Most Male Suicides in US Show No Link to Mental Health Issues

[Vince]

For the study, published online in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Kaplan and his co-authors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracked recent suicide deaths among U.S. males aged 10 and older. They found that 60% of victims had no documented mental health conditions.

Most Male Suicides in Us Show No Link to Mental Health Issues - Neuroscience News

60% of male suicide victims have no prior history of documented mental health problems, a new study reports.

neurosciencenews.com

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Oh shit. So what this means that they had no "documented" mental health conditions= They never went to a doctor to get mental health issues addressed. Not surprising for men.

I feel terrible for those souls. Suicide is a terrible thing that affects all around you. I know, two of my sisters (twins) killed themselves. One as recently as two months ago.

 

[Fernando Almaguer]

Oh shit. So what this means that they had no "documented" mental health conditions= They never went to a doctor to get mental health issues addressed. Not surprising for men.

I feel terrible for those souls. Suicide is a terrible thing that affects all around you. I know, two of my sisters (twins) killed themselves. One as recently as two months ago.

I'm so sorry to hear that Nelson. I wish these things could be better prevented.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

I'm so sorry to hear that Nelson. I wish these things could be better prevented.

Thank you. Most of the time, they cannot be. Once their minds are made up about death being the best solution to their ordeal, it's hard. When they fail once at taking their lives, eventually they try again but with more effectiveness. It must be hell living inside those heads.

 

[Vince]

I think depression has a lot to do with suicide. I know a few men who committed suicide. They were depressed before they committed suicide. I used to think depression was just feeling really sad but I learned a lot since then.

 

[Seth]

I think depression in men and boys is much higher than what's being reported. Lack of opportunities, the media's non-stop male bashing, lack of fathers in the home, feeling worthless are all contributing factors. Not saying that anti-depressants are the answer though, as those can actually trigger suicidal impulses. Many may not be aware of this, but most of the school shooters over the last 25 years, were all on, or had been on, anti-depressants and Ritalin. The ratio to male suicide verses female is three to four times higher, depending on the study. If the situation was reversed, you can bet there would be a lot more resources to treat it, along with a lot more media attention.

 

[NoVa Biker]

I think the important word is "documented." If a person does not go to a psychiatrist for treatment they are not "documented." Not "documented" means nothing about whether a person has mental illness.

In addition, there can be people who have been diagnosed and treated for whom there is no record. I have an adult daughter who was involuntarily committed to a hospital for treatment and released a week later. I called the hospital to check on her condition after she was released. The hospital told me they had no record of her ever being a patient at the hospital. I visited her in the hospital while she was there so I know she was there. The hospital lied to me.

 

[MIP1950]

Oh shit. So what this means that they had no "documented" mental health conditions= They never went to a doctor to get mental health issues addressed. Not surprising for men.

I feel terrible for those souls. Suicide is a terrible thing that affects all around you. I know, two of my sisters (twins) killed themselves. One as recently as two months ago.

Nelson, there aren't any words that can lessen your pain and the pain of your family. I grieve with you. You know I'm afflicted with treatment resistant bipolar and I take any suicide, personally. I've endured those thoughts since I was 19(72, now). Some days are worse than others.

 

[MIP1950]

I think depression has a lot to do with suicide. I know a few men who committed suicide. They were depressed before they committed suicide. I used to think depression was just feeling really sad but I learned a lot since then.

It does. For those researchers to say that those boys, teenagers and men who took their lives didn't have diagnosed depression or some other mental health problem isn't just sloppy research; it's a horrible insult to those lives lost and to their families and friends.

Yes, there could have been a precipitating issue from bullying to romantic break ups to sexual/gender issues to job loss, etc. Without getting political, in the US, we have an expensive healthcare structure that lets people fall through the cracks. And from what I read, in the UK, with national healthcare, they're not doing much better. Suicide, I believe, is the number one cause of death for men 18-40.