Blaming male suicide on mental health issues and depression
is "too simplistic", says one of Australia's new men's health
ambassadors.
Societal factors such as job loss or relationship failure
also play a major role and should not be overlooked in
efforts to curb the nation's suicide rate, says Sydney-based
Professor John Macdonald.
Professor Macdonald, who is also co-director of the
University of Western Sydney's Men's Health Information and
Resource Centre (MHIRC), today unveiled the results of a
qualitative research project focused on NSW's Central Coast.
In-depth interviews were conducted with five men who had
survived a suicide attempt, and 13 families touched by male
suicide, and Prof Macdonald said the results challenged the
notion that depression was a common driver.
"It's often a combination of social factors, not initially
mental health problems, which cause five men a day in
Australia to kill themselves," Prof Macdonald said in Sydney
today.
"However, strangely, little research to date has been
conducted on the role social factors, such as separation from
children and partners and unemployment may have in
determining suicide risk."
Prof Macdonald said the study, which took in the views of men
aged 25-44, showed the various paths to suicide include
issues to do with employment (overwork or insecurity),
adverse childhood experiences and abuse of drugs and alcohol.
Mental illness also played a role but relying solely on that
explanation was "too simplistic and it misses the point",
Prof Macdonald said.
"The labelling of something as mental illness is ducking the
issue," he said.
"As a society we should now be looking beyond the detection
of 'depression', and learning from those community-based
programs of suicide prevention which build supportive
structures in communities to help keep men alive."
Sydney's Brain and Mind Research Institute executive director
Dr Ian Hickie today said Australia's suicide rate numbered
more than 2,000 people per year, with three-quarters of these
male.
He said there was no doubt multiple factors contributed to
each suicide but tackling depression remained "at the top of
the list of proven strategies for reducing (it)".
"A lot of the reduction of suicide in Australia has occurred
because of more active treatment of mental disorders. It's
not clear to me why people want to discount that," Dr Hickie
said in response today.
"Depression remains one of the most significant risk factors
and it is one of the most treatable."
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