Thursday 17 January 2013

10 Reasons Young Men Kill Themselves


One million people take their own lives every year and most of them are men.

In England and Wales men are three times more likely to commit suicide and 10 men every day kill themselves.

Men are twice as likely as women to have suicidal thoughts and 90% of these men will have a mental health problem at the point where they kill themselves.

Men of all ages and backgrounds are at greater risk of suicide than their female counterparts and this post focuses on young male suicide.

Suicide is now the biggest killer of young men aged 16-34 in the UK taking the life of 930 young men every year according to CALM UK

Male suicide is not a selfish act, it is an act of desperation by a man in intense pain and male suicide is preventable 

Suicide: 10 Reasons Why Young Men Are At Risk Of Suicide 

1. Lack Of Support
2. Lack Of Effective Coping Strategics
3. Lack Of Male Role Models
4. Violence Against Men And Boys 
5. Trouble With The Law
6. Lack of family support
7. Lack Of Education
8. The Burden Of Peacekeeping
9. Male Unemployment
10. Lack of appropriate help services


1. Lack Of Support

Seven of out 10 (67 per cent) of suicidal young men say they have nowhere to turn for emotional help according to The Samaritans

2. Lack Of Effective Coping Strategics

Suicidal young men are four times more likely to smoke and ten times more likely to take an illegal drug to relieve stress (Samaritas)

Young men are the most likely group to tell a friend to ‘pullthemselves together’ if they were feeling low. (Mind)

Young men (18 to 24) were five times as likely to take recreational drugs when worried as young women (Mind)

Almost twice as many men as women drink alcohol to cope with feeling down a strategy used by 16 per cent of men compared to 8 per cent of women (Mind)

4 out of 10 men who attempt suicide are chronic problem drinkers and 7 out of 10 male suicides are alcohol related (Mental Health Foundation)

More than one in three young men would 'smash something up' instead of talking about their feelings according to The Samaritans

3. Lack Of Male Role Models

Less than one in five young men feels able to ask their father for emotional support

Suicidal young men are significantly more likely to have no relationship with their father (Katz et al,1999) with Swedish researchers finding that suicidal men are twice as likely to be fatherless

Research by the Prince’s Trust has found that young men who lack of male role model are three times more likely to be depressed.

4. Violence

8 out of 10 (78%) of depressed and suicidal young men have experienced bullying (Samaritans)

7 out of 10 (69%) of suicidal young men have experienced violence from an adult (Violence)

75% of young men will have experienced violence at school

Young Men are four times more likely to be victims of violent crime.

Young men aged between 16 and 24 experienced four times the average
levels of violence (levels in 2009/10 were 13%)

This means 1 in 8 young men are victims of violence every year

5. Trouble With The Law

Young men who have been in trouble with the police are three times more likely to be suicidal (50% compare with 17 per cent of the non-suicidal young men (Samaritans)

Young offenders are 18 times more likely to commit suicide 

6. Lack of family support

Boys are more likely to end up in care and men who were in care are four times more likely to attempt suicide in adulthood 

Suicidal young men are 8 times more likely than non-suicidal counterparts to be living alone, in care or hostels or without a family structure (Katz et al, 1999). Irish

A homeless rough sleeper is 35 times more likely to commit suicide than the average person in the UK

Separated men are twice as likely to commit suicide as other men and 6 times more likely to commit suicide than separated women

7. Lack Of Education

Boys are four times more likely to be excluded from school and excluded boys are 19 times more likely to commit suicide

8. The Burden Of Peacekeeping

Men carry the majority of the burden of peacekeeping putting their lives at risk to serve in the armed forces. Young men leaving the armed forces at 2-3 times more likely to commit suicide.

9. Unemployment

Male unemployment and suicide increase during a recession

Men who are unemployed are two to three times more likely to commit suicide.

3 in 5 unemployed people are men

Men are nearly twice as likely to be long-term unemployed as women

One in seven men are thought to develop depression within six months of being made redundant (Kivimaki, 2007).

Young men are considerably more likely to be unemployed than young women 
62% of the total young unemployed cohort is male, and this proportion rises to 70% of long-term young unemployed people.


10. Lack of appropriate help services

Most reports into the barriers that men face to accessing help and support cite lack of appropriate services as a key barrier. When it comes to mental health, men are twice as likely as women to want help provided at a job centre or workplace. 

SOURCES:









Wednesday 16 January 2013

1 in 5 suicides are preventable

1 in 5 suicides are preventable. 

Evidence suggests that some suicides connected with mental health conditions may have been avoided. One study estimated 20% of suicides of people with current or recent mental health conditions may have been preventable,
suggesting some individuals’ needs are not being met.


SOURCE: EHRC How Fair Is Britain Report, referencing Allmark, P. et al. 2010. Chapter 6. Page 16.

Suicide Is Preventable According To Researchers

Mental Health NHS Trusts can take action to reduce suicide rates. 

in 2001 by the National Confidential Report Into Suicide and Homicide by People With Mental Illness made a series of recommendations to reduce suicide rates. 


By 2006, the suicide rate was 9.1 per 10,000 patient contacts in a year for authorities which had introduced at least seven of the 9 recommended measures. The rate was higher, 11 per 10,000, for those which had introduced six or fewer.


SOURCE: The Lancet

See Also: Measures reduced suicide rate (BBC)

Violence Against Men & Boys: Inequalities Of Male Victims of Domestic Violence

Male victims of domestic violence are:


  • Less likely to realise they are a victim
  • Less likely to tell anyone about the abuse
  • Less likely to tell the police
  • Less likely to get a conviction
  • Less likely to access local support services
SOURCE: Male Victims Of Violence Suffering In Silence - Report On Male Victims In Brighton & Hove 

Violence Against Men and Boys: Female Perpetrators of Domestic Violence

The number of women convicted of committing domestic violence rose 169% form around 1,500 a year to 4,000 a year between 2005 and 2010.

This means that while One In Three victims of domestic violence are male, only 7% of perpetrators convicted are female. 

The figures were obtained from the Crown Prosecution Service and published by the BBC an other media.

Violence Against Men and Boys: Violence Against Boys At School


Three quarters of boys are victims of violence at school and seven our of 10 will tell no-one.

According to the Taking Boys Seriously report by the Centre for Young Men’s Studies in Northern Ireland, around three quarters of boys experience violence in school (peaking at 84% in year 9) and many or most will not tell anyone about the incident (peaking at 69% in Year 11)

Prevalence of:
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11
Year 12
Violent acts committed against them
74.6%

84.4%

80.9%

74.9%
72.3%

Did not talk about violent incident
48.8%
46.9%

44.1%
68.9%
66.8%

SOURCE: TAKING BOYS SERIOUSLY - A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF
ADOLESCENT MALE SCHOOL-LIFE EXPERIENCES IN NORTHERN IRELAND by Dr Ken Harland and Sam McCready Centre for Young Men’s Studies

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Violence Against Men and Boys: Physical Abuse Against Boys By Parents


In total, 21% of children experience some degree of physical abuse at the hands of their parents or carers during childhood.

The person responsible for physical violence during childhood was most often the mother (49%) or father (40%)