Sorting out puzzle of male suicide

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 1/26/6 | Joan Ryan

[longtermmemmory]

I also remember reading that boys tend to take steps which actually succeed whereas girls make there death effort in such a way as to be stopped. Cry for help vs just end the pain.

[FOG724]

Read The Myth of Male Power. It explains a lot.

[FOG724]

Another way of looking at it - if we weren't in the mood to blame "culture" for every difference in outcomes - is "What is it about boys that makes them much more likely to commit suicide than girls?"

I feel sorry for nay son's you may have.

[longtermmemmory]

men are ending the pain.

women are calling for help.

[FOG724]

I feel sorry for nay son's you may have.

Good Lord, the typos. Note to self, remember to double check before hitting post.

[Tax-chick]

Good point.

[x]

I got this off the Internet, but can't vouch for its accuracy:

Adolescents who attempt suicide tend to be female by the ratio of 4 to 1. 90% of theses youngsters try to kill themselves by ingesting drugs. Completers tend to be male by a ratio of 3 to 1. Two-thirds of these youngsters kill themselves with a gun. 19 adolescents each day, 5000-7000 young people each year end their own lives. As many as 5 times that number make less "successful" attempts at suicide.

Choice of weapons matters a lot. It looks like suicide rates are highest among men over 65.

When male roles are in flux, it stands to reason that suicide rates among adolescent boys will increase, but it's not so clear that we could return to the way things were and solve things. Suicide has a lot to do with loneliness and the feeling that one has failed to "measure up" to some standard. Changing the standard but leaving other conditions in place won't make things better. Older standards may be even harder to measure up to in today's circumstances. Apparently suicides were at a low point in the late 1950s, but I don't think we could simply wave our fingers and make things as they were then.

[Philistone]

This is also true of spousal abuse (both physical and verbal). Both sexes abuse equally, it's just that men succeed in landing their mates in the hospital more often than the reverse.

It's not from lack of trying...

[azkathy]

I know that you have a point, unfortunately I have first hand experience with this topic. Before I explain my first hand experience, I want to state for the record that I am not a liberal whiner.
My son attempted suicide Nov 14, 2004. He shot himself with a 12 gauge shotgun, in the face. Lower right jaw to be exact. He will be OK, but he is missing 2 inches of jawbone and he has had 6 surgeries in the last year.
I felt the point of the story was being ignored, while a good liberal bashing is taking place.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for American young people. This topic deserves a serious discussion, after all, lives are at stake.
I do believe suicide is being encouraged by our society, and young people are very susceptible.
The mental health field has not improved nearly as much as you might think. We had to fight hard to find help for our son even though it was clear that he had some serious issues.
Drug use, (as is common) was the primary factor contributing to the depression he felt. Oxycontin and Xany Bars were consumed the night he shot himself. If you don't know what Xany bars are and you have young people that you love, you should. It is the street name for Xanax, an anti anxiety drug that kids are taking. It actually makes anxiety worse as it wears off.
I can almost guarantee the suicide rates will increase in the future. (Do you think drug usage will increase or decrease?)

[TalonDJ]

Actually, the rate of attempted suicide between male/female nationally is pretty close. Only, men succeed vast majority of the time. Women often choose methods which allow them to be saved after the fact (if discovered in time). Men, usually, chose far more effective means.

Question answered. Now do you think they will draw the conclusion of "boys are more driving taking direct approaches to solving perceived problems (being alive)" or the conclusion that "guns are bad".

[Galveston Grl]

I agree that men and boys are more effective at sucide. Guns...that's the answer. But really, we have an anti male public educational system and we have anti-male departments in Universities. We took feminists out of power in elected office. We now need to take them out of voice and thought in society and education.

[lastchance]

You have my prayers and I hope your son is on the way to recovery. Unfortunately I do think drug use will increase. One reason is because of the easy avalibility and the second is our children live in a world much more splintered and off then the one we grew up in. I am not sure how to explain it but maybe there is a universal angst and desperation that our children are vulnerablet to. So many have no anchor. Either of family, faith or friends. You obviously were there for your son and even with that support he fell victim to despair. Think of those who have no loved ones to turn to.
Suicide is a tragedy. That it is taking the lives of so many young men is heart breaking. Again you have my prayers. Tell your son I will pray for him as well and to remember we always have hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

[Blue State Insurgent]

Prozac.

[farlander]

I think I'll have to think about that one some... /sarc

[ansel12]

exactly

[Zack Nguyen]

Power and control are critically important to men, dating back surely to the days when a man's job was to hunt dangerous prey.

Ah yes, the evolutionary argument. Because thousands of years ago men hunted dangerous prey, they value power and control, thus they are less likely to ask for help, thus more likely to successfully commit suicide. This article is a good one and brings up some interesting points, but the quasi-scientific justification for men's alleged controlling instincts is lacking in my view.