Ireland: We must face up to these statistics of young despair

Article here. Excerpt:

'It has, of course, been touted by the likes of John Waters that the Irish man has become so dominated by women, and his role so eroded, that he is suffering from some sort of post-feminism depression. But factually young males in the western world are probably the least oppressed human beings on the planet, and indeed man is instinctively a competitive animal, so it's ludicrous to think that some small advances by women in the workplace and on the domestic front are likely to unhinge the average male. It is, however, true to say that men tend to define themselves more by their role while women tend to define themselves more by their relationships, so some men may be very sensitive to any challenge to their position.

What's more likely to have caused a general rise in the number of suicides is an unravelling of the family and community structures that may have acted as a deterrent to suicide in the past. During the period from the Seventies to the Nineties, the traditional structures of stability within our society were irrevocably changed, with church-going numbers dwindling and marital breakdown and single-parent families rapidly increasing. This has all effected a decrease in extended familial and social supports available to someone considering suicide -- possibly leaving them feeling more isolated and detached than in previous generations.'