Fact check: Men accounted for about 80% of US suicides in 2021. It should be noted that men make up 50% of the population but nearly 80% of suicides.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. 38,358 men in the US died by suicide in 2021 & 38,255 in 2022, up from more than 36,000 in 2020.
The suicide rate among men in 2021 was approximately four times higher than the rate among females.
This rate of increase in male suicide has increased around the world and not just in the United States.
UCLA did a study on male suicides in 2022 and found that most American men who die by suicide don’t have any known history of mental health problems.
I completely disagree with that.
The truth is men have an extremely hard time opening up about what is going on inside their minds. We have been trained to be strong and not have feelings. How can a human not have feelings? It does not matter if you are a man or a woman.
We can’t talk to our parents, spouse, or our buddies (because they will laugh it off) even though they are going through similar issues in their life, we tend not to even speak with a counselor because that’s not what we do.
It leads back to our childhood where men are not supposed to cry, have feelings, or show any emotions. We are supposed to be strong and keep on going no matter what.
We are forced to bottle all our emotions inside and one day when it becomes too much, we turn around and off ourselves.
I am not saying that things may not be getting better, but they are definitely not where they are supposed to be.
We need to recognize that having emotions, feeling like you don’t matter, or not feeling good enough typically come from wounding in our childhood. Sadly, most men never sit down to think about what is causing them to feel the emotions they have. Instead, we go out and have a drink, smoke up, hang out with other guys, and talk trash to each other or become numb by some other method until things completely go out of control and you can’t handle your mind going 100 miles/hour.
We can keep on saying that men should be able to speak about their mental health without the fear of being judged in society but clearly, there is some judgment still there because male suicide rates are only increasing year by year.
Over the years, I have found that an unconditionally loving and caring community can go a long way for men to be able to speak up about their emotions. Having a close group of like-minded friends who are not there to judge but truly listen with concern and share helpful advice can go a long way.
This is one of the main reasons why I started a Men’s Group last year where we discuss all aspects of our lives and empower each other daily.
If you have thoughts of suicide, please call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at "988".
-Dharma