UNITED KINGDOM: Suicide rate for middle-age men with mental health issues up 73 percent, report says

The Guardian

Researchers have reported a rise in suicides among British men receiving mental health care, with alcohol use, job loss, and debt emerging as important risk factors. The increase in suicides by men aged 45-54 was markedly higher than for other age groups. “Our findings show that within mental health care, middle-aged men are particularly at risk,” said Louis Appleby, the director of the University of Manchester’s National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, which conducted the study. “The problem is not simply that they don’t seek help – they are already under mental health care – so we have to understand better the stresses men in this age group face.” Noting that the number of in-patient beds has been reduced in recent years due to budget cuts, the researchers suggest that prevention efforts focus especially on people who are receiving acute care services from outpatient providers.

Spark Extra! Watch the archived webinar A Surprising Health Disparity: Suicide among Men in the Middle Years, co-presented by SPRC and the Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention.