It’s often known that menopause causes mood swings and heat flashes in women, but can males experience comparable changes? Andropause, which describes the hormonal shifts men endure as they age, is a reality. Male males go through andropause when testosterone production naturally declines with age. Male testosterone levels diminish, and andropause symptoms appear around age 40 (Martelli et al., 2021). Medication and lifestyle factors can also contribute to a decrease in testosterone levels. Testosterone deficiency syndrome, androgen deficiency, and hypogonadism are alternative clinical terms for andropause. To be clear, andropause is not the male analog of female menopause. This loss of fertility does not affect every man equally.
The doctor says that women in their late 40s come to the office regularly; they have been married for 20 years, have grown up with children, and have a happy and stable family life. Still, due to the effects of andropause, their husband suddenly told them they wanted a divorce. In American society, andropause has negative impacts on marriage; these effects include; divorce, according to the article “the male menopause and adultery. Do you need a doctor or a lawyer?” (“Male Menopause adultery and divorce,” 2022).
Menopause in males for a long time, the medical community laughed off male menopause as a midlife crisis, but now they recognize the seriousness of this issue. Many of the symptoms that wives have long noticed in their husbands, such as lethargy, anger, weight gain, and a diminished desire to be sexually active, may now be ascribed to medical illnesses like Testosterone Deficiency Syndrome, often resulting in a complete cessation of any sex life for the couple.
In many cases, the psychological manifestations cause the most distress. You should probably notice when he starts going to the gym after years of not exercising or when he starts dying his grey hairs. This might be an effort to improve his health, but it could also express a desire to attract members of the opposite sex to reclaim his former vitality (Jarecka, 2021). We’ve all heard the old saw about men who buy sports cars or motorcycles for the same reasons, but the natural warning signs are when he spends more time alone, starts staying late at the office, and try to hide their credit card bills.
In many situations, regrettably, this attitude ends up with him having an affair, generally with a much younger trophy girlfriend. To many on the outside, it might appear craziness to walk away from a long-established family and leave up everything that the couple has built together, yet it is all too regular an event.
References
Martelli, M., Zingaretti, L., Salvio, G., Bracci, M., & Santarelli, L. (2021). Influence of work on andropause and menopause: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(19), 10074.
Male Menopause adultery and divorce. Norriewaite.co.uk. (2022). Retrieved 25 August 2022, from https://www.norriewaite.co.uk/male-menopause-divorce.html.
Biradar, N. Andropause: Ending of Fertile Life among Men.
Jarecka, K. (2021). Symptoms of hormonal changes in Polish men and women in the second half of life. Andropause and menopause–similarities and differences. Health Psychology Report, 9(3), 252-263.
