America faces a large and growing public health problem: suicide by men.
More than 38,000 men died by suicide in 2021, the highest number and rate of deaths in 20 years. Men die of suicide at four times the rate of women.
As a societal issue, male suicide has been somewhat overshadowed by the very real #mentalhealthcrisis afflicting American women and girls.
Thirty-seven percent of women have been diagnosed with depression in their lifetimes, compared to 20 percent of men, and those rates are rising, according to Gallup survey data released Wednesday.
Paradoxically, women are more likely to attempt suicide, but men are more likely to die by suicide. The main reason is firearms.
A person who attempts suicide with a gun is many times more likely to die than someone who uses another method, such as pills or self-inflicted cuts. Firearms figure in only 5 percent of suicide attempts but in over half of deaths.
America may lead the developed world in #suicideattempts, according to a 2008 study of #suicidalideation in 17 countries.
Many who attempt suicide are conflicted and irresolute. Too often, a gun makes the decision final.
“Even at the moment when the person has decided to make the attempt, there’s a lot of ambivalence,” said Elly Stout, a #suicideprevention specialist at the nonprofit Education Development Center. “If you take a bunch of pills, there is a moment where you can change your mind.”
Between 2015 and 2020, federal data shows, 122,178 men died of suicide by firearm, compared to 19,297 women. Together, those deaths represented about 2.5 million years of lost human life.
The second most common method of suicide, suffocation, claimed 59,382 men and 17,088 women in that half-decade span. Suffocation typically means death by hanging, or by covering the head to cut off the supply of air.
Drug poisoning, which was the third most common, was the only significant suicide method more prevalent among women (16,678 deaths) than men (12,641).
The rise in male suicides mirrors the rise of #guns in America. The nation purchased nearly 60 million firearms between 2020 and 2022, part of a larger cycle of panic-buying amid the #COVID-19 #pandemic.
More Americans died of #gunviolence in 2020 and 2021 than in any prior year on record. The majority of those deaths were suicides.
“Our suicide rates are very much tied to firearms,” said Mitch Prinstein, the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina.
By age and gender, the demographic group most likely to die of suicide is elderly men. Men older than 75 died in suicides at a rate of 42.2 per 100,000 Americans in 2021, the highest quotient for men or women of any age.
“Some of that is kind of related to our stereotypes of masculinity,” said Julie Cerel, a suicide researcher at the University of Kentucky. “If you’re no longer in your prime, what’s the point of it all? People who are widowed, people who are no longer able to provide.”
Yet, over the past 20 years, suicides among elderly men are relatively flat.
More alarming, perhaps, is the swift rise in suicides among the young. The suicide rate for boys and young men in the 15-24 age group rose by nearly half between 2001 and 2021, from 16.5 per 100,000 people to 23.8.
#James Donaldson notes: Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes. Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use. Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.#http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticle Find out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundation website www.yourgiftoflife.org Order your copy of James Donaldson’s latest book, #CelebratingYourGiftofLife: From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy
The #suiciderate for girls and women in the same age group more than doubled in the same span, to 6.1 per 100,000.
Suicides among girls ages 10-14, almost unknown 20 years ago, rose to 2.3 per 100,000 in 2021.
#Girls and #women, too, are dying by self-inflicted #gunshot wounds in greater numbers than in years past.
“It used to be that firearms were rarely used by #women,” Cerel said. “The myth used to be that #women wouldn’t use methods of taking their life that would change how they look, essentially, and that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
The easy availability of firearms is an obvious factor in the prevalence of #suicide among men. Other reasons speak to the essence of American masculinity.
Society encourages #girls to open up about their mental health and to seek therapy for #depression, a skill set discouraged in #boys.
“#Boys and #men haven’t been socialized to talk about mental health concerns. They’ve historically been thought of as weaknesses,” Cerel said. “The expectation for #males in this country is, they’re strong, they’re independent, they take care of themselves, they don’t need help.”
“I think we don’t have as much of a sense of connectedness in our communities,” said Nadine Kaslow, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Emory University School of Medicine.
“When I was growing up, everybody in the neighborhood knew everybody,” Kaslow said. “That’s changed. It’s this sense of #isolation and #loneliness.”
Much was made of the nation’s collective ennui during the pandemic. Yet, suicide rates actually ticked down in 2020. Why? Because everyone was home.
“During the summer, during holiday breaks, during the #pandemic, those rates actually went down,” Cerel said.
It’s true: People are actually less prone to suicide during the holidays. Suicide rates rise in spring and summer, “when people get away from each other and go out in the world,” Cerel said.
Solitude and suicide travel hand in hand. Humans don’t want to die where loved ones will find them, both because of the #trauma such a discovery will inflict and because a loved one might try to save them.
Some of Cerel’s research focuses on exploding the myth that only a few loved ones suffer when someone dies by #suicide.
A longstanding theory held that every suicide left roughly six people behind. Cerel found the number closer to 135, a massive circle of friends and loved ones who may need mental health support to endure the loss. Tragically, suicide can beget more suicide.
“For many people, losing someone to suicide opens the door to suicidality where it hadn’t been open before,” she said.
Social media plays an ambiguous role in suicide. Many reports have suggested a link between #TikTok and #Instagram and worsening mental health. But researchers see potential benefits in those platforms.
“#Socialmedia is a place where people who are marginalized can get help,” Cerel said. “And you can find online social support when you don’t have it at home.”
Our nation’s mental health investment stands in dire need, #suicide experts say.
All Americans could benefit from an annual mental health checkup, on top of the standard physical checkup, Prinstein said.
Sadly, the mental health checkup isn’t really a thing, partly because of enduring #stigmas around #mentalhealth.
#Psychotherapists are spread thin. The nation spends hundreds of times more money training its medical workforce than preparing #mentalhealthproviders, Prinstein said.
As a result, #rural #Americans may find themselves an hour’s drive from the nearest #therapist, a scenario hard to imagine in medicine.
“There’s not as much access as we need,” Kaslow said.
James Donaldson is a Washington State University graduate (’79). After an outstanding basketball career with WSU, he went on to play professional basketball in the NBA with the Seattle Supersonics, San Diego/L.A. Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, and Utah Jazz. He also played for several teams in the European Leagues in Spain, Italy, and Greece, and he toured with The Harlem Globetrotters to wrap up his career. James was an NBA All-Star in 1988 while playing center for the Dallas Mavericks. In 2006, James was inducted into the Pac-10 Sports Hall of Fame and also the Washington State University Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2010, James was elected as a board member for the NBA Retired Players Association.
James frequently conducts speaking engagements (motivational, inspirational, educational) for organizations, schools, and youth groups.
In 2010, James was the recipient of the NBA Legends of Basketball ABC Award, awarded for outstanding contributions in Athletics–Business–Community.
He believes in being a role model for success and professionalism to the scores of young people to whom he devotes so much of his time. He currently serves on several boards and committees and is a member of many organizations.
James believes in developing relationships that create a “Win-Win” environment for everyone involved, and in being the best he can be!
For more information about James Donaldson or to request he speak at your event, contact him at:
James Donaldson is the author of “Standing Above The Crowd” and “Celebrating Your Gift of Life” and founder of the Your Gift of Life Foundation which focuses on mental health awareness and suicide prevention, especially pertaining to our school aged children and men.
If you’re interested in having James come and speak to your group of young adults, business entrepreneurs, aspiring political and community leaders, and athletic teams, please contact him at jamesd@yourgiftoflife.org and or leave a personal message for him at 1-800-745-3161. Keep up with him and read about how he is reaching out and making a difference in the lives of so many around the world at www.yourgiftoflife.org
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