Michael Douglass Says Catherine Zeta-Jones' Welsh Background Kept Her Quiet About Her Disease

Michael Douglas says that Catherine Zeta-Jones did not seek help for her bipolar disorder because of her Welsh upbringing and “stiff upper lip” mentality. Although there may be some truth in what he says, it hammers home an earlier post I made on Saturday, April 23, 2011 called “Men Who Suffer in Silence.”

I lived in England for about a year, and, yes, the British do have a tendency to keep their emotions in check. But American men are ostracized to the point of total isolation if they admit to having psychiatric problems. They are more apt to die earlier than women from problems related to serious depression. This is a well-documented fact, and has been written about in several magazines and scientific journals.

The drug companies and media would lead us to believe that women suffer more from depression than men, which, in of itself, is yet another stigma. The fact is millions of men suffer from depression and never get help. I invite you to read an enlightening article in “The Ladies Home Journal” called Why Men Suffer in Silence: Male Depression. I hope this will bring to light the enormous problem that men face in today’s society about the stigma of having to live with depression and other mental illnesses.

All my love,

James M. Weil