Risk Factors for Depression in Men: Family History, Chronic Stress, Medication/Substance Use, Personality, and Poor Nutrition

This research identifies various risk factors which can have a negative impact and can lead to depression in men. The risk factors include family history, chronic stress, medication/substance use, personality, and poor nutrition. The research provides solution identification through different interventions and strategies which will allow fighting against the risk factors.

Risk factors for depression in
men

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
According to the World health organization (2022), depression is a common mental
disorder which affects 5% of the globe population and it is characterized by a lack of interest in
different activities and sadness, as well as loss in appetite and sleep and lack of concentration
and tiredness. Some other symptoms of depression in men are aggressiveness and irritability, as
well as feeling angry (Daly et al., 2021). Men with depression may have their emotion and may
seem to be irritable or angry, aggressive and may feel very tired and losing interest in their
family or hobbies. This is the reason why the identification and establishment of a proper
diagnosis is required. Moreover, the identification of the key factors is essential as they may lead
the individual to depression. Some of the risk factors include personality, medication or
substance use, family history, chronic stress and poor nutrition. The purpose of this research is to
identify various risk factors which can have a negative impact and can lead to depression in men
(Gorham et al., 2021). The research can provide solution identification through different
interventions and strategies which will allow to fight against the risk factors.
Literature Review
Family history as a factor of depression
An important role in depression in man is played by the genetics when there is case of
depression within the family. There is two to three times a higher risk of getting depression in
men which have cases within the family, in comparison to men without any family history (Liu
et al., 2021). It can be concluded that there is a connection between family history of depression
along with the genetic risk factor. Therefore, it can be analyse that there is a higher risk of
depression with an individual who is having family history of depression. This may lead to create
a high impact and create higher risk for getting depression in men (Avasthi, 2018). There is a
systematic review that assess the risk factor which link depression and family history of genetics.
Similar systematic review has been conducted by the Department of Mental Health (
Chamberlain et al., 2019) that support predictive value of family history on mental illness. This
includes the longitudinal study that enable the delivery of information that family history. This
can be one of the main factors which impact the risk of getting depression in man. Furthermore,
there is evidence which includes management intervention and its effectiveness which can play
an important role in the better care and management of depression within men (Rind et al.,

2021). Therefore, through proper management and exercising, an individual can take control
over depression; with psychotherapy being a solution for men who are suffering from depression.
Chronic stress as a factor of depression
Getting some stress can be a good thing which may help an individual to get motivated;
however, a high level of stress, especially in the early stage of life can create chronic stress in
men (Subba et al., 2021). This level of stress can impact an individual’s whole life due to
interaction between retrieval and hypothalamus and adrenal gland (Steiger et al., 2019).
According to systematic review, depression impact 17% of men on different life stages. In the
research, which is a longitudinal study, were delivered information which sustain the belief that a
high level of stress can lead to depression in men, as well as this is higher than in woman (Wang
et al., 2019). Having responsibility to manage work-life balance and ensuring the success in early
life, contributes to the higher risk of getting depression in men. According to Huang et al. (2022)
systematic review, the high performance anxiety lead to depression in men, which also may be
due to their workload in terms of managing their work life balance, performing their role in
family as leaders, which increase significantly the risk of depression. There is a need to
implement a strategy which can be effective and help men to reduce their chronic stress. This
may include breathing exercise, meditation and practicing mindfulness activity. This can enable
men to take care of their health and reduce the risk of getting chronic stress which may lead to
depression (Sari et al., 2019).Getting more sleep and setting realistic goals, as well as using time
management techniques can enable men to take care of their chronic stress and decrease the risk
of depression (Ising et al., 2019).
Medication or substance use as a factor of depression
According to Torrens (2005) systemic review, medication and substance use are some of the risk
factors which contributes to developing depression in men. Usually medication used as drugs can
create a negative impact on the individual and also create a different negative health impact and
various consequences that can lead to depression (Mochrie et al., 2020). When any substance,
including prescribed medication are used, it can lead to what is known as substance-induced
depression. This may occur actively when use of substance is experienced and lead to
intoxication. Some medication are commonly associated with substance-induced depression
which may include depression, interference and many others. There is another systemic review

which suggests that the substance use disorder can lead to create depression in men associated
with substance dependence (Starzer et al., 2018). Therefore, there is a need to provide better
treatment for depression and should ensure that men should not abuse medications. There are
many patients with depression who have a substance use disorder. In this cases, anti-depression
medication like serotonin reuptake inhibitor provide a positive impact and make a good
treatment for depression (Esmaeelzadeh et al., 2018). Therefore, the patients which abuse
medication usually suffer from treatment-resistant depression. In this cases, depressive
symptoms can help reducing the recurrent substance abuse. There are various treatments which
are associated with medication or substance use to eradicate depression in man; however, strong
medication can lead to addiction and further will not be fit for purpose. This can lead to a
negative impact on their mental health and leads eventually to depression (Nishith et al., 2022).
It has been observed that there is a need to provide anti-depressants in case of depression;
however, in some cases they do not bring the expected results and can encourage substance
abuse, which can again lead to depression. Therefore, there is a thin line between the benefits of
medication and their end impact.
Personality as a factor of depression
According to Son et al. (2018) systematic review, an increased consideration for stress and its
possible complex and reciprocal relations for depression have been discussed. It also includes a
discussion about stress and increased risk of depression caused by stressful events and the
influence over the individual personality. Moreover, the review provide various risk factors such
as vulnerability, personality and negative cognitive style; all leading to depression in man (Son
et al., 2018). In another review, information about the personality trait is one of the main factors
which can create a mood disorder and impact individual life, especially men (Wu et al., 2019).
There is a high role of personality trait in depression which have been evidenced and which
impact in a negative manner emotionality, consequences and extraversion emotionality; which
can lead to depression in variety of pathway where implication for prevention and prediction to
provide better treatment response and guide better personality to eradicate depression (Riaz et
al., 2021). There are various reasons which are associated with personality for creating
depression in men. Due to behaviour and personality, many men like to perform things in
different way which leads to pressure and stress, which can further have a negative impact on
confidence level in men (Klein et al., 2012). Due to not being able to perform according to

expectations, creates a high difficulty for individuals and impact their personality, which can also
lead to a type of depression among men (Jha et al., 2019). This can indicate that personality,
which can be a risk factor of depression in men, can create a negative impact on mental health
and should be considered a high concern. There is also need to provide intervention which can
contribute to a positive impact on individuals health, especially on men.
Further, there is a need to provide recovery from depressive episodes and provide healthy
control through applying better approach in conducting longitudinal study (Nikčević et al.,
2021). This can help to recover when personality measures are normal during the depressive
episode but after recovery it will suggest to improve health of individuals through separate
personality barriers. There is a need to provide tailored preventive intervention that can be
effective and can reduce the incident of depressive disorder among men. Moreover, a selective
and medicated approach can be used and can have a highly focus on lack of personalized focus
and provide better treatment than prevention (Klein et al., 2012).
Poor nutrition as a factor of depression
Poor nutrition is another risk factor which can lead to depression among men. Many
people believe that between nutrition and depression exist a relation, where nutrition deficiency
can impact physical illness and depression. It is strictly biochemical-based or emotional rooted
(Chabowski et al., 2018). Therefore, there is a noticeable food pattern which can influence
individual mind set and can lead to depression (Kwan et. al., 2019). Poor diet and a dominant
desire for sweets can influence human cognition, as well as emotion and behaviour. According to
research paper, a deficiency of nutrition and minerals such as Omega 3 fatty acid can increase an
individual chances to develop a mental disorder. Due to the deficiency in what concerns these
nutrients, many supplements which are containing amino acid were found to reduce the
symptoms because they are converted to neurotransmitters that elevates depression and other
mental health problem (Sathyanarayana, 2008). Therefore, nutrition can play an important role in
what concerns developing depression, especially in men. There is another systematic review
which sustain a significant influence of nutrition on individuals mental health and which can
contribute to developing depression. There is a link between diet and mental health which
generally can occur due to poor memory, fatigue and depression. Poor diet and lack of nutrition,
as well as the lack of vitamins and nutrients are associated with depression (Jung et al., 2019).
Due to poor nutrition individuals may face various mental disorder which may include

depression. Therefore, it can be said that poor nutrition can be a risk factor where intervention is
highly associated to delivering a better diet, vitamins. Fish oil and Folic acid supplement can be
effective and can treat depression successfully; however, there is also need to maintain a
nutritional balance which can enhance appetite and fulfill a specific need to enhance mental
health and eradicate depression (Okun et al., 2018).
Ethical consideration
The report consists of various ethical standards maintained in order to keep the
anonymity of individuals and gain the vital information which were necessary for the work. In
addition to this, it involved confidentiality, as well as voluntary participation in order to ensure
all individuals are willing to provide the information required in an ethical manner. Here,
informed consent has be taken which is one of the ethical consideration during research. This can
also includes confidentially of information during study that is one of the main ethical concern
and should be taken in consideration. Here, participants should not get harm and should be
treated with respect. Confidentiality should be maintain which is one of the ethical consideration
during any study that can help to keep the information private and should not be shared with
other individual.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that there are various factors which are
associated and can impact the individual mental health among men in UK. There is a need to
ensure that different study and systematic reviews implies various reasons and factors that
support the evidence of depression in men. This also includes different risk factor like poor
nutrition, personality, medication or substance use, chronic stress and family history. Moreover,
this also includes intervention that can enable to reduce these factor and provide better mental
health and help individual to reduce and decrease the risk of depression in men.

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