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Reuters
Middle-aged men from disadvantaged backgrounds are 10 times more likely to commit suicide, often because they have lost a sense of identity and masculine pride, researchers said on Thursday.
In a report commissioned by the British helpline charity the Samaritans, health experts explored why men in their 30s, 40s and 50s are at such a substantially higher risk of ending their own lives.
The findings suggest suicide is not simply a mental health problem, the researchers said, but also one of men's place in societies and of societies' inability to adapt to men's needs when trying to deal with depression, anxiety and other problems.
"While suicide is mental health issue.... it is also a social and health inequality issue. This is unjust and unreasonable," said Stephen Platt, a University of Edinburgh health policy research professor and trustee for the Samaritans, who presented the report at a briefing in London
"The differences we are highlighting in this report.. are not ones that any civilised society should be comfortable with."
While the report focused on Britain, the experts behind its findings were relevant to many developed countries across the world, especially those that have experienced a post-industrial shift to service-driven economies
It said that men in mid-life are part of a "buffer" generation, not sure whether to be like their older, more traditional, silent, austere fathers or like their younger, more progressive, individualistic sons.
"The changing nature of the labour market over the last 60 years has affected working class men," it said. "With the decline of traditional male industries, they have lost not only their jobs but also a source of masculine pride and identity."
The World Health Organisation estimates that every year, almost a million people commit suicide - a rate of 16 per 100,000, or one every 40 seconds. It also estimates that for every suicide, there are up to 20 attempted ones.
Men are more likely to commit suicide than women in almost every country in the world, and the WHO says the main risk factors are mental illness - primarily depression - and alcohol abuse, as well as violence, loss, abuse and pressures from cultural and social backgrounds.
The Samaritans study found that in Britain on average about 3,000 middle-aged men from disadvantaged backgrounds kill themselves each year.
Platt described the findings as "shocking" said this high risk group could no longer be ignored.
"Men are often criticised for being reluctant to talk about their problems and for not seeking help," he said.
"With this in mind, we need to acknowledge that men are different to women and design services to meet their needs, so they can be more effective."
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When financial institutions steal you money and corporations take away your job the sense of loss is over whelming to the point that people see nothing but a life of involuntary servitude.
Exactly. No one seems to mind how so many are ignored and taken advantage of, then when, surprise surprise, many find it unpleasant, they are called mad, insane, or hopelessly depressed. Is it just too much to ask that more people actually care about others, and not just use them for their own benefits? It is simple. Make things more fair, and care about others more than your bottom line, then people will find that life is actually more pleasant.
Yes,all that has to happen is for billionaires to know that they don't need profits anymore. Then we can have a world centered around replacement of necessities, where prices are very low and quality is very high, and everyone has as lovely, a stress free life as is possible.
Really? I thought it was because your wife won't stop talking post-coitus.
Well the population of the earth grows by about a 1/4 of a million people every day so it must not be that big of a problem. We can afford it.
"Well the population of the earth grows by about a 1/4 of a million people every day so it must not be that big of a problem. We can afford it."
Your epitaph?
Dave - And don't forget.... The universe is expanding continually.
This town needs an enema.
Well I guess I have this to look forward to.
thsi article nails it !! that's what i always wonder, my dad is silent and all hands worker, but i see society is all about socializing and having to talk thru everything, so i am stuck in which way to go.. brains makes money , hard work makes less money but it is good for your health..
Being thrown out of work when you have years of good experience and now have to live under someone else's roof might be a contributing factor. Too old to work, too young to retire.
Every suicide study summary I've read has said that men usually have suicide rates four times that of women and it's old men or teenagers that have the highest rates. Every study I've seen says affluence usually increases suicide rates so this is a little curious as to what they classify having a disadvantaged background means.
Drunks & Potheads usually self-terminate - but the chain smoking drunks want to terminate others as well as themselves.
bob's your father and your mother's brother.
The issue here is that men identify themselves by their jobs. When we meet another man for the first time one of the first things we often ask, and are asked, is what they do for a living.
This is more pronounced in men from disadvantaged backgrounds. And when that man looses his job, wife, and home. He looses his sense of self worth. The thought of starting over in your 40's or 50's is so overwhelming that suicide becomes the only way out.
I am a Survivor.
It isn't really that someone thinks they are worthless, it is that they know that business will always want someone younger that they can take advantage of for a longer time. If you still have the love of your life, you have the most important thing.
Pretty obvious. You've given it your all. Your ability to earn as a blue collar worker has diminished. Opportunities are few. You haven't been able to save for a rainy day and its pouring. What are your options?
it works like this (being middle aged myself), either you have a mid-life crisis or you kill yourself. Or option 3: you are like millions of middle aged men who live life for what it is and enjoy the people you love and they life you built and look at everything like a metaphor.
Those who have a mid-life crisis are trying to relive a youth they never had because they were too chicken to live it back then. Those who kill themselves, realize that their live is meaningless unless they made a mountain of money.
As for myself, the 3rd option guy; I knew I would never be a millionaire and that's okay, I know I will die at my desk and that's okay too (not really but you get the point) and I had lived a full and exciting youth of trying new things, taking risks and choosing my own path rather than have it dictated by a control freak dad. As a result, I loved a lot of woman, drove some nice sports cars, traveled and did crazy things and lived life to the fullest. Now I am deeply in love with a fantastic woman and appreciate the things about life that, while not the most exciting, give me the most peaceful restful joy.
and I have great sex. :)
I too have loved a lot of woman. She was about 400 pounds.
"Middle-aged men have higher suicide risk"
Suicide is a risk? I don't think I would term it as that.
Middle aged men often have the least opportunity and the least support. Aside from youthful regrets, a stagnant economy and wages of the last 20 years hasn't helped. A lot of middle aged men feel trapped. They have middle aged wives who have tacked on 60+ lbs, kids, a mortgage (maybe two!). They love their kids, can't change their wives habits, and it's too expensive to start over and there's ugly compromises that would have to be made. Even if they could, they're often now overweight themselves (though not 60+ lbs), balding and out of shape. Not exactly a lady killer, and the self image doesn't help self esteem. Women no longer respect their men, and it's OK to verbally abuse a man into their grave. Women have support groups for EVERYTHING. A man is shamed if he's upset his wife's gotten fat and he actually admits it. It's "his fault" that he's no longer attracted to her while she downs a bag of chips. If he raises his voice because he's finally had enough he's considered abusive. If he has trouble with steady employment that makes enough to carry the whole house on his own he's a loser. A man is expected to bear these burdens on his own or is viewed weak otherwise. An old tradition that still lingers yet as everything else has changed.
It's also that point in life where you realize "maybe everything's NOT going to work out/be OK". All those things you should have done when you are younger are now lost opportunities forever and the regret sits in. The REALITY sets in now that you're mature enough to SEE it! Things often don't pan out the way you had hoped/figured they would and you're driving an old car (and certainly not the one you THOUGHT you'd be!). Some of that due to bad planning, unrealistic expectations, and dynamic changes in the world/society.
It's harder to raise children properly. With almost all households now dual income just to make ends meet there's little time for "quality time". There's usually enough time to go over homework, have dinner and get them ready for bed. Assuming you want to dedicate the entire evening to you children you have an hour or two at BEST. It's hard to do because you're exhausted, and have other household things that need to be done. With a "time out" about the socially acceptable limit on discipline now , it's no wonder children run amok with no respect, no concept of consequences and their hand out. It's daunting to try to fix behavioral problems with limited tools and to ensure their success with such a skewed base for reality.
The workplace has also changed. You used to start at a company and work there the rest of your life and up the ladder you went. No more. Often continually laid off, hopping from job to job, with no increases in salary and sometimes even backsliding. The salary stays the same and inflation, debt, and misery goes up.
There's lots of other minor things today's middle aged man faces, but these are the common ones I see over and over.
Don't get me wrong, you can't have happiness without money as it takes some of it to live. On the flip side- if you have some money, a person needs to do something for themselves each day to make themselves happy. If a guy aint working and has nothing to motivate because he worked 20 years toward a goal and life @!$%# on him....than life gets harder and ending it is the ulitmate self criticism of the failure. Also, I sometimes think women were invented by the devil to bring down men. A lot of guys figure that out in midlife!
Suicide is a normal response to the difficult challenges of life. People who feel they have been failures have every reason to be depressed. Until we create a more hospitable society, where people can feel better about themselves, suicide wll continue to be a major problem.