Norah Vincent wanted to experience what life would be like as a man. As a journalist, she decided to conduct an 18-month gender change experiment using herself as a guinea pig. She documented her findings in her 2006 book ‘Self-Made Man’. Although she was a lesbian and never identified as transgender, she was curious about living like a man. As part of her transformation into her male alter ego Ned, she created fake stubble using tiny pieces of wool and exercised with weights to develop her shoulder and chest muscles. She styled her short hair in a flattop and wore rectangular glasses to create a more masculine impression. She also hid her breasts using a very tight sports bra and wore a soft prosthetic penis. Training with a vocal coach, she learnt to deepen her voice and adopt a manly posture.
It's quite a stretch to say she was depressed because she pretended to be a man