Still from the film 'Twins.' Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Recent research on military men at Camp Pendleton showed an increased risk of depression for the guys who stood 5'8" and below. Valery Krupnik, the clinician at the helm of the study, stated that the physical demands of a career in the military likely play a role in these cases of depression. "When people find themselves outliers for reasons beyond their control, like physical attributes, they face a challenge in addition to all the challenges average people face," Krupnik told LiveScience.com.As for civilians, the data doesn't paint a pretty picture either. The average male in the United States, according to the CDC, stands just over 5'9". Those falling below that benchmark will face a variety of hurdles, ranging from career prospects to dating partners, all of which can plummet a guy's self-esteem.Daniel Freeman, a clinical psychologist at Oxford who has studied the effect of height on paranoia, told me that among those who are taller, "the chances of feeling anxious or depressed tend to be a little lower. Greater height is also associated with a slightly lower risk of suicide."In fact, for every two inch increase in height in men, the risk of suicide goes down 9 percent, according to a Swedish study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Even after controlling for socioeconomic status, education level, and prenatal factors, the researchers still found a "twofold higher risk of suicide in short men than tall men."
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