An American study has explored why suicide is a gendered phenomenon, with male deaths outnumbering those of women virtually everywhere in the world.
The study, Male Suicide Risk and Recovery Factors: A Systemic Review and Qualitative Metaysnthesis of Two Decades of Research, published in the Psychological Bulletin, aimed to provide an understanding of why more men die by suicide.
Through a review of 20 years of narratives both from men who are suicidal and from people who are bereaved by male suicide, to identify risk and recovery factors, the authors noted an association between cultural norms of masculinity and suicide risk in 96 per cent of studies.
Norm relating to male emotional suppression, failing to meet standards of male success and the devaluing of men’s interpersonal needs appeared to be associated with dysregulated psychological pain and suicide risk.
The authors speculate that the interaction and accumulation of cultural harms to men’s emotions, self and interpersonal connections may potentially distinguish men who are suicidal from men who are not.
They said supporting men to understand and regulate emotions and suicidal pain, expanding possibilities for masculine identity and building meaningful interpersonal connections were reported as helping support recovery from suicidal crises.
The authors pointed out that the sample was predominantly white, cisgendered and English-speaking and that the underlying research designs prevent strong casual inferences, but they go on to discuss possible implications of the findings for male suicide intervention and suggestions for future research.