Middle aged men at greatest risk for suicide

[4th law of robotics]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/9553741/Loss-of-breadwinner-role-driving-rise-in-suicide-among-middle-aged-men-Samaritans-suggest.html

Family breakdown, improved rights for women and the collapse of traditional male-dominated industries have combined to create a crisis of “masculine identity”, a panel of psychologists, economists and social scientists concluded.
Together with male traits such as an unwillingness to talk about personal problems and heavier use of drink and drugs, it means they are now at far greater risk of suicidal tendencies than anyone else, the study commissioned by the Samaritans found.

Men aged between 35 and 55 are more than four times as likely to take their own lives as women of the same age, and more than twice as likely as younger men, according to official figures.

It looks like a group (Samaritans) is working on this. I hope they get the funding they need to address this expression of male-privilege. Shaming someone to the point of suicide for losing their job is despicable. We need to work on getting this view to change.

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. I wish media would use language a little more carefully.

Is there really any evidence that men are committing suicide because women have "improved rights"?

The problem is due to many things, but improved rights for women isn't one of them.

Being denied an education, having their incomes slashed with unchanged social pressure to be the breadwinner, being culturally portrayed as idiots or pigs... These all have an effect, but none of them are related to women's rights. In fact, I'd argue that most of those are convenient artifacts of patriarchy that haven't caught up to the on the ground reality of (at least) equal rights.

It is overdue to accept the idea that education, justice, health care and a healthy economy are just as important for men, and that the impact they have on men are reason enough, in themselves, to make changes.



cue the: "butbutbut women attempt or think about suicide real often!". That may be true, but we only know that because; a) someone feels that it's important to ask women and girls about it, and b) someone cared enough to intervene to stop them.

And boys are 5x as likely to kill themselves as girls.

[4th law of robotics]

2. Yeah I kind of gloss over that stuff now

It's not really acceptable to present the news that men have it worse in anything.

So when they do they have to couch it in some other terms.

It can't simply be that men are more likely to kill themselves. It's men are more likely to kill themselves . . . because they're sexist against women and are afraid of equality.

That being said it was surprising and refreshing that this was published at all.

cue the: "butbutbut women attempt or think about suicide real often!". That may be true, but we only know that because; a) someone feels that it's important to ask women and girls about it, and b) someone cared enough to intervene to stop them.

You mean the "what about teh womynz" argument? Heh.

[Denninmi]

3. Ah, count me out. Not interested in that route.

And if anyone SHOULD be suicidal, it should be me, at 47, going through what I am going through.

I haven't been through all the crap I've gone through to be suicidal. If I wanted to end it all, I would have done it BEFORE I went through my last two months.

Honestly, don't know if I have a job to go back to or not. The game plan changed vis a vis that, and I haven't checked back with my employer. I based my plan on being able to go into work in the evenings after my day was over. I didn't realize how physically and mentally exhausting it would be. My plan was just unrealistic, and I did e=mail my boss a statement to that effect last week. Don't know what has happened since RE work.

But whatever, I'll deal. Not my biggest concern (ok, it's right up there, though!)

Suicide! What's the point of walking off the field half way through the game? Especially if you have points on the board. None as I see it.

But honestly, I do know I am coming from a privileged viewpoint on this, I have "the best" in terms of medical care, even if my copay/deductible is gonna hurt like hell financially when the bills start rolling in. A lot of guys in the position of job loss (without my other background) are NOT getting the support they need. From an unjust and unfair society. And that is very, very wrong.

[craichead65]

4. 400% greater risk across the board

This is not surprising since men and boys generally have a 400% higher risk of dying by suicide than women across all age groups and consistently across all Western societies. I believe the only societies where women have a higher risk of suicide are China and some of the Arab states.

BTW I read an article a while back on SFgate.com where a psychiatrist stated that he'd love to find out why that is, but the fact is there's not a penny's worth of funding for the question.

Typically people dismiss the issue by making the comment that "well it's because they use guns." Then when it's pointed out that in countries with a fraction of the guns the US has have the same male/female suicide ration, they then say "it's the methods they use."

To me this is a horribly callous dismissal of what is likely a complex problem.

You know if we could get the male suicide rate down to that of women, we'd be cutting the overall suicide rate by more than half.

Funny that no one seems to want to cut the suicide rate in half isn't it?