Communicating Science 2016T1 Section 109

Last month, I read a scientific article, “Stigma in Male Depression and Suicide: A Canadian Sex Comparison Study”[1], published in the Community Mental Health Journal. This study was led by UBC nursing professor John Oliffe and his team, and I was interested in discovering more about this field. Research has shown that there is a positive correlation between suicide and mental illness. Although past statistics report lower rates of depression among men than women. In most countries, the suicide rate for men is three times higher than the rate for women. Hence, I want to find out reasons behind high suicide rate for men.

Suicide Rate by Sex, 2014

Data Source: National Vital Statistics System-Mortality(NVSS-M), CDC/NCHS; Bridged-Race Population Estimates, CDS/NCHS and Census. [4]

My first hypothesis is that men are not active to seek for external help when they are mentally ill. There are different help for mental illness, such as therapy groups, counselling services or prescribed treatments. Some researchers have said that women are more willing to tell their friends how they feel or seek for external help when they get depressed. On the contrary, men are more likely to deal with their problems by themselves because it is difficult for the men to express their feelings. Since these external treatments can help people eliminate or reduce their suicidal thought, men have a greater probability of attempting suicide than women do.

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Another hypothesis is that men are more impulsive than women. Scientific study has shown that men take fewer things into account before they take action. For example, men tend to get themselves drunk before they attempt suicide, and they cannot make thoughtful decisions with the unconscious mind. Since most men do not care about the consequence of their suicides, they will not make decisions with properly thinking. Moreover, when men actually commit suicide, they use violent methods that do not allow the second rescue. Many women prefer the methods that are able to preserve their appearance. However, men do not have any preference so they tend to choose firearms or hanging, which lead to fatality directly. For instance, in the UK, 58% male choose hanging, strangulation or suffocation to end their life.
I think that mental illness has a negative impact on both men and women. It is important for people to visit their physicians regularly or join in suicide prevention programs when they have extreme suicidal thoughts. Since men have more intention to commit suicide, we should care more about our male friends or family members than before, and I hope suicide rate will decrease in future.

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Reference:

1. Oliffe, John L., et al. “Stigma in Male Depression and Suicide: A Canadian Sex Comparison Study.” Community mental health journal 52.3 (2016): 302-310.
2. Wall Street Journal. “College-Counselling Centres Try to Reach More Men.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 21 September  2015. Web, 9 October 2016.
3. Watchwellcast. “For Those Considering Suicide.” Online video clip. Youtube, 13 May 2013. Web, 9 October 2016.
4. Suicide Rate by Sex 2014. Digital Image. Health People 2020. A Federal Government Web site managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services • 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20201 • © 2014. Web, 10 October 2016.

Xi Chen