Glen Poole from Helping Men will be taking part in a debate on Young Male Suicide this evening (Thursday 17th January 2013) on ITN Truthloader at 7pm
Ten men a day kill themselves in England and Wales and suicide is now the biggest killer of young men aged 16-34 in the UK taking the life of 930 young men every year.
Research into this subject by Samaritans, Mind, the Mental Health Foundation, Helping Men and others has found that:
1. Young Men Lack Support – 7 out of 10 suicidal young men say they have nowhere to turn for emotional support (Samaritans)
2. Young Men Lack Effective Coping Strategies – suicidal young men are ten times more likely to take an illegal drug to relieve stress
3. Young Men Lack Male Roles – fatherless young men are twice as likely to kill themselves (BBC) and young men without male role models are 3 times more likely to be depressed (Prince’s Trust)
4. Young Men Are Victims Of Violence – 7 out of 10 (69%) suicidal young men have experienced violence (Samaritans)
5. Young Men At Risk Of Offending Are Also A Suicide Risk – Young offenders are 18 times more likely to commit suicide (Royal College Of Psychiatrists)
6. Young Men Lack Family Support – Suicidal young men are 8 times more likely than non-suicidal counterparts to be living alone, in care or hostels or without a family structure (Katz et al, 1999)
7. Young Men Lack Education – Boys are four times more likely to be excluded from school and excluded boys are 19 times more likely to commit suicide (Every Child A Reader Trust)
8. Young Soldiers Need More Support – Young men leaving the armed forces at 2-3 times more likely to commit suicide. (Royal College Of Psychiatrists)
9. Young Men Need Jobs – Men who are unemployed are two to three times more likely to commit suicide and a rise in male unemployment is linked to a rise in male suicide. Youth employment is hight and men are nearly twice as likely to be unemployed as young women (62% to 38%)
10. Young Men Want To Get Help – services targeted at young men like CALM UK have been successful in engaging young men and Mind found that twice as many men as women would welcome mental health support delivered in places like job centres and the workplace.
To find out more about the ITN programme on young male suicide see the ITN Truthloader site.
To read more on the subject of male suicide see some of the following links:
Glen Poole is UK co-ordinator for International Men's Day, Director at the consultancy Helping Men and news editor of insideMAN magazine. Follow him on twitter @HelpingMen or find out more about his work at www.helpingmen.co.uk.
Men's News From Brighton & Hove, England 
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