Trigger warning! This article contains content about suicide.
Issues that disproportionately involve men and boys are having a serious impact on wider society and require specific attention, as men make up 74% of all suicides. [Why Are Suicides So High Amongst Men? – Priory]
Strong evidence suggests this is not simply down to men being poor help seekers, it’s an extremely complex issue that can’t be generalised. Looking at links from a Diversity & Inclusion perspective, research can be found that certain traits and backgrounds can be connected to high suicide rates, sometimes indirectly through mental health issues, drug and alcohol misuse and unemployment. For example;
- socioeconomic status can impact help seeking
- experiences of racial and ethnic discrimination, specifically including experiences of unfair treatment, such as harassment or bullying, and chronic daily injustices. This can especially been noted in connection to mental health issues
https://media.samaritans.org/documents/Ethnicity_and_suicide_July_2022.pdf
Stonewall reported that:
- One in eight LGBT people aged 18-24 (13 per cent) said they’ve attempted to take their own life in the last year.
- Almost half of trans people (46 per cent) have thought about taking their own life in the last year, 31 per cent of LGB people who aren’t trans said the same.
- Autistic people make up approximately 1% of the population but 11% of suicides
- Autistic adults with no learning Disability are 9x more likely to die by suicide than the general population
- It is the second leading cause of death for autistic people. The average life expectancy for autistic people is 54 years old.
- Up to 66% of autistic adults have considered suicide
- Autistic children are 28X more likely to attempt suicide
- Disabled people are much more likely to die by suicide than non-Disabled people according to the latest data released from the 2021 Census.
- For men, the figure for Disabled men was over three times higher – 48.36 deaths by suicide per 100,000 people compared to 15.88 deaths by suicide per 100,000 people for non-disabled men
Disabled people far more likely to die by suicide than non-disabled people | Disability Rights UK
50:50’s top six tips for how you can make a difference to supporting men in your workplace;
- Collect data and analyse patterns and themes – what story does it tell?
- Nurture psychologically safe & inclusive workplaces. For example, line managers – get to know the individuals on your team & how you can support them
- Put the right interventions in place by listening to your colleagues through surveys, Employee Resource Groups, listening groups etc
- Equality Impact Assessments can be useful to understand impact and barriers when implementing changes in the workplace so you can put equitable supports in place
- Ensure you have a variety of resources available in different formats and signpost to different support services
- Training around mental health & wellbeing / Diversity & Inclusion can really help raise awareness and positive action strategies to implement your own evidence-based approach to workplace interventions
Useful Organisations;
