Intro to Men's Psychology

Having accidentally seen Artemis and her nymphs while she was bathing, Actaeon was changed by her into a stag, and pursued and killed by his fifty hounds.

A psychological parable and warning to males about the maintenance of boundaries, and a timeless literary depiction of masculine and feminine instincts surrounding personal identity, privacy and shame

Shame is the opposite or absence of passion, vitality, libido or “being fully alive” which for males, feels like expressing, utilizing in action, “embodying”, growing in and fulfilling masculinity, usually in generosity of right actions toward others in a protector/provider capacity.

For either sex, failure at love can be a source of shame, a depletion of masculine or feminine passion.

For males, with the “Life’s Mission” as the “survival variable,” where one’s “life’s work” or “passion project” or “body of work” are that “survival variable,” the career feels to men like “their body” and like “survival” itself.

For females, with the “Life’s Purpose” as the “survival variable,” the ways this plays out can be more complex. It very well may be the career, but could also be any other organically creative investment.

Beware the male patient’s situation in which he has lost a job, been “cancelled” or suffered “reputation destruction,” because this is felt by him as “murderous,” in that shame is “soul murder” for either sex, but with the male focus down to a “mission,” the career is a singular concern representative of the male “body” and sense of viability. (They have less to fall back on as a source of existent identity, especially in today’s sociology that so regularly shames them.)

Actually, I can’t think of a male completed suicide I was ever privy to in which there were not the loss of BOTH a love relationship AND a career path with a sense of mission and heavy investment.

I’ve also never heard of a male who was durably, reliably well-loved by a partner, yet who lost a job, try to commit suicide. Get depressed yes, but I am hard pressed to think of one who seriously attempted.

I’ve also never heard of a male who was solidly on a career mission, but who lost a relationship, try to commit suicide. Get depressed, yes, but I am hard pressed to think of one who seriously attempted.