The Epidemic of Male Suicide

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“Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” - Phil Donahue. As a complex, tragic public health issue, suicide occurs in men significantly more often than in women. Suicide is simply defined as the act of intentionally ending one’s own life, but the factors that play into a person making that decision are anything but simple. The most obvious and severe effect of suicide is the loss of a valuable, meaningful human life. According to Harvard School of Public Health (n.d.), suicide affects parents, children, siblings, friends, lovers and spouses; the loss for society is psychological, spiritual, and financial. People who lose a loved one to suicide often experience devastating effects and deal with a complex grief. These “suicide survivors” typically feel a range of emotions from sadness, blame, and guilt to extreme anger and confusion. “Suicide among males is four times higher than among females and represents 79% of all U.S. suicides” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2012). This gender paradox is one of the most compelling components regarding who is most at risk to attempt suicide. Why is it that men commit suicide more often than women? More than four times as many men as women die by suicide because depressed men are less likely to seek out help, men typically use more violent, lethal methods and cannot be resuscitated, and men carry the pressure of employment, providing for and protecting a family, and maintaining relationships.
In the past decade, suicide rates have been on the incline; especially among men. According to the New York Times (2013), “From 1999 to 2010, the suicide rate among Americans ages 35 to 64 rose by nearly 30 percent… The suicid...

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...o is most affected by suicide?. Retrieved from http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/basic-suicide-facts/who/
Samaritans. (2012, September). Masculinities. Retrieved from http://www.samaritans.org/sites/default/files/kcfinder/files/Men and Suicide Research Report 210912.pdf
The New York Times. (2013, May 2). Suicide rates rise sharply in U.S.. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/health/suicide-rate-rises-sharply-in-us.html
WebMD, LLC. (n.d.). Depression in men. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/depression/depression-men
Weissmann, J. (2013, September 3). The overhyped rise of stay-at-home dads. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/09/the-overhyped-rise-of-stay-at-home-dads/279279/
Wang, W., Parker, K., & Taylor , P. (2013, May 29). Breadwinner moms. Retrieved from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/29/breadwinner-moms/

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