Male suicide accounts for the overwhelming majority of deaths by suicide. Completed suicides amongst men exceed those of women by approximately four to one in Australia and the U.S. and more than three to one in Britain and Europe overall.
In Australia (2008) of 1,710 deaths (78%) were male, with the highest rate being for males aged 40-44.
2/3 of men will die in their first attempt
Suicide rates in rural and remote areas are significantly greater than in urban populations. This appears to be especially true among young men in remote regions.
SA has a higher proportion of males who live outside major urban centres compared with the national average (72.4% versus about 66.6%, respectively).
The farm suicide rate was found to be 33.8 for men, 6.7 for women and 21.6 per 100,000 persons, much higher than the rural suicide rate for South Australia in 2001 (23.8 for men, 5.6 for women and 14.5 per 100,000 persons) according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Suicide in Australia, exceeds the national road toll, yet attracts little comparable publicity.
The majority of men at greatest risk of suicide are not successfully engaged by mental health services.
Most suicide victims who see their GP prior to death (even on the day of their death) present solely with physical complaints.
Although the proportion of young men reporting mental health disorders does not appear to differ significantly between rural (23.5%; z, –0.5) and remote (18.8%; z, –1.6) areas compared with metropolitan (25.6%) areas, young men with a mental health disorder from non-metropolitan areas are significantly less likely than those from metropolitan areas to engage with mental health services for a mental health disorder (11.4% v 25.2%; z, –2.2).
Key points
The overwhelming majority of suicides (78%) are male, with rural males – especially farmers being at greatest risk.
Suicide in Australia, exceeds the national road toll, yet attracts little comparable publicity.
Suicide rates in rural and remote areas are significantly greater than in urban populations.
Suicide is a terrible waste of lives – lives that can often be saved if support is given in the right way and at the right time.
Suicide isn’t just a social concern; it is about the lonely and tragic death of much loved fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, and friends.
Suicide smashes families, which often never fully recover from its effects.
Depression in men is underdiagnosed, and too often not detected or treated.
Our mental health system is often ineffectual in engaging with males.
The majority of men at greatest risk of suicide are not successfully engaged by mental health services; that’s why community based promotion, prevention and early intervention for mental health is essential.
We need to empower key men in communities to provide support, information, and referral to other men experiencing psychological distress.
References:
ABS, 2008, Catalogue 3303.0, 2010; DOHA, 2010.
U.S. National Centre for Health Statistics (2008) Death rates from suicide.
Varnik, A., Kolves, K., vander Feltz-Cornelis, C., Marusic, A., Oskarsson, H., Palmer, A., Reisch, T., Scheerder, G., Arensman, E., Aromaa, E., Giupponi, G., Gusmao, R., Maxwell, M., Pull, S., Szekely, A., Perez Sola, V. & Hegeri, U. 2008 Suicide methods in europe: a gender specific analysis of countries participating in the European Alliance Against Depression. (In: J Epidemiol. No. 62, pp. 545-551).
Causes of Death in Australia, ABS, 2008.
Dombrovski, A., Szanto, K., Duberstein, P., Conner K., Houck, P. & Conwell Y. (2008) Sex differences in correlates of suicide attempt lethality in late life. (In: American journal of geriatric psychiatry. Vol. 16, No 11, pp. 905-913).
Dr Ken Fielke, Director, R&R Mental Health Service , lecture: “Psychiatric Emergencies”, Port Augusta Hospital, 2008.
Pathways to the first contact with specialist mental health care. Aus & NZ J Psychiatry., 2006, April, 40 (4): 347-354.
Caldwell, T., Jorm, A.& Dear, K.(2004) Suicide and mental health in rural, remote and metropolitan areas in Australia. MJA. Volume 181, Number 7, 4 October 2004.
Further reading:
Pathways to Despair: The Social Determinants of male suicide (aged 25-44), Central Coast, NSW