Male Menopause
Mrs Chan Ho Kam Yin, Clinical Psychologist
“Do men go through menopause as well? I thought only women experience that.”
“Unlike women, men don’t have a period, so why do they go through menopause?”
“What are the symptoms of male menopause? How will I know if I am going through menopause?
I was asked a series of questions by many middle-aged men as I provided them with counselling. In 1939, a medical doctor published a report on “Male Climacteric Syndrome” in an American medical journal. According to the report, male climacteric syndrome was defined as twelve symptoms that affected men between 45 to 60 years old, such as depression, fatigue, poor concentration, erectile dysfunction, decline in libido, hot flashes, night sweats, rapid heartbeat, atrophoderma, constipation and insomnia.
This report sparked great interest on male menopause in the medical field. Similar study reports were subsequently published all over the world. In 1998, the medical field held the first international male menopause seminar in Geneva, and it was in this seminar that the existence of male menopause was confirmed.
One of my affected clients asked me: “If I am currently experiencing male menopause, with symptoms such as depression and anxiety, what should I do?” In fact, the physical and psychological changes caused by menopause are absolutely normal. Fortunately, middle-aged men are very capable of dealing with this crisis, so merely being aware of the problem and being prepared is usually enough to keep the situation from worsening.
1. Develop a positive and enthusiastic personality so you can relieve your emotions appropriately when facing adversities. Examples of this are self-encouragement, talking to friends and relatives to divert your attention or any other ways that help you to turn your stress into motivation etc.
2. Nurture your inner beauty. Tell yourself: as a middle-aged person, you have been through many ups-and-downs in life and struggled with many gains and losses, and you have gained wisdom, tolerance and maturity from your experiences. If you are able to keep calm and relaxed and pay attention to your appearance, you will naturally give off a sense of mature beauty.
3. Don’t compare with others. As the saying goes, “Comparisons are odious”. It’s a big world and there will always be someone better or worse than you. Comparison holds no meaning and will only leave you with troubles and a sense of inferiority.
4. Improve your quality of life. Most middle-aged men worked hard to provide for their family and raise their kids with their wife. Now that your children have grown up and you have more disposable income, you can improve your quality of life, such as by chatting with friends, going on holidays, serving the community, catching up with current affairs or expressing your artistic talents.
5. Pay attention to your body. Your health can directly affect your mental and psychological state. Exercising often and living a disciplined life with regular rest times and a balanced diet will help you maintain a healthy body and mind.
6. Try to overcome pathological mental states. A number of middle-aged men develop a pathological mental state due to their diminishing strength, decrease in vigour and sexual function and worsening physique and appearance. This leads to depression, nervous breakdowns, irritability, insomnia and extremely low self-esteem etc. As a result, they often isolate themselves from others, become very critical and often argue with their wife or colleagues over trifle matters. In fact, they are anxious, perplexed, sorrowful and uneasy. If they can’t solve the problem by themselves, they should seek help from professional counselling or psychiatric medications.
The above mentioned methods can help men to safely transition into menopause and alleviate the troubles caused by their physical and psychological changes. The middle-aged part of our lives is like the autumn of our life. Autumn is a nice season that has neither the intense heat of summer nor the dryness of winter - it’s a time for harvesting. The thought of autumn invokes the splendid and magnificent image of fallen leaves that are spread like gold all over the ground. Life during the middle-aged period of our lives can be fruitful and spectacular too!
(Note: To help people troubled by suicidal thoughts overcome their problem the Clinical Psychological Service Branch of the Social Welfare Department has published for the public a pamphlet entitled I Want to End It All. Free copies may be obtained from Family Service Centres of the Social Welfare Department or various District Offices.)
Note / This article is translated by a translation company from the corresponding original Chinese article in the Chinese section of this website. It is meant to be just an approximation of the original article for the benefit of readers who do not read Chinese.