- Break-ups can spark self harm
- By Michelle Paine
- The Mercury (Tasmania)
- 06/05/2006 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: admin ( 61 articles in 2006 )
You don't have to be crazy to kill yourself, says a men's health expert.
Professor John Macdonald said many men who committed suicide had no history of mental illness or depression.
He said suicide prevention strategies required societal change, not just medical solutions.
"Despite what many people believe, you don't have to be crazy to kill yourself," said the Professor of Primary Health at the University of Western Sydney.
"It's often society, not initially mental health problems, which drives men to kill themselves."
Men make up 80 per cent of Australian deaths by suicide, and most are aged 25 to 44.
The rate has been rising since 1979.
"We're known for some years it's men in their middle years killing themselves," Prof Macdonald said.
"We seem as a nation to have turned our eyes away from this fact.
"It's time social factors, like family breakdown and unemployment, are considered alongside the need to improve mental health resources."
Family break-up and separation from children were common causes, with separated men six times more likely to kill themselves than separated women.
"In our society, whatever people say, many men end up with very little contact with their children and that is recorded as putting them at risk. Of course that can happen to women too," Prof Macdonald said.
"People might then resort to drugs, lose their jobs and they can be contributing factors.
"A purely medical response to suicide prevention hasn't been enough to reverse the horrific statistics.
"It is controversial because it means moving things from a medical perspective and it's a lot harder to deal with social aspects."
Prof Macdonald was a key speaker at a suicide prevention forum in Sydney this week
Tasmanian suicide prevention officer Tim Johnson, of POSITIVE, said positive steps could make a difference.
"The challenge really has to be to recognise what it is men in our society need, coming up with services that fit them rather than making men fit what's available," he said.
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If you need help, contact Mensline Australia on 1300 789 978, Lifelink Samaritans on 6331 3355 or Lifeline on 131 114.
Professor John Macdonald said many men who committed suicide had no history of mental illness or depression.
He said suicide prevention strategies required societal change, not just medical solutions.
"Despite what many people believe, you don't have to be crazy to kill yourself," said the Professor of Primary Health at the University of Western Sydney.
"It's often society, not initially mental health problems, which drives men to kill themselves."
Men make up 80 per cent of Australian deaths by suicide, and most are aged 25 to 44.
The rate has been rising since 1979.
"We're known for some years it's men in their middle years killing themselves," Prof Macdonald said.
"We seem as a nation to have turned our eyes away from this fact.
"It's time social factors, like family breakdown and unemployment, are considered alongside the need to improve mental health resources."
Family break-up and separation from children were common causes, with separated men six times more likely to kill themselves than separated women.
"In our society, whatever people say, many men end up with very little contact with their children and that is recorded as putting them at risk. Of course that can happen to women too," Prof Macdonald said.
"People might then resort to drugs, lose their jobs and they can be contributing factors.
"A purely medical response to suicide prevention hasn't been enough to reverse the horrific statistics.
"It is controversial because it means moving things from a medical perspective and it's a lot harder to deal with social aspects."
Prof Macdonald was a key speaker at a suicide prevention forum in Sydney this week
Tasmanian suicide prevention officer Tim Johnson, of POSITIVE, said positive steps could make a difference.
"The challenge really has to be to recognise what it is men in our society need, coming up with services that fit them rather than making men fit what's available," he said.
---
If you need help, contact Mensline Australia on 1300 789 978, Lifelink Samaritans on 6331 3355 or Lifeline on 131 114.
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