You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The 'male climacteric' implies a major physiological change in the life of men comparable to that occurring in women. We have no evidence to support the concept. The term is misused to label a psychiatric syndrome occurring in middle-aged men. It is frequent in Western culture, which emphasizes competition and success. The authors discuss their experience with one hundred fifty cases, eighty-five percent of them psychogenic. Three cases are described in detail. An important dynamic factor is the older man's fear of a younger male rival, his own son or his fellow worker. Most of the patients were raised by strict and compulsive fathers, of whom they were afraid and who showed them little affection. The mothers were weak and neurotic. The patients were unable to resolve their Oedipal feelings. They had to repress their hostility against their fathers at an early age but rebelled against authoritarian figures and discipline during adolescence and early manhood. They had difficulty as fathers and as husbands. They finally settled down to become hard and conscientious workers, strict and authoritarian. During middle life they manifested anxiety, depression, or conversion symptoms. Treatment, both psychotherapy and electroshock, proved difficult and unrewarding.