“It’s being called a silent crisis, a sleeper issue. But there are signs that this sleeper is at last awakening. Around the world studies, surveys, web networks, journals and newspaper articles are shedding light on a shadowy subject: men’s mental health.

Among the findings is the revelation that new fathers are also vulnerable to postpartum depression. In Canada, young and middle-aged men are being hospitalized for schizophrenia in increasing numbers. The gender gap among people with mental illness is much narrower than might be suspected. The StatsCan Canadian Community Health Survey on Mental health and well-being found that 10% of men experienced symptoms of the surveyed mental health disorders and substance dependencies, compared to 11% of women. In the United Kingdom, studies of depression show a major shift in the traditional gender imbalance, with depression rising among men and decreasing among women.

The greatest evidence of male vulnerability is in suicide statistics. Among Canadians of all ages, four of every five suicides are male. In the UK, men are around three times more likely to kill themselves than women. In New South Wales, Australia, suicide has overtaken car accidents as the leading cause of death in males since 1991.” (http://www.cmha.ca/bins/content_page.asp?cid=3-726, Accessed 18 August 2010)

Men’s mental illness is largely ignored in many parts of the world. Men are expected to be “tough” and while there are mental health programs for women, child, migrants and other groups (and rightly so), men are somehow assumed invulnerable.

We must begin to talk about this topic openly!

According to the Christchurch Press today, ten people per week kill themselves, with this total exceeding the number of road fatalities per annum. Of course the actual number of suicides would be higher, as this number only considers those deaths that are confirmed as suicide. We need to talk about this topic more publicly. If you need someone to speak to, call (in NZ) Lifeline on 0800376633.

When a person is thinking of committing suicide, many images of their death and subsequent events come to mind. Some think of their family and friends mourning for them and take comfort in these thoughts. Some think of themselves beautifully dressed at the funeral. Death, however, is rarely so beautiful.

Death is about decay and loss. The photo below shows what is left of a woman who jumped from the Empire State Building in New York City many years ago. The photo attracted a great deal of attention because of what seemed to be a peaceful pose in death. Does the woman really look that peaceful, though? One only has to look at the effects of her fall on the car she landed on to imagine how this impact would have affected her body. There is the illusion of a peaceful death on the surface of this image, but what about the effects of this act on her family? What if someone was sitting in the car at the moment she landed on it? Are they dead too?

Death is final. If you or someone you know is thinking of suicide, check out the resources at http://www.spinz.org.nz.

SPINZ has a YouTube channel on which they have posted videos from their 2009 National Symposium. The URL for this resource is:

http://www.youtube.com/SuicidePreventionNZ

Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand is a information service dedicated to promoting “safe and effective suicide prevention activities.” The SPINZ website is found at:

http://www.spinz.org.nz

If you are having thoughts of self-harm, you are not alone!