Male Suicide
“Any man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind…………….”
John Donne – `For whom the Bells Tolls’.
Death by suicide is a tragedy that needs to be addressed separately from the issues surrounding the prevention a child's on going contact with an abusive parent. Research does show without doubt, that when people have relationship breakdowns they are most at risk. That, combined with other issues,(that may or may not have contributed to the relationship failure), proves too much for some. But we do not know in what combination and what role each or any of these factors played.
We believe that all the social problems that beset our community need to be addressed and that funding must be made available for suicide research. If that can be done, quality of life will improve for all and relationships, especially within the family unit, will flourish and the overall rate of suicide will diminish.
In the meantime, the safety of children after separation cannot be compromised and quantum leaps of conjecture in the absence of factual supportive evidence, serve no other purpose than to mislead and misrepresent the situation. Full article
Male suicide and the Family Court
The motivations of men who kill themselves in the context of family law disputes may vary, and some may have little to do with the involvement of the Family Court, perceived injustice, involuntary loss of contact with one’s children, and so on. They may be expressions of grief or loss to do with the loss of the relationship, symptoms of mental illness, or have other causes.In short, the claim that “five men a day kill themselves because of the Family Court” proves to be a gross exaggeration.
Male suicide figures Wesley Mission & ABS
2150 males committed suicide in 1999 - 1998. This figure is relatively constant over a period of time. In this study 40% are in the 24 - 50 age group. = 2.3 per day(this includes the high rate of Aboriginal suicide due to quite other reasons probably and rural and remote area suicides, NT having the highest rate of all..) 70% are attributed to relationship breakdowns ( not necessarily family court and children involved but no figures on that) = 1.6 per day. For every male suicide completion there are 5 attempts. For every female completion there are 35 attempts. Men use decisive methods, hanging, firearms etc, women use more passive ie drug/ prescription overdose.
Male suicide and marriage breakdown
Male suicide is a real problem and should be funded, researched and managed to reduce it. BUT men have been suiciding at a rate of four men to every one woman SINCE the 1920’s when statistics began. The biggest exception to this was the Second World War when suicide rates dropped the most and the 1960’s when male suicides dropped and female suicides rose to the ratio of 2 male to one female. So other factors are causing it. The number one correlation of spikes of suicides in men is with economic downturns
Marital Breakdown, Parenthood and Suicide
This is a particularly valuable study in that it identified people who were separated from various other categories of suicide. Statistics normally classify people as married, single, divorced or widowed, which creates the problem that people in the high-risk separated group get classified as married, thereby creating misleading outcomes both for the married group, who would appear at increased risk, and the separated group, on whom no accurate data had been available, but whom are shown here at extreme risk.
The Effects of Marital Separation on Men - 10 Years On
The most traumatic period for separated men was at the time of separation. It was established that living alone was the main predictive factor of who would find coping with marital separation difficult. Of significance in this research was the extent to which the men valued their relationships and their children. Unfortunately it- would seem they did not spend the effort and time necessary to maintain and nurture the relationship prior to separation, or maybe that they did not know how to or that they were reluctant or unwilling to seek outside assistance.
Child Support - The Financial Cost to the Taxpayer
In the course of our investigation, PIR has become aware that fathers and family law reform groups have consistently reported over many years that relationship breakdown and the resultant involvement of the Child Support Agency is a major contributory factor to the suicide or death from stress related illness of paying parents. Some groups claim that the mortality rate of child support payers is likely to be higher than the suicide figures alone suggest; with for example the divorce age group being the only age group showing an increase in fatal car accidents and it also being an age group with significant health issues…..there can be little doubt that the very high death rate amongst CSA clients is due to the high suicide rate among paying parents.
Suicide Prevention Australia
A non-profit, non-government organisation working as a public health advocate in suicide prevention. SPA is the only national umbrella body active in suicide prevention throughout Australia.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
The revised Living Is For Everyone (LIFE) framework provides updated information to mental health professionals and the wider community to enhance the understanding and prevention of suicide and self harm in Australia. It is an updated version of the first LIFE framework which was developed and published in 2000. The updated framework also incorporates the latest national and international research into suicide prevention
The silent epidemic of male suicide
The real question is why so few men seek help in the first place.
A huge factor is the pressure on men not to show any weakness."The one thing that they are supposed to still be is strong and silent,and if you are going to be silent, then of course you are not going to take any action over the problems that face you, and if that's the case it's just going to get worse."
OTHER SUBJECT HEADINGS:
Familicide
Child Abuse
Child Sexual Assault
Domestic Violence
Male Suicide
False Allegations or False Denials?