Sharing – Most Male Suicides in Us Show No Link to Mental Health Issues

There is a suggestion in the article below that we should alter suicide prevention strategies for men, especially younger men, because of this finding:

“A majority of American men who die by suicide don’t have any known history of mental health problems, according to new research by UCLA professor Mark Kaplan and colleagues.”

The suggestion is that more focus should be on triggering events for men; breakups, job loss, and other traumas. That is true. The findings make it clear that a combination of triggering events, alcohol/drugs, and gun ownership will increase the likelihood of suicides.

Here’s the thing, though. I can’t help but wonder if the reason this combination is so deadly is not so much because men do not have mental health issues and then are suddenly contemplating suicide at the first sign of trauma, but that this is simply the final straw in a prolonged mental health struggle that they have never talked to anyone about.

Let’s face it, generation after generation of men have been told to “man up” and keep going in the face of anything and everything. They do that. So there’s no reason to think there would be any record of mental health problems. They just silently go about life.

Until they don’t.

https://neurosciencenews.com/male-suicide-mental-health-20834/