Why are Jewish men depressed? CrossCurrents Winter 2002/03
CrossCurrents
The Last Word
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Jewish men are sadder than most. This is not a proven scientific fact, but my personal opinion. However, this much we do know:
although women in the general population are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety than men, depression rates
are essentially equal among Jewish men and women. Why so?
In 1977, after an extensive review of the literature, Dr. Myrna Weissman and Dr. Gerald Klerman confirmed that women experience
depression more than men. Twenty years later, Weissman and three colleagues looked at the sex ratio for depression among Jews.
They examined results from New Haven and Los Angeles, cities with large Jewish populations. Jews were identified on the basis
of their response to the question: "What is your religious preference?" Of approximately 4,000 people in the study, 400 identified
as Jews. The prevalence of depression among Jewish men and women was equal. There were no differences in depression rates
among women, no matter what their religious affiliation. But depression rates for Jewish men were twice that for non-Jewish
males.
The conclusions of the 1997 study implied that lower alcohol use might explain the high incidence of depression among Jewish
males. The theory is that alcohol use may mask depression. Thus, Weissman et al posited that the higher prevalence of depression
among Jewish men could be attributed to the fact that Jewish males drink less than non-Jewish males. There is some support
for the idea that abstinence from alcohol is correlated with high depression rates. One study by Loewenthal and colleagues,
which surveyed Orthodox synagogues in the United Kingdom, found equal gender rates for depression and no alcohol dependency.
A 1993 study of young adults in Israel, where rates of alcohol dependency are relatively low, also reported equal rates of
depression among Jewish women and men. And the Amish, a population that does not drink, present high rates of depression,
equal in women and men.
Yet alcohol (or lack thereof) may not explain everything. Depression questionnaires rely on questions that refer to the body
and perceived changes in body functions. Traditionally, these are the items that are more frequently endorsed by women than
men. It has been estimated that as many as 25 per cent of women (but only eight per cent of men) can be described as hypochondriachal
or extra-conscious of body symptoms. Could the "Jewish mother syndrome" explain why, among Jewish men, body sensitivity is
higher?
California psychologist Dr. Susan Nolen-Hoeksema has attributed the greater susceptibility of women to depression to their
more ruminative style of coping when distressed. This contrasts with what most men do, which is to become active in the face
of stress. If ruminating about problems rather than distracting oneself is associated with depression, it may explain the
vulnerability to depression in Jewish men, whose religious training reinforces a ruminative quest for knowledge: In much wisdom
is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow (Eccles. 1:14).
The Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatment Depression Working Group published guidelines in 1999 stating that the
prevalence of depression is similar across cultures, although the perception of depression as an illness may vary. The group
warns that cultural differences may play a role in the somatization of symptoms of depression and that recent immigrants are
at particular risk. Displacement, alienation and survivor guilt all likely play a role. These traits figure prominently among
postwar Jews: He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so openeth not his mouth (Song of Solomon 53:7).
Still, despite socio-cultural speculations, the primary explanation for susceptibility to depression remains genetic. Why
would genes for depression survive in a discrete population? What evolutionary purposes would they have served? It has been
postulated that yielding and withdrawing in the face of aggression (as Jews have been forced to do throughout Biblical and
more recent history), increase the likelihood of survival. Depression, as per Freud's formulation, is aggression turned inward
against the self, a form of dirge and lamentation associated with Judaism from before the time of Job. In the Jewish struggle
to survive for six millennia, could it be that evolution has selected for submissive depressive-prone genes?
Neil Seeman is director of the Canadian Statistical Assessment Service. He is also a lawyer and journalist and a member of
the Canadian Business and Economic Roundtable on Mental Health.
Centre for Addiction
