vital to attempt to empower these men by allowing them to exercise control over how the conversation takes place.

Nurses, therefore, should practice active listening and be well versed in doing so in a non-judgmental manner that encourages these individuals to express their feelings and emotions. Active listening, in fact, is an integral part of effective communication (Canyon, 2007). Such emotional transparency is frequently at odds with societal perceptions of masculinity, which is why this encouragement of such an expression of feelings via open-ended questions is important. While practicing active listening it is important for nurses to appear engage, and to actually be engaged during the listening process.

Doing so not only involves asking timely questions (ideally to lead patients in the subject of interest for a particular diagnosis or treatment), but reflecting engagement via one's body language and mannerisms. In this respect, non-verbal communication is highly important. Furthermore, it is important for nurses who are attempting to work this specific cultural group familiarize themselves with some of the jargon typical of group members.

Even if nurses are not necessarily familiar with certain slang terms and their varying connotations and denotations, it is imperative that they determine what they are as soon as possible. Additionally, nurses have to find a balance for doing so which would likely incorporate both asking patients what it is that they are talking about in addition to asking others what certain terms of phrases might mean.

Utilizing too much of one technique or the other might alienate patients, and reduce the overall level of efficacy that nurses could have while working with this specific cultural group. The point is to be able to understand, both implicitly and explicitly, what patients are conveying and to relate that understanding to various aspects of treatment or diagnosis. Another truly important.