Male suicide is one of the most urgent and under-addressed public health crises of our time
In the UK, suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50.
Globally, men account for the majority of suicides, yet male suicide remains under-researched, under-funded, and poorly addressed by current systems.
Every suicide is the loss of an individual life – a person with relationships, memories, hopes and dreams beyond suicide. That someone can reach a point where life no longer feels bearable is a profound tragedy.
We urgently need to support more men who are suicidal to access meaningful and fulfilling lives.
"When you're standing on the edge and that's literally the only way out you can see, then that's when society has let you down, because people have been allowed to get to the point where that's their only option.”
There is no single reason why a man becomes suicidal
Suicidal distress can develop through the interaction of many different challenges experienced over the course of a life, including:
- Our bodies and health: Our genes, physical health, and the way our brains and bodies develop can all shape how we experience and respond to stress.
- Childhood and upbringing: Our childhoods can leave a lasting mark. Bullying, violence, family relationships, abuse, neglect, poverty, instability, school and the communities we grow up in can shape us deeply.
- What life throws at us: Losing a job, struggling with money or housing, becoming ill, experiencing violence or going through other stressful or traumatic events can place enormous pressure on a person.
- How we think, feel and cope: The way we see ourselves and the world, our self-esteem, emotions, personality and the ways we cope when life gets difficult can all play a part.
- Relationship challenges: Problems in our relationships with others – including divorce, parental alienation, abuse, bereavement, rejection, loneliness and disconnection – can be very distressing.
- Culture and identity: The beliefs and attitudes around us can shape how we are treated because of our gender, sexuality, race, religion, disability, class or other parts of who we are.
- The systems we live in: The society around us matters too – whether people can live with security, opportunities, rights, resources and systems that support them when life becomes difficult.
EVERY SUICIDE IS AN INDIVIDUAL SYMPHONY OF SORROW
Every man who is suicidal carries his own story, his own pain, his own history. No two lives are the same.
Just as the sound of a symphony is created by many different instruments playing together, a man’s suicidal pain is produced by many risk factors in interaction.
To understand suicide, we have to look beyond single causes.
MEN’ s lives ARE VERY DIVERSE
If we want to understand male suicide, we have to resist simplifying men’s lives. Broad narratives about how “men” think, feel, communicate, seek help or cope can obscure big differences between individual men.
Suicide can affect men from all walks of life.
- Men who are financially secure and men struggling to make ends meet
- Men who are surrounded by loved ones and men who are profoundly isolated
- Men whose distress is visible to others and men whose pain stays hidden
- Men of different ages, ethnicities, sexualities, religions, classes, abilities, identities and life experiences
And different groups of men can face very different pressures, risks, barriers and sources of support.
theories of suicide can help us MAKE SENSE OF male SUICIDE
If suicide is shaped by so many different experiences and circumstances, and men are so diverse, how do we begin to understand why someone reaches the point of wanting to die?
Researchers have developed a number of theories to help answer that question. While no single theory can explain every suicide, they can help us identify recurring psychological patterns, generate research questions and think about where prevention might make a difference.
Want to understand suicide theories? Our guide introduces some of the major psychological theories of suicide in plain language – what each proposes, what the research tells us, and what they might mean for prevention.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PAIN IS A COMMON THREAD
“The author of suicide is pain.”
Different theories emphasise different pathways into a suicidal crisis, but many orbit a similar idea:
- Suicide risk can increase when psychological pain becomes overwhelming and a person loses hope that things can change
What is psychological pain?
Psychological pain is an umbrella term for any emotion that we experience as painful to feel, such as loneliness, shame, grief, humiliation, guilt, rejection, or feeling like a failure.
Just as we are naturally motivated to move away from physical pain, we are also motivated to reduce or escape psychological pain.
We do not want to remain in states that hurt.
Pain creates a drive for relief
When something hurts, our attention is drawn towards it.
We want the pain to stop.
Usually, this is useful. Pain motivates us to do something that restores safety or balance.
If we are lonely, we may seek connection.
If we feel overwhelmed, we may talk to somebody, rest, exercise, distract ourselves, seek professional support or use other ways of coping.
Sometimes we may rely on coping strategies that provide temporary relief but in the long term may increase the pain we are feeling.
In our research, many men describe using drink, drugs, gambling, self-harm, sex, food or reckless behaviour to try to cope with their pain – but find that these strategies can ultimately make life harder.
Psychological pain and suicide risk
One way of understanding suicide risk is to think about three things:
1. How much pain is a man carrying? Psychological pain can come from current stressors in a man’s life – such as work pressures or legal issues – as well as past experiences that still affect him, and from fears or worries about what might happen in the future.
2. What tools is a man using to cope with his pain? Supportive relationships, talking, rest, nature, purpose, exercise, therapy, etc., can help reduce pain. Other ways of coping – such as drugs, gambling or binge eating – may provide temporary relief but create additional problems over time – increasing his pain.
3. Is the pain approaching a point where it feels unbearable? If pain keeps building without enough relief, a person may reach a point where they feel trapped, overwhelmed and unable to imagine things getting better.
Tackling root causes of psychological pain
A man’s pain can be shaped by experiences across different areas of his life – from childhood and relationships to work and money.
These experiences do not affect every man in the same way, and none of them automatically leads to suicide.
Reducing suicide risk is not only about helping a man manage his pain.
We also have to look at the systems we live in and at what may be creating or intensifying that pain in the first place.
That might mean tackling poverty and financial insecurity, improving support for people experiencing domestic abuse, making family and justice systems work better for people going through separation and conflict, addressing loneliness and discrimination, or improving the conditions in which people live and work.
key risk factors for men
Every man’s life is different, and no single factor can tell us who will become suicidal. But when researchers look across large groups of men, some patterns appear again and again.
These patterns can help us understand where risk is concentrated, which groups may need greater support, and where prevention efforts could make a difference.
Risk factors that have strong evidence to indicate higher risk in men include:
PRISON
Men released from prison have around 4.6 times the risk of dying by suicide compared with men in the general population.
Construction workers
Low-skilled male construction workers in England have around 3.7 times the suicide risk of the male national average.
DISABILITY
Disabled men in England and Wales have around three times the suicide rate of non-disabled men.
DIVORCE
Divorced men have around 2.8 times the odds of dying by suicide compared with married men.
LOW INCOME
Men on low incomes have around 2.7 times the suicide risk of higher-income men.
UNEMPLOYMENT
Unemployed men have around 1.8 times the suicide risk of employed men
Risk is not destiny. Millions of men experience unemployment, divorce, financial hardship and other difficult circumstances without becoming suicidal. These statistics tell us where risk is elevated; they cannot explain an individual life.
key findings from our work
Statistics give us valuable insights into where some men are at greater risk.
But these factors are only part of the picture.
Our research looks beneath these risk factors to try and understand the psychological processes and experiences that may help explain why some men become at risk of suicide – and what might help.
Risk Factors
Painful Childhood Experiences
Read more
Risk Factors
Restrictive cultural ideas of men and masculinity
Read more Risk Factors
Barriers to professional support
Read more Risk Factors
Dysregulated emotions
Coming soon
Risk Factors
Relationship challenges, social isolation and loneliness
Coming soon
Risk Factors
Expectations of men & feelings of failure
Coming soon
Protective Factors
Find out more
