PREVENT
Prevention of Suicide Amongst Black Men
Tackling male suicide isn’t just about getting more men to talk about their issues, it’s about getting more people talking about the many men’s issues that seem to contribute to the high male suicide rate.
Lawrence Walker, Chairperson BHM Colchester
The ONS (Office of National Statistics) announced the results of a major survey, which found that men are less satisfied than women on average. Then came the news that men still accounted for more than three times as many suicides as women in 2020 (the male rate was 16.8 suicides per 100,000 people, versus 5.2 female deaths.)
With this in mind, here’s a list of ten things we could be doing to help us take more effective action to prevent male suicide.
1. Let’s Stop Victim Blaming
If you ask people why men are three times more likely to kill themselves than women, someone will be sure to tell you it’s because ‘men are rubbish at getting help’. Yet one of the anomalies of suicide research is that it repeatedly finds that more women think about suicide and attempt to kill themselves, while men are more likely to die by suicide.
“If we want to reduce the silent epidemic of male suicide in the UK, we need to stop blaming men for not getting help”
So why, when more women are attempting suicide everyday, does no-one point the finger at women’s help-seeking behaviour and say ‘women are rubbish at getting help’?
Maybe it’s because our unconscious cultural belief about gender issues is that women HAVE problems and men ARE problems. If we want to reduce the silent epidemic of male suicide in the UK, we need to stop blaming men for not getting help, and start asking ourselves how we can all we get better at helping men.
2. Let’s Create A Culture Of Helping Men
According to a researcher at the Australia Institute of Male Health & Studies, “the practice of blaming men for ‘holding in their emotions’ and ‘not seeking help’… is, at best, lazy and simplistic”. But if we can’t point the finger at men’s ability to get help, how do we ensure suicidal men get the support they need before it’s too late? One way is to shift our collective focus from being a crowd of bystanders pointing the finger at individual men’s help-seeking skills, and focus on our collective ability to give help to men.
Experts in the (under-resourced) men’s health sector worldwide have repeatedly demonstrated that when we develop male-friendly services, more men will reach out and get help. As Professor John Macdonald, Director from Men’s Health and Information and Resource Centre says, “when practitioners are conscious of the need to be male friendly, the impact is very noticeable”.
We need to learn how to help men
3. Let’s Commit To A Goal
One internationally tried and tested way of focusing minds on suicide prevention is to set a national target. In Australia, for example, a range of government and non-government bodies have committed to a goal of reducing suicide by 50 per cent in ten years. We need politicians of all political parties to make a public commitment to reducing the unacceptably high rate of male suicide in the UK.
This is one of the goals that would fall within the remit of a Minister For Men, if only we had one!
Nicky Morgan MP is the Minister for Women and Equalities
4. Let’s Develop Our Male Suicide Literacy
In recent years, researchers have begun to talk about the need to go beyond promoting ‘suicide awareness’ and try to increase levels of ‘suicide literacy’.
According to one researcher, a suicide prevention specialist from Pennsylvania, suicide literacy means knowing “how, when, and where to seek help or assist another person who may be experiencing thoughts of suicide”.
To help stop male suicide, we need to go one step further and develop the concept of ‘male suicide literacy’. Research suggests that men, on average, are less suicide literate than women; by increasing men’s suicide literacy, we can help the drive to stop male suicide.
More broadly, both men and women have a role to play by becoming more ‘male suicide literate’. This includes learning how to spot the warning signs of male suicide and knowing what actions we can all take to prevent it.
5. Let’s Reclaim Masculinity
One increasingly popular way to try and make sense of the stubbornly high rate of male suicide is to link the problem to unhealthy, social constructions of masculinity.
This fits neatly with a pro-feminist approach to gender issues which can tend to view men and masculinity as problems. This tendency to pathologise masculinity has led many non-feminists working in the suicide prevention field to ignore masculinity altogether.
Masculine principles may be hardwired than socially constructed
Masculine principles may be hardwired than socially constructed
Others, like the psychologist Martin Seager, are reclaiming masculinity as a concept we need to honour and understand.
According to one researcher, masculine principles like strength and the urge to protect and provide, and feminine principles like beauty and the desire to care for and nurture, are not socially constructed but evolved and hardwired. As such, telling men to stop putting on a strong, masculine persona is as likely to work as telling women to stop putting on make up.
A more effective approach, is to help men adapt and evolve in a way that broadens the definition of masculinity, so that facing emotional pain, for example, is seen as a sign of masculine strength.
Whatever your gender politics, helping to evolve masculinity in a way that honours and celebrates men and boys is an important part of the fight against male suicide.
6. Let’s Create A Culture That Empowers Men And Boys
A quick Google search for the phrase ‘empowering women’ produces a hundred times more results than for the phrase ‘empowering men’. Suicide is a complex issue, but one thing is clear, the majority of men who take their own lives are not empowered. According to the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide, men who kill themselves share three common characteristics: they believe they are a burden; their sense of belonging is thwarted and they have the means and the ability to take their own lives.
Empowerment is not about how many men are in positions of power, or how big the gender pay gap is or how physically strong you are, but about how well equipped an individual is to deal with whatever life throws at them. Empowering boys from an early age, to face up to the emotional challenges of manhood, can help us to stop male suicide.
7. Let’s Talk About Men’s Issues
Suicide is more than just mental health issue. According to the Government’s annual report on suicide prevention, factors include “alcohol or drug misuse, unemployment, family and relationship problems (including marital breakup and divorce), social isolation and low self-esteem”. In addition, research suggests that other factors include imprisonment, homelessness, being a victim of violence and abuse, exclusion from school and being bereaved by suicide.
Tackling male suicide isn’t just about getting more men to talk about their issues, it’s about getting more people talking about the many men’s issues that seem to contribute to the high male suicide rate.
Men’s issues
8. Let’s Learn To Listen To Men
Anyone who’s ever provided effective support services for men will tell you that the idea that ‘men don’t talk’ is a myth. Men will and do talk when the person they are speaking with knows how to listen.
“If we want to make significant strides in preventing male suicide, then making angry noises about the problem is not the answer”
According to the conscious listening expert, Julian Treasure, there’s an inverse relationship between emotion and listening. Treasure says, “if you’re upset and I really listen to you, you’ll get less upset. If somebody’s not listening, somebody can get more and more and more upset.”
Whatever the collective message that men are communicating through their high suicide rates, maybe the reason we’re not hearing it is not because men won’t talk but because we are not very skilled at listening to men.
9. Let’s Develop Our Compassion For Men
It is sometimes argued by angry men’s advocates that their anger is necessary because people can’t hear men’s pain. There may be some truth in this statement and when the suicide rate among men is so high, anger is an entirely valid response.
However, if we want to make significant strides in preventing male suicide, then making angry noises about the problem is not the answer. Any campaigner who wants people to show greater care and compassion towards men in distress can only be successful if they lead by example to overcome their own anger and demonstrate their care and compassion for others.
Beating male suicide requires us all to be more caring and compassionate towards men and boys.
10. Let’s All Do Our Bit For Men’s Charity
In recent years there has been a steady growth in the number of charities working to address the problems men in the UK face. One way we can all help to prevent male suicide is by supporting the men and boys sector in the UK.
Ref: Glen Poole is author of the book Equality For Men, UK coordinator for International Men’s Day and founder of the Stop Male Suicide project in Australia.
Housing services at Central Law
There is a strong link between housing issues and mental health, Central Law offer free advice to anyone who needs it via the Central Law Housing Advice Group on Facebook. Questions can be asked anonymously and are replied to within 24 hours.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/housinglawadvice
More Help at your finger tips:
Your GP SUEGERY OR DAIL 111.
THE BLACK, AFRICAN & ASIAN THERAPY NETWORK (BAATN)
RETHINK MENTAL ILLNESS.
THERAPY FOR YOU – therapyforyou.co.uk
BLACK THRIVE
100 BLACK MEN OF LONDON
BLACK MINDS MATTERS.
BLACK MENS HEALTH.
BLAM UK.