I thought that scene in the background looked familiar, and seeing that the man pictured is a senator from Massachusetts makes me think I know why. It looks a lot like the lawn around the state capitol building in Boston. After 27 years, I think I still remember it pretty well. (But perhaps I am wrong).

About men and depression, though - it's hard to really know. I'm usually so preoccupied with making a living - (or not making one, as is often the case) - that it seems irrelevant to me whether or not I might be depressed. I know I would be happier if not for the poverty (I think most impoverished people would be), but it seems like putting the cart before the horse to not think of your economic condition first when that is threatening you.

It seems sort of like that pyramid of needs (Maslov's Pyramid of Needs, or Hierarchy of Needs, or whatever it is). You aren't as concerned with needs higher up the pyramid when you are preoccupied with survival needs. For that reason it seems disingenuous to me for mental health programs of any kind to not first make sure that the person they're treating has adequate food and shelter, and security for the future in the form of some kind of career or decent-paying job or something, before they pretend to treat his or her psyche (or to at least pay attention to those things).

I don't know many males who have suppressed their mental problems out of a fear of jeapordizing their masculinity. I'm sure there are a good deal out there, but I think most introspective people, male or female, are able to confront what they're feeling and seek the help they need if they know it will make them feel better.

I'm glad that male depression is less stigmatized than it once was. From that standpoint, I welcome the Newsweek article.

However, I think that Kent's comments were right on the money, and I mean that in a literal sense.

Some depression is unrelated to economic circumstances, which is why even rich and "successful" men sometimes suffer from depression. And there may be cases in which the best response to depression is indeed to treat the depression with a combination of counseling and medicine.

However, that kind of a response is often a copout on the part of people who would rather throw a few relatively cheap pills at a man or spend hours yakking with the man while he sits on a chair or couch in their office (and while the bills he can't pay continue to pile up), instead of addressing the very real issues which brought about the depression in the first place.

When depression gets bad enough, it can begin to manifest physical symptoms, in much the same way that a physical illness can. But depression is not all internal. Depression is often the body's response to extremely stressful and frightening external circumstances, such as the loss of a job, the inability to get another job in a timely manner, and the economic crisis which can be brought on as a result.

Such things are frightening even to single men such as myself. Imagine how frightening they must be to men who also bear the burden of being the primary provider for their families.

(Face it: Even in the age of feminism, the fact remains that a disproportionate share of the burden, in terms of supporting one's family financially, rests on the man. A married woman who takes time off work to raise a family is thought to be someone who has chosen an equally valid alternative lifestyle. A man who does the same thing is either a wuss or a bum, in the minds of many people.)

The idea of having to live on the streets or in homeless shelters can be terrifying to most normal people, and especially to ambitious people who know that having to live in such circumstances would make it extremely difficult for them to achieve their personal goals. Continually threaten a person with eviction, in such a way that it begins to look like such an outcome is extremely likely, and even the most sane and rational person will begin to feel depressed and hopeless. Offer to help such a person in practical ways so that the likelihood of that outcome is greatly diminished, and I guarantee you that the person's attitude will improve remarkably, far more often than not.

When people treat all depression as if it's primarily a physical illness, while neglecting to address the very real external issues which are often causing the problem in the first place, they do an enormous disservice to the depressed person.

Sometimes, they even make things worse. If a person's depression is primarily due to economic difficulties, the last thing that person needs is to be hit with a big bill from a psychiatrist, psychologist, mental health clinic or mental hospital.

There needs to be far more coordination between mental health professionals and social services designed to help people to survive economic crises without having to give up their homes and the other things that matter to them.

Addressing the issues caused by poverty would not eliminate all problems caused by depression (because people can and do get depressed in response to problems which can't be solved with money alone), but it would nevertheless make a major difference in terms of the mental health of many people who struggle with economic issues.