Men suicide more but prevention methods favour women

That’s a core finding of a new research paper released by the Australian Men’s Health Forum (AMHF) that’s called for great government cohesion to tackle the imbalance.

The brief eight-page report was prepared by Glen Poole of the Stop Male Suicide Project in partnership with the AMHF which is the peak national forum for promoting a social approach to male health and wellbeing.

The research paper stated that men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women but current approaches to suicide prevention are more effective at preventing female suicide than male suicide.

“There is an urgent need for governments to work with the men’s health and wellbeing sector to address this problem and develop male-friendly approaches to suicide prevention by adopting the recommendations outlined in this paper,” it said.

The paper made 10 recommendations to help prevent male suicide including ensuring there is an equitable balance of male-friendly and female-friendly approaches.

“The whole-of-government approach to suicide prevention outlined in the Fifth National Mental Health Plan must be unequivocal in acknowledging the gendered nature of suicide and ensure there is an equitable balance of male-friendly and female-friendly approaches to suicide prevention that responds to the fact that three-quarters of suicides are male,” it said.

Another leading recommendation said the whole-of-government approach to suicide prevention must acknowledge and address the fact that the delivery of male-friendly approaches to suicide prevention was “hindered” by the absence of administrative structures at federal, state and territory level.

It said re-affirmation of the 2010 National Male Health Policy, and commitment to funding the development and delivery of state and territory policies on men’s health, was a priority.

It also called for a shift in focus from talking about mental health to addressing situational distress which is endured by farmers, for example, who face financial pressures due to seasonal variations in production, or market fluctuations.

“We recommend a significant shift in emphasis in male suicide prevention to prioritise the key social distressors that are known to increase men’s risk of suicide including relationship issues, employment-related issues, financial issues and unhealthy coping strategies such as drug and alcohol abuse,” it said.

The report nominated several successful male-friendly approaches to suicide prevention including the Wheatbelt Men’s Health program - also known as the Regional Men’s Health Initiative - and the Rural Financial Counseling Service of WA (RFCSWA).

While it said the RFCSWA program would not be identified as a suicide prevention strategy or program but did provide financial counseling to farmers and other related businesses experiencing financial difficulties.

“In the last eight years this organisation has delivered services to approximately 20 per cent of the farm businesses in West Australia,” it said.

“The sector they work in is recognised as high risk for suicidal ideation and behavior.

“The program deals with the causes of “situational distress” around financial difficulties and seeks to calm, clarify and assist the farmer to come up with workable solutions.

“This approach keeps clients in control while being supported.

“An unmeasured benefit of this program is that there has not been one farmer or related family member suicide from this client base in the last eight years.”

The report said the Wheatbelt Men’s Health program delivered a wide range of education and wellbeing programs across rural and regional WA, mostly in workplaces or where men meet, to focus on building resilience and empowering men and communities to cope with life’s difficulties.

“In every presentation men are encouraged to develop strategies to counter the negative impacts of “situational distress” which may include suicidal ideation,” the report said.

“This program has as a central theme “before it gets too much….TALK TO A MATE” and encourages men to be alert to those male friends who may be doing it tough.”

Regional Men’s Heath Initiative founder and AMHF President Julian Krieg said it was a well-known fact that social isolation was a critical factor leading to suicides which fits the rural and remote farmer or grazers’ profile.

Mr Krieg said lengthy exposure to a distress like drought also had an “erosion effect” on wellbeing.

But he said it was also well-know that assisting people to cope, by providing support for the underpinning problems, could help to prevent suicide.

Mr Krieg also welcomed the report’s findings and its focus on the individual needs of men; not just those in rural and remote areas.

“Our paper outlines the key steps that governments need to take to ensure that men at risk of suicide can access help and support from male-friendly suicide prevention services,” he said.

“In the majority of cases, male suicide is not a mental health issue but a response to situational distress and most commonly associated with relationship issues and work-related problems.

“What our experience shows, is that men respond positively to practical, self-directed, problem-solving approaches that deal with the issues that are causing them distress.”

The AMHF report said suicide killed six men a day in Australia and was the leading killer of men and boys under 45, in claiming more lives than road traffic accidents.

But while men account for 75.7pc of all suicides, the majority of time, money and energy invested in researching and preventing suicide fails to target male suicide, it said.

The research paper said male suicide had increased by 41pc in the past decade from 1624 deaths a year in 2006 to 2292 suicides in 2015 and suicide affected men of all ages.

“It kills two boys aged under 20 a week; it is the leading killer of men under 45; men aged 40 to 55 record the highest number of suicides and older men have the highest rates of suicide,” it said.

“Closing the gender suicide gap, and reducing the number of male suicides to the same level as female suicide, would save the lives of more than 1500 Australian men a year and save the economy an estimated annual $9.3billion.”

Mr Poole said most approaches to suicide prevention used a ‘deficit model’ that sees men as the problem and argues that if only men behaved more like women, they’d open up, get help and talk about their feelings.

“What men’s health experts are telling us is that this ‘inside-out’, feelings-based approach to suicide prevention is not compatible with the way most men deal with their problems,” he said.

“Male-friendly approaches to suicide prevention generally recognise that men are less likely to actually report having suicidal thoughts and so identify men at risk from the ‘outside in’.

“One way this can be achieved is by targeting support services at men who are experiencing the situational distressors that are known to increase their risk of suicide.

“These include issues with relationships, work, money - which are often compounded by alcohol and substance abuse.”

Contact Lifeline Australia on 131 114 if you are in crisis.