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by Jed Diamond. New York. Rodale Books, 2004, 291 pp.
Jed Diamond's book The Irritable Male Syndrome is an attempt to formally cluster high levels of anger, irritability, and a host of other maladaptive behaviors more often found in men into a single psychiatric syndrome. The first section of the book presents evidence for the existence of Irritable Male Syndrome (IMS), the second section identifies putative causes, and the third explores possible treatment options. In the context of presenting case material, the author candidly expresses his own struggles with anger and aggression. It is clear that Diamond empathizes with the problems with which many men struggle. His hope that these problems will be addressed by men, clinicians, and researchers is laudable, but, despite the worthwhile goal of raising public awareness about men's mental health, the book is weakened substantially by serious methodological and conceptual flaws. Diamond's arguments also yield some disquieting implications regarding the study of men's mental health.
In the first section of the book, Diamond defines IMS in terms of men's experiences of "hypersensitivity, anxiety, frustration, and anger." This definition reveals one of the central problems of the text. It is unclear how IMS relates to, or is distinct from, depression or "male depression." For...