It all started in Scotland, when a researcher noticed that rams became irritable, withdrawn and irrational when their testosterone levels plummeted. He coined the term "irritable man syndrome." Psychotherapist Jed Diamond thought this might apply to human males as well, and analyzed data from six thousand men. He reported his findings in his 1997 book, "Male Menopause". Dr Diamond found that one half of the men said they were stressed, gloomy, or negative most of the time. A total of forty per cent of the overall survey reported feeling often or always irritable. Many of the subjects who reported that they were feeling negative emotions were also, at the same time, experiencing hormonal fluctuations-namely a drop in their testosterone level. These men also were experiencing changes in their brain chemistry, increased stress, and a "loss of male identity."

Quite a large number of symptoms caused by a drop in testosterone have now been identified. This generally begins to happen to men at roughly the ages of forty to sixty five years old. This drop affects the brain functions, emotions, and also manifests itself physiologically. The symptoms are similar to those of male menopause (also known as viropause or andropause), but more intense and immediate. IMS (irritable man syndrome) affects hormonal, physical, interpersonal, sexual, economic, social, and spiritual aspects of a man's overall health. The most prevalent symptoms are anger and a sullen withdrawal, presented by men between forty and sixty.

The symptoms are many, but directly attributed to fluctuations in testosterone levels.

Increase in stress hormones bring on anger, elevated blood pressure, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, trembling, contracted pupils, increased physical strength, speech and motion, and heightened anxiety.

The tension of these physiological changes manifests outward as criticism, irritation, hatred, excessive swearing, resentment, bitterness, and envy. On the other hand, the anger may turn itself inward, to manifest self-loathing, apathy and sleeplessness (from the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in the Treatment of Anger-a Meta-Analysis).

Even before his birth, a man is formed and molded by surges of testosterone. Our IMC man probably spent his formative years in the fifties and early sixties, before the widespread move to teach boys that it is all right to show emotions. Certainly the IMC man was exposed to that, but his earliest memories are probably about cowboys and Indians on the TV, Superman punching bad guys, showdowns with six guns blazing, and all kind of aggressive behavior. He was probably told to "be a man", or "boys don't cry" several times in his formative years.

This is not meant to be an excuse for bad behavior, but as an alternate way to view IMS. At this point in their lives, men are finding they are in the process of losing that which they feel makes them a man and forms their identity. Even the most enlightened of IMS sufferers still hears the echo of what he was told when he was a little boy. Will the next generation of andropausal men react differently, as (hopefully) the majority were taught and trained in a more holistic and enlightened way? We won't know until it happens.

Hopefully there will be a lot less suffering to go around.