Don’t take your testicles.
Women — and the people who love them — mostly experience the mood swings associated with PMS. But it turns out that men have their own mood problems linked to hormonal changes, which one expert has dubbed “irritable male syndrome” or IMS.
Although it is not an official clinical diagnosis, doctors have been interested in this phenomenon for over 20 years.
The main player here is testosterone – and when these levels decrease.
“There is a misconception that testosterone is just about libido and muscle mass,” Dr. Hal Mohammed, chief medical officer of men’s health at Gameday, a national network of men’s health clinics, told the Post in another article. “But it definitely influences drive, competitiveness, assertiveness and emotional responsiveness.”
These symptoms are well known in the world of men’s health, but not necessarily under the label “irritable male syndrome.” Here’s what you need to know.
What is “irritable male syndrome”?
In 2001, biologist Gerald Lincoln wrote a paper coining the term, describing it as a “behavioral state of nervousness, irritability, lethargy, and depression that occurs in adult male mammals following withdrawal of testosterone.”
He observed the phenomenon in Soay rams in Scotland, but the authors have since extended the concept to humans. Researchers have divided the (human) symptoms of IMS into three categories:
- Psychological and emotional: Irritability, aggression, anxiety, depression, mood swings, emotional instability, loss of self-confidence and motivation.
- Physical: Fatigue, lethargy, decreased sexual desire and performance, muscle weakness and loss of lean muscle mass, insomnia, increased abdominal obesity (belly fat)
- Cognitive: difficulty concentrating, impaired decision making, memory problems
There is a lot of overlap with the symptoms of low testosterone. But Dr. Jed Diamond, author of “Male Menopause” and “The Irritable Male Syndrome,” says it’s a mix of these hormonal changes and three other things: changes in brain chemistry (especially serotonin and dopamine), stress, loss of masculine identity and changing roles.
“These hormonal changes make men more anxious, which can lead to irritability. There may be a crisis of personal identity due to decreased physical performance, muscle loss and lowered libido,” psychologist James Davis told HuffPost.
“When you add the stress of managing a career, finances, and relationships…add interrupted sleep, lack of experience or framework for expressing vulnerability or issues, and increasing social isolation, and you can see how multiple factors can add up and impact an individual.”
So, is it more of a menstruation or a male opause?
In Lincoln’s original animal research, he observed that irritability in men was temporary and cyclical – it came and went much like PMS, premenstrual syndrome, in women.
In humans, more recent research approaches it more as a one-way trend: as a man ages, his testosterone levels decline.
This doesn’t mean men are doomed to be pissed off for the rest of their lives. Men who experience these changes should discuss “andropause” or “age-related hypogonadism” with their doctor.
“Many men feel embarrassed or obligated to keep quiet about fatigue, mood swings, or libido problems, fearing it will make them appear weak,” wrote Dr. William Berg for Stony Brook Medicine. “Being open to these changes is not a sign of weakness; it’s a step towards better health for yourself and a way to encourage other men to do the same. »
Your doctor can help give you medications for mood, sleep, libido, or check your testosterone to see if you could benefit from a boost. Improving your diet and exercise routines, as well as managing stress, can also help.
Gn Health
