Loss of 'breadwinner' role driving rise in suicide among middle aged men, Samaritans suggest

Article here. Excerpt:

Family breakdown, improved rights for women and the collapse of traditional male-dominated industries have combined to create a crisis of “masculine identity”, a panel of psychologists, economists and social scientists concluded.

Together with male traits such as an unwillingness to talk about personal problems and heavier use of drink and drugs, it means they are now at far greater risk of suicidal tendencies than anyone else, the study commissioned by the Samaritans found.

Men aged between 35 and 55 are more than four times as likely to take their own lives as women of the same age, and more than twice as likely as younger men, according to official figures.

And middle aged men from poor areas are up to 10 times more likely to commit suicide than other groups of people.

The report argues that the pressure to live up to a “gold standard” of masculinity – involving providing for the family – can turn personal troubles such as losing a job into a crisis in a way that it might not for women.'