Irritable Men Blame Hormones

Looks like the roles have been switched for good, patient men all around the world. With the recently coined term Irritable Male Syndrome, men are finally admitting to male hormonal imbalance and the otherwise hysteric manifestations, formerly attributed exclusively to women and dreaded menopause. Also referred to as male menopause or andropause, causes men to suffer from random mood swings or what most of us know as being “grumpy and irritable” for no apparent reason.

Regardless of several scientists supporting the idea of a male menopause, there are others that justify the so-called mood swings to stress. Those blaming stress say it is this factor that causes testosterone levels to drop, causing negative effects upon mood and behavior. Though little research has been done on the relation between testosterone drops in humans and stress, test on primates and other animals do display a change in testosterone levels, when stress triggers the production of a hormone called corticosteroid.

However, scientists following both trends are watching their backs in stating hormones have to do with mood swings, being these very subjective. Another expert defines Irritable Male Syndrome (IMS) as a state of hypersensitivity, anxiety, frustration and anger in men, associated with hormonal changes, stress and male identity loss. Be it stress, age or hormones, aging men suffer for one reason or the other of some sort of menopause-like period.

Men are not only dealing with physical aging; at the later stages in life, most modern day men have found themselves facing relationship changes with their partner and children, family in general, professionally at work, and towards friends. At this point in life (somewhere around age 50), men experience a sense of anxiety and frustration in terms of identity in a changing world, fastly taking them out of the comfort zone they’ve been living for a long time.

With identity issues, frustration and anxiety, come health issues as well. Most men going through andropause suffer from mild to severe erectile dysfunction problems. These are not only related to stress, but to a combination of other health factors like weight that affect their overall blood stream. Caused by multiple factors, erectile dysfunction only adds up to the already increasing stress of the aging man, turning into a vicious cycle that hardly seems to end.

Therefore, the creation and marketing of the 1980′s erectile dysfunction pills like generic Viagra and alternative medication. The ever more stressed lives of men in a fast-paced world, with 24-hour work shifts, family responsibilities, economic aspirations and status quests can drain anyone. Men’s bodies are taking a hard blow, and the partners and relationships don’t have it easy either.

Even when consequences of IMS and ED are initially physical, this added stress often translates into lack of communication between couples, lack of understanding, frustration and a high percentage of ended relationships. Being ED an embarassing condition for most men, failure to communicate the condition and find medical consultation close the doors to saving a sinking relationship. While most women have said to be on board to help their men’s condition get better, many a time it is men who are reluctant to discuss it and seek help.

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