my apologies the night draws long and dreary at times!! ps: however this additional data was NOT provided at the start of the discussion which is the point I originally was making - it has since become multi-faceted and multi-layered shall we say?
Well I am a little put out because I posted this link 5 days ago - it’s a very comprehensive analysis of suicide stats
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I think you’re right, the data wants breaking down and analysing to work on the best ways to help everyone, not just the too broad category of “men”
I’d always accepted that suicide was more a problem among men than women
And I was quite shocked to find out that more women than men attempt to commit suicide.
It’s just that men are more likely to die from their attempt, women more likely to survive
And that’s partly because men tend to use more violent, irreversible methods, like hanging
So that suggests for me we really don’t need to concentrate just on men’s suicide but look into the reasons why anyone reaches the level of despair that leeds them to try to take their own life?
I don’t think we need a Minister for Men for this, we need a Minister whose job it is to look at suicide
Doesn’t that already come under the Minister for Mental health??
I always thought this quote from Trainspotting summed up well the existential dread that can lead to suicide
“We start off with high hopes, then we bottle it. We realise that we’re all going to die, without really finding out the big answers. We develop all those long-winded ideas which just interpret the reality of our lives in different ways, without really extending our body of worthwhile knowledge, about the big things, the real things. Basically, we live a short disappointing life; and then we die. We fill up our lives with shite, things like careers and relationships to delude ourselves that it isn’t all totally pointless.”
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Almost one in five men have admitted that they have no close friends . That says a lot .
I’m one of them. My partner has a couple of friends who she sees regularly.
It’s helpful to make simple point in an original post as this stimulates debate on a forum. The link I posted was also in the original post (link number 4) so seems you are confirming that this thread started off in a “scholarly” manner after all!
Irvine Welsh at his best.
IMO it’s attaching too much meaning to those things that leads to a higher risk of suicide. The loss of something if you put all your eggs in one basket.
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I think a lot of men only want their partner or wife, maybe other family if they have them,as close friends?
My Dad was certainly like that
But it probably makes it even more difficult to cope if the marriage breaks up or if their partner dies?
there are still those medical profs that favour the altered brain chemistry syndrome that does it all? where that comes from ??? - could be modern diets ?? - pity we have no drug trials on stone aged man?
I can relate to that. Mrs Fox puts herself out into the community and spent many years working as a carer in nursing homes. Consequently she has nursed the parents of many of the residents in the village and now is well known. It takes her several hours sometimes when out walking or visiting local shops such is her popularity.
Most of my friends were work colleagues and since I retired don’t see or contact any of them nor them me. I have always enjoyed my own company and all my hobbies don’t involve groups or other people. Out in the solitude of nature is where I feel the most comfortable.
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solitory tree hanging is a popular way to go??
i was a team player, but my team-mates as far as i know, played their final pass, i also played snooker and pool plus match angling, but i movedto a village [before mobiles] and lost touch, but being sociable met others, but after almost twenty years moved back into Doncaster, most pubs and clubs are gone, and it seems i have more friends in India than the UK, and yes it does get quite lonely, hence my visits here…lol
Yeah, I’ve seen a few over the years…But we live near a railway line and I am passionate about trains…
Ah you wanna lay on the shiny railway lines - I can gurantee you won’t feel a thing - I tried it myself once! - painfree - but I was dreaming!!
Just be careful that you don’t sleepwalk bret…(with a small b)
I’ve worked in telesales, I bet customer services (telephone hotline) is similar, endless larking around, the customer on the line is speaking, you mute your end, contribute quick quips to ongoing in-jokes.
As customers, we’ve all experienced it: explained our problem, had a good moan, got a jolly response from a distant voice of someone who appears not to have listened to what you have said. Thankfully these people are no longer needed, now we google the answer.
Why should we have to endure telesales at all? We get it on TV, on the radio, on the Internet, through the post, knocking on the door, on buses and every piece of land that doesn’t have a new house built on it… 
And I’m just sick to the back molars of it…
