Absent bodies and invisible lives
7. Why are older men so vulnerable?
This
analysis challenged widespread suicide myths in the professional and popular
literature, including the idea that interpersonal losses (e.g. widowhood) are
relatively unimportant in older male suicide. It also highlighted often
overlooked facts in European-descent older men’s suicide proneness, including
the fact that European-descent older men have less exposure than older women to
many of the conditions (e.g. depression, chronic illnesses and functional
disabilities, financial difficulties, widowhood, and living alone) assumed to
increase suicide risk in older adults.
Therefore, the ageing adversities burden per se does not explain the extraordinary suicide proneness of European-descent older men, relative to older women or ethnic minority older men. Suicide for many European-descent older men seems to be a response to the ordinary challenges and losses of ageing (Canneto, 2015, 15).
Therefore, the ageing adversities burden per se does not explain the extraordinary suicide proneness of European-descent older men, relative to older women or ethnic minority older men. Suicide for many European-descent older men seems to be a response to the ordinary challenges and losses of ageing (Canneto, 2015, 15).