A generation may be at higher risk of suicide

A generation of UK men born in the 1960s and 1970s may be more likely to take their own lives because of attitudes around the role of men at the time, Samaritans researchers have said. Suicide rates are now highest in middle-age men, after decades of falling rates in young people. Academics said this may be due to a generation of at risk people ageing. They warned that recent declines in the suicide rate in the over 50s may soon be reversed as this generation ages. A report by the charity said: "In the last eight years suicides in younger men have reduced, while for men in their mid-years there has been an increase." Prof Rory O'Connor, from the University of Stirling, suggested the shift could be partially explained by an ageing generation of at-risk people. "The data would suggest it is the same group of people. "We think of young people 20 years ago and the societal expectations of what is a successful man or a successful contributor to society, the expectations were particularly high. "And with the change in the male role, being less well defined now than it was 20 years ago, men have great difficulty responding to the challenge of how we define ourselves as men." Prof Stephen Platt, from the University of Edinburgh, said if "a group of people has a higher suicide rate, say in 15 to 19-year-olds, it carries that [higher risk] on through life". He expressed concern that recent declines in the over 50s suicide rate would be reversed "as the cohort gets older" and warned against "complacency" in dealing with suicide in that age group. Inequality The theory was discussed at the launch of a report by the Samaritans into suicide in middle-aged men. It said there was a huge gulf in the rate between people in the poorest and richest parts of society, with the most deprived areas having by far the highest rates. The report said such men were part of a "buffer generation" between strong and silent fathers and progressive sons and "struggled to cope" with changes in society. A sense of shame and defeat "especially for working class men" in not having a job or providing for the family, a reluctance to talk about emotions and a greater tendency to turn to drink and drugs were also cited as reasons.

 The Department of Health in England has recently launched a new strategy to target suicide. .................. Men in their 30s, 40s and 50s are at the highest risk of suicide, with the changing job market and family breakdowns leaving them in turmoil about their role in life, a study has found. About 3,000 men aged between 30 and 60 take their own lives each year. This is more than twice the rate among young men – those in their late teens and 20s – who used to be the highest-risk group. The group of men most at risk, many born during the Swinging Sixties, are described as a ‘buffer generation’ – unsure whether to behave like their traditionally masculine fathers or younger men who are more in touch with their feelings.

Experts say cultural changes, such as the decline of traditional masculine jobs and lifelong marriages, have challenged the men’s sense of ‘masculine pride and identity’. Men in the 35-55 age group also tend to be more dependent on their partner for emotional support than women are, and have fewer friends outside marriage, so they take divorce and separation harder, according to the report from the Samaritans.

 Working-class men have been affected by recent rises in unemployment and the shift to a service economy which values people skills. They are ten times more likely to kill themselves than affluent men. Stephen Platt, professor of health policy at Edinburgh University, said: ‘We’re thinking of the rise in female employment, births outside marriage, the rise in divorce and cohabitation, second and subsequent marriages, lone parent households, step-families, solo living, partnering and de-partnering.

All these trends mean that men are less likely to be with a lifelong partner, and if you ally that with their difficulties in coping emotionally and being able to go out and establish new relationships with less support to fall back on than women, that makes them more vulnerable to psychological ill health and suicide.’ Until eight years ago, men aged 15 to 35 had the highest suicide rate, along with elderly people, but both of these have gone down, while suicides in mid-life, particularly the 35-to-55 age group, have gone up.

Professor Platt, a trustee of the charity, added: ‘One of the problems for men is this need to aspire to a kind of gold standard of masculinity which is often very difficult to meet. ‘The current generation of men are often called the buffer generation. They are caught between an older generation which is more silent, more resilient, less expecting to deal with emotions openly and a younger generation who are more used to expressing emotions in an open way.’

 Rory O’Connor, one of the authors, a professor of psychology at Stirling University, said this generation may carry a higher suicide risk with them throughout their lives – what scientists call a ‘cohort effect’. He said: ‘Suicide is the ultimate response to feeling trapped. The male role is less well defined than it was 20, 30 years ago and men have great difficulty responding to the challenge of how we define ourselves as men.’

 The report recommends better education to help young people cope with life stresses and helping healthcare workers identify those known to be at high risk of suicide such as heavy drinkers.