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Those violent video games of the 1960's really caused that spike. Ironically the rate seems to have declined since those types of video games came out.
You mean like Pong? And Pac-Man? Yes, obviously these games foretold the downfall of man, with Pong graphically illustrating mans' futile and doomed attempts to bring meaning to their lives, and Pac-Man is worse, the nightmare made flesh, mans' ghosts unleashed into reality, the hemorrhage of color obviously representative of gays, females and dem darn'ed liberals, chasing down the average blue-collar White american into exhaustion only until one decides to take drugs in order to temporarily numb the pain, my God! These games were well above their time. You could even say that Pac-Man was the first survival horror game.
What do you think are the causes for the men's suicide rate to increase by that much and reach so high?
National Institute of Mental Health Stats
Suicide by: Males (%) Females (%)
Firearms 56 30
Suffocation 24 21
Poisoning 13 40
Other 7 9
Nearly five times as many males as females ages 15 to 19 died by suicide.
Just under six times as many males as females ages 20 to 24 died by suicide.
An estimated 11 nonfatal suicide attempts occur per every suicide death. Men and the elderly are more likely to have fatal attempts than are women and youth.
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I mean the last sentence says it all, given that less than 10% of suicide attempts result in death, the fact that men or boys choose a more lethal means results in the 5 or 6 times higher rate of death.
National Institute of Mental Health Stats
Suicide by: Males (%) Females (%)
Firearms 56 30
Suffocation 24 21
Poisoning 13 40
Other 7 9
Nearly five times as many males as females ages 15 to 19 died by suicide.
Just under six times as many males as females ages 20 to 24 died by suicide.
An estimated 11 nonfatal suicide attempts occur per every suicide death. Men and the elderly are more likely to have fatal attempts than are women and youth.
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I mean the last sentence says it all, given that less than 10% of suicide attempts result in death, the fact that men or boys choose a more lethal means results in the 5 or 6 times higher rate of death.
Men aren't raised to deal constructively with feelings the way women are. Men are raised to "man up and ignore it 'til you can deal with it" but not involve someone else where feelings are involved.
Young men today do not have a place. They are told you are not a protector, women do not need you. You are not the breadwinner, women can do that on their own. They are told men are basically bad and useless. Men cause all of societies problems. They are told men should act more like women. They are told men are not as smart or capable as women. In order to balance out the fact that teaching was once geared toward the need of boys, it is now geared toward the needs of girls. Boys struggle in school and fewer men go to college than women. If they listen to societal mores and media, they believe men serve no purpose for good, they are mere surplusage and substandard to women. Many times they are raised with no male role model no idea of what it means to be a man.
You are not the care taker, not the defender, not the breadwinner, not the comforter, not the bearer or raiser of children women can do that better, not the leader or decision maker, not the muscle, not the reparier, not needed and really not wanted, just a necessary evil.
Is this poll terribly surprising?
CJ, I don't think the pressures on men are more difficult than they are on women. I just think that many of them are not "evolving" the way many women are. In our technological age, there are not as many "strong male" types of jobs. If more men allowed themselves to become more well-rounded in their education (and I'm not just talking college here), things would go a whole lot better.
"They are told men should act more like women. They are told men are not as smart or capable as women." To me, this is just stupid! People should act like PEOPLE. What's this, "act like women" -"act like men" BS? That's the problem, right there! What exactly IS acting like woman? What exactly IS acting like a man? It's the stereotyping that's causing the problems! Act like an intelligent, productive, caring human being who gives a sh*t about others and take pride in the task you're undertaking. ********** "act like a man/act like a woman" crap.
If you're in a relationship, do your friggin share of the work....I don't care if your male or female. Prove yourself to be an intelligent, accomplished human being, instead of sitting on your laurels whining that you don't WANNA do something, you don't know HOW to do something, you're too GOOD to do something, I shouldn't HAVE to do that, because "I'm a man/I'm a woman". That right there is the crux of the problem.
If more people started look at things from a "work is work" and it needs be done and it needs to be done right, point of view, there wouldn't be as much pressure on anyone. Just DO it! I've worked alongside many different men AND women in my lifetime. I've met a few men whom I'd work with ANY day, and some who are lazy, ignorant, worthless turds. It's the same with women. I've worked alongside women who could work circles around other women AND men, no matter how physical the job. It's all about what's in their hearts.
Either you're a DOER or you're a SLACKER. I don't care which gender you are. There are doers and slackers in both genders. It's funny though......every slacker I've ever worked alongside was a petty little whining turd.....always a complaint, always whining about how unfair things are. It's not gender, it's personality.
You all have to note that these graphs are only measuring completed suicides. So, this is totally disregarding attempts.
Statistically, males and females attempt at a fairly similar rate, however males are much more likely to complete their suicides due to the means that they use. Males are more likely to use much more lethal means for suicides than females.
Bingo! 100% right on.
Men tend to be hard core (guns, hanging, etc) while women go for overdosing on sleeping pills, superficial cuts etc. Plenty of time to back out of an overdose, not so with a gunshot to the head.
Drug addicts, alcoholics, workaholics fall into the category of slower forms of suicide, but suicide is suicide?
And if we add these to the statistics, what would the results be?
Not really, suicide is a moment in time decision not a prolonged thing like alcoholism. But to add to your point many suicides do go unreported like single car accidents for example. Guy smashes his car, dies but cops write it up as a car crash rather than a suicide.
Most of the posts are missing the point the OP made. The question is not why men have higher suicide rates than women - that has always been the case. The question is why did male suicide rates suddenly spike beginning in the 1970s (or 1960s) and continuing to climb at a dramatic level through the 1980s and 1990s. What suddenly change in the late 60s and continued chaning at an increased level through 2000 that woudl affect men but not women?
Things like
"men are not raised to deal with their feelings" Did not start in the 1960s and increase from there, in fact, the reverse is true. During the time period when suicide rates increased, men were increasingly promted to be in touch with their feelings. Video games did not exist in the 1960s and we not prevelant until well into the 1980s. They did not become violent for quite some time. The fact that men use more practical methods to accomplish suicide does not have any relationship to this spike. It is not the availbility of guns, they were more readily available in the past than they are now.
Historically men and women suicicdes have tracked up and down together. Now men suicide suddenly spiked upwards while women did not.
There has been lots of gernealized discussion about men and women, or about suicide in general, but not much focused on this particular spike. In part, it is clear the graph does nto fit some agenda or another. In part it may be impossible to ever determine the cause, people are so complicated and society even more so, there is little chance of actually figuring something out with concrete proof.
Anyone have any other theories that address the spike from the 1970s on?
Anyone have any other theories that address the spike from the 1970s on?
Vietnam
Gulf war syndrome
Explosion of illegal drug use
Overpopulation (urban areas tend to affect mental health)
Deterioration of the Soviet bloc
Euthanasia
Loss of masculine identity
Soaring social expectations for men (and women)
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