Why more men than women commit suicide?

Question

It is a known fact that in most countries of the world, the number of males killing themselves is significantly higher than the number of females. What could be the reason for this, since the society has always believed that men are much more emotionally stronger than women?

I'd like to put it this way. Women are considered to be more emotional and sensitive, hence when they are in tears, are depressed or even have suicidal tendencies, people sympathize with them and usually offer a lot of help and support. But if a man is in the same situation, people just snub him by saying 'You're a man, you have to be strong emotionally'. So, his trauma is pretty much ignored, and he hardly gets any help or support. So he ultimately chooses suicide to put an end to his misery.

So, what do you people feel about this?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I think that you are right about this.  But I also think that historically men have always had the pressure to be the successful person in society. go to school, get a job, and so on and so on.  and I think that, that mentality although it has changed a lot in terms of women going into the workforce and school, I think that there is still a lot of pressure on men. I think that within a family, guys still have it harder than girls do, in terms of meeting high expectations of the parents.  My sisters seem to just get everything and nobody really comes down on them, but if I do the exact same thing then I get blasted completely.  like this summer my younger sister who has only ever worked during the summer and moved away for school and is now back...she and her friends went on a trip, a few if not all of them have a full time job or part time job in the industry they went in to, my sister does not, and my parents paid for her trip, and it was travelling through Europe.  she played school volleyball throughout her schooling rather than getting a job, she worked during the summer, but maybe that gets her 4-5 thousand dollars, which practically pays for nothing.  she goes out she has a lot of friends and kind of sits around doing whatever right now as she has no job. but because she was successful in school getting her degree she is an angel and everybody loves her and see through all her faults. the only people who know how she is are me and my other sister who is younger than her. for me I worked throughout school, stayed home, worked through school and after, still don't have a full time job, but I am still working at least until the end of the week, but as soon as I am finished I will get killed by my mother.  I am looking for other work, but my field is very limited and I am trying to change my direction in life, but it's not going smoothly at all.  And I know that my mother will drop a hydrogen bomb of anger on me rather than my sister who is basically in the same situation.

moaterboat · Accepted Answer

Because the modern world is a matriarchy. Women are coddled and men are expected to cowboy up. It's not just suicide, in pretty much every facet of life men are expected to take their lumps, whereas women are protected. Violence, healthcare, workplace injuries, in all these categories men fare much worse than women, but we still care more about violence against women than men, women's healthcare is valued more than men's healthcare, and when a space shuttle blows up, we care more about the female teacher who was just hitching a ride for PR reasons than the mostly male crew of talented, well trained, genius astronauts.

Just earlier this week VP Biden decried the use of chemical weapons in Syria to kill "women and children". The unspoken message being that the life of a 40 year old woman is as valuable as that of a 5 year old boy, but an adult man is, or course, expendable. Even spell check is stacked against men. "Women's" is recognized as a word, while "men's" is not. As if it is inconceivable that men can exist as a group entity separate and distinct from their societal roles and obligations towards women.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I do think that teaching men to stifle their emotions is a major factor in this issue.

Part of the reason, too, according to statistics is that men are more likely to be in possession of a firearm.

Another part of the reason is that men's brains are wired to strike outwardly when they are in emotional turmoil, whereas women are wired to fold inwardly. That violence makes it harder for others to try to connect to them. Even suicides, in some cases, are seen as a final way of getting revenge on a cruel world. Likewise, men's brains are wired to be slightly more impulsive due to testosterone.

Another reason that that ties into the outward striking is that men tend to become addicted to drugs and alcohol more often, which leads to impaired states. A lot of suicides happen when people are intoxicated.

A last reason is that, while women struggle with depression and anxiety disorders more often, men are more likely to have profound mental disorders such as schizophrenia.

Those are some of the reasons, I think.

udolipixie · Accepted Answer

Why more men than women commit suicide?

Likely because guys choose more successful methods.

What could be the reason for this, since the society has always believed that men are much more emotionally stronger than women?

Guys are probably emotionally stronger than gals considering studies show guys process/gather emotions less than gals. It seems more about guys not having the same emotional support and in my opinion no matter how strong you are if you don't have support you'll fail or fall.

So, what do you people feel about this?

Pretty cool since it's not my death and I generally have no compassion, empathy, or sympathy for males I see no reason to feel for a gender that generally calls mine own gender b*tches and go on about how inferior, useless, lesser, etc gals are or how gals have life oh so easy/held to lower standards or how gals are oh so protected...lmfao.

ArabianPwincess197 · Accepted Answer

Women are created to be stronger emotionally. They can take just about anything. They have a high tolerance level. They can also ease their feelings through sharing them with a friend or family. Men find it harder to discuss their personal feelings with another. Even a male friend. They see it as being girlie or gay. Women also tend to take out their frustration on objects or people. Men occasionally might do this such as punch a wall, etc

Women also tend to scream because it makes them feel better

CasaNorba · Answer

cause life hits us more harder.

you must not forget that we men are forced to do all the hardest chores of society such as fighting wars, keeping a family alive, etc. and if we don't do those things we get judge on a labelled as weak and useless, which leads to us in the end feeling like we have no reason or rights to live. and you also must not forget that society has though us men that any problem we have we need to "man up, suck it up and face it like a MAN" like we men are invincible or something when in reality we are humans too and there are a lot of problems that we are sometimes forced to face that we cannot just solve them by "man up, suck it up and face it like a MAN".

women in the other hand have it all easy. since they are labelled as the weakest sex they are most likely to get help and rescued. and lets also not forget that we men of today's society are though to be practical servants to women because if we don't serve women we will also get picked on and get labelled as either "weak" or even "gay"; thinks that really hurt our egos and mentality.

so in other words, is safe to say that today's society is NO MAN'S LAND after all

ladsin · Answer

Well firstly id have to see the study, and statistics because the only stat I've heard on the issue is that men do it by gun or knife whearas women do it by drugs...

If this is still true and I can't find anything I disagree with in the study then I have mixed views A.) yeah men are supposed to bottle up their emotions, meaning that they are more likely to struggle with resolving issues

B.) life is socially harder for men (IMO) men are still supposed to be the breadwinners, men have to be tough, etc. basically men have to be socially and financially well rounded.

This causes men to feel depressed when they are not financially well off, or have good social standing. Also, in this day and age men are being told that they are supposed to be open, but they are typically shunned for doing soo. I think it's a complication of factors.

Also I think all people have a suicidal thought at least once in their life, and men are more likely to act on it. sorry my thoughts were all over but yeah take it for what it is

ketfoen · Answer

The reason for this is that the males that do attempt suicide are most likely to be successful at their first attempt.

More females do try to commit suicide than their male counterparts, but with less success, because they try ways to kill themselves which is less violent I guess, for example not shooting or stabbing oneself.

Many suicidal girls/women sometimes try 3 to 5 times before they succeed, I guess they are more scared and somehow still have a glimmer of hope of rescue from themselves.

Guys more emotional then women? nah, if they were more emotional their success rate would have been lower than that of women, they just get it over with and that does take balls in some weird twisted way.

I rarely have any sad feelings towards when someone succeeds at suicide. Although I would try to help them anyway I could while they are still alive and struggling with their suicidal thoughts.

I think that suicide is the easy way out if your depressed, heartbroken or just completely fed up with your way of life.

kheserthorpe · Answer

Men are required to be stronger then women. Those who aren't 'strong' are looked down and not received well in either dating or work worlds. They may be cared for and looked after, but they can't participate fully in society. But we have no mechanism for catching those then that are unable to cope on their own, and they may go directly from an appearance of being under control to suicide.

"Fake it till you make it" is actually a good strategy for men, unless they fake it till they crash and burn and nobody knew they were going to.

emzy-89 · Answer

More men die as a result of suicide, but more women attempt suicide.

When women try to kill themselves they do it be less violent means, eg drug overdose. Now, if you take a drug, it doesn't work instantaneousley, therefore it gives people more time to save you. Men on the other hand, are more violent in nature and use more violent means to kill themselves eg gun shot, hanging etc.

This is why statistics same that more men suicide as opposed to women. It has nothing to do with who is the emotionally stronger sex, just different methods.

Salostar · Answer

It's generally a combination of factors.

The first is the ability to talk about feelings of suicide, now women are more able to talk about it then men, this is one of two main causes why the rate is higher. The second factor is the method of attempt. Men generally choose more "violent" ways of completing suicide then women.

Regarding thoughts of suicide, it's believed that one in 4 (a number higher then most people think, but have a look for yourself) will think of killing themselves at some point in their lives, but few will think of it more then once, or thorough enough to having a plan to do so.

Granted my knowledge comes from UK sources, including Australian and New Zealand (where they are leading the field into research on mental health issues, Australia and New Zealand are pioneering methods that are being adopted worldwide including Mental Health First Aid, worth looking into if you're interested).

dinedine · Answer

You answered your own question:)  Girls are outspoken and can express themselves easily wherein guys don't.  Their ego is in control over them, they mostly think what people might say if they show their weakness by expressing themselves.  But that is absolutely wrong, the more they hide their feelings, the more they frustrate their selves.  What we people see is the weakness girls are showing up and the strength of boys they tend to maintain.  More on boys cannot express their frustrations, emotions and dilemmas that will lead in ending their lives.  Girls can easily express themselves and can easily move ..

Anonymous · Answer

I had a childhood friend who committed suicide as an adult. He liked to jump from high up places even as a child. His father caused a lot of stress and pressure in his life. My friend loved his father but, he didn't want to live his life the way his father had planned. He talked to me about this when he and I were in fifth grade. Among other things. Then one day he just disappeared  as an adult without a trace. Many years later through, dna testing his family and friends finally had closer. Though no real answers as to why or what happened leading to his suicide/death. Miss him still. Such a sweet and kind friend.

Enideqa · Answer

More men are successful because if using things such as shooting themselves and hangings, I believe I have heard usually men kill themselves to to more heady issues and women have more to do with the heart. Women go more poisoning taking pills, drinking things like bleach, cutting there wrists so they are more than often found before dying.

Prof_Don · Answer

Women get more social support than men do. ..us males are conditioned to mask our feelings, which is are destructive   Females are more conditioned to talk about their feelings, and that talking alone puts them on a better track to get the support and assistance she needs.

cheesesteak7 · Answer

I don't think it has to do with his lack of support due to the perception of "manliness" per se. I think it's more that men, in general, just don't know how to HANDLE their emotions.

Sure, women are more emotional. But if anything, that helps them NOT commit suicide. A man gets emotion and subconsciously is like "wtf is this horrible feeling? I don't want to feel this ever again," and if they lack the gall to try to address that feeling, I suppose they decide to choose the "easy way out".

martyfellow · Answer

A lot of it is that men are more involved with violence; they've used guns, have more likely killed animals, or killed in the military. For many women, the idea of violence is abhorrent, no matter how depressed they get.

A lot of guys don't feel any revulsion about the idea of violence.

yaddayaddayadda02 · Answer

More women ATTEMPT suicide. Men are just more successful at it.  Men tend to do things like shoot themselves or hang themselves. Women do pills, which are less likely to actually kill you.

RyeLee · Answer

The same reason car insurance is more expensive for young men than young women, the same reason more guys practice extreme sports than women,etc. Men (in general) are risk takers. Women are more hesitant.

butterflyred · Answer

women easily cry, we can easily show or express our emotions.  while men bottle it up bcoz  men (not in general) think about there pride or ego. specially men who knows that they did something wrong, so its not easy to share with there friends.

crazymuch · Answer

Simply because girls talk about their feelings and heartaches whenever they need to and guys just don't.  They keep it all bottled up inside.

britannny · Answer

More is expected from men than women.  Men also have a tendency to internalize their negative emotions, when women will talk about their feelings with their friends.

Anonymous · Answer

The flip side of that coin is, women attempt to commit suicide what, 4 times as often as men? And in the USA, more women than men are seeing shrinks and on anti-depressants?

angrychick · Answer

women are typically stronger and tend to think sh*t through thorouhly moreso than men.

Anonymous · Answer

Because men are the rejected and women are the rejecters. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but I imagine that does influence the statistic at least somewhat. I also think that men are pushed harder to suceed by society, and many fail.

Why more men than women commit suicide?

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