At some point in most people's lives, a suicide of a close friend, colleague or family member will touch us and tragically suicide is not as rare as we might think.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate there are 793,000 suicide deaths per year worldwide with suicide being the largest killer of men under 45, 15.5 deaths per 100,000 or 84 a week.
The suicide rate for women in the UK is 4.9 suicides per 100,000 and that is a trend repeated in many other countries around the World with men almost four times more likely to die by suicide,
The Foundation for Suicide Prevention (FSP) explain that whilst suicide is a hugely sensitive, complex issue with a tangled multitude of causes, it is difficult to fully understand the reasons behind it and why men are more likely to take their lives then women.
One reason put forward by the FSP is that women are more likely to share their problems and ask for help than men who tend to bottle them up and not seek help, especially in cases of mental health where men try to 'self-medicate' which takes the form of substance and alcohol use, which can deepen depression and increase impulsive behaviours.
The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) claim other risk factors include the economic downturn that results in increased unemployment, a 2015 study found that for every 1% increase in unemployment there is a 0.79% increase in the suicide rate due to financial worries which can exacerbate mental health issues.
There are no straightforward fixes for an issue this complex but something all the experts appear to agree on is that men need to talk more about how they're feeling.
The message needs to be put across that however dark things may seem, your family, friends and colleagues would always prefer a living you regardless of how down, moody or depressed you are to dealing with the devastating and life changing circumstances of your death for those you leave behind.
4 comments:
I see you commented on one of my posts, the first in a long time.
I have very much tired of blogging and the non-stop arguments and the critical/negative nature of blogging. It is hard to tell from my blogging activity, but I'm actually one of the most upbeat/positive people that most people come across - at least that is what people tell me about myself...
Concerning suicide. In the US the facts are:
1. women commit suicide far more than men (at least 10 times more), but they almost always fail to kill themselves
2. men commit suicide far less, but almost always succeed in killing themselves
The speculation:
1. women want attention, they essentially are reaching out for help in a desperate way...
2. men view themselves as failures, so they make sure their suicide is a success... a nasty twist
I've had 5 very close friends dating back to the 1970's. One of my best friends, arguably my closest friend, went to the pond on their property and killed himself 4 years ago. He straight up hid his self-loathing from his wife, me, his daughters, his sons, his sister, his brothers, his dad. It is also possible that he had serious depression, but if he had clinical depression, he hid it well. I like to blame depression, there were signs of some sadness, but he fooled everybody if he was depressed.
Three years before his brother-n-law hung himself to death. Depression? If so, well hidden.
Neither of them had financial problems, legal problems, health problems, social image problems, or apparent family problems.
It could be that they both saw themselves as "failures".
- My friend was demoted several levels at work 3 months before his death
- His brother-n-law might may have viewed himself as a spousal failure (speculation, but his wife was re-married 9 months later, to a man that had worked for them years before).
Can't comment on your posts if i have no idea what you are talking about.
Suicide seems to be becoming more popular, can't begin to understand why people will go for this option but it can't be a coincidence that mental health problems have also increased.
Funny girl, this means you think you understand economics...
Economics really isn't that hard to understand however much you try and make it sound complicated.
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