1 / 18

Not Feeling the Best: Men’s Narratives on Suicide and Depression

Barry Taylor Taylor Made Consultancy. Not Feeling the Best: Men’s Narratives on Suicide and Depression. Men & Suicide How Do We Explain It?. Many dimensions to understanding the phenomenon of the over representation of males in suicide statistics

pennie
Download Presentation

Not Feeling the Best: Men’s Narratives on Suicide and Depression

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Barry Taylor Taylor Made Consultancy Not Feeling the Best:Men’s Narratives on Suicide and Depression

  2. Men & SuicideHow Do We Explain It? • Many dimensions to understanding the phenomenon of the over representation of males in suicide statistics • Cannot just be explained through the lens of psychiatric epidemiology

  3. Men & SuicideHow Do We Explain It? • Expand the narrative from mad, bad and sad. • Suicide prevention strategies must be inclusive of a range of disciplines and analysis. • That which is NOT included is just as important as that which is.

  4. Men & SuicideHow Do We Explain It? • Also need to look at: • Sociological • Gender Roles • Social Construction of notions of mental illness, seeking help, counselling • Internal vs External Resiliency

  5. Men & SuicideHow Do We Explain It? • Males traditionally over represented in the statistics for deaths by suicide. • The generational cluster who came to our attention 1986 - 1994 are still represented in suicide statistics

  6. Men & SuicideHow Do We Explain It? • What was the experience / values / worldview of this generational cluster that contributed to the rise of depression and suicide? • Generation Y young women are taking on more male risk taking behaviours.

  7. Men & SuicideHow Do We Explain It? • Spirituality has something to offer: • Connection • Meaning • Purpose • Hope • Common themes as Resiliency literacy

  8. Men & SuicideHow Do We Explain It? • Male Spirituality, rites of passage help young man to experience and understand sense of: • Mortality • Limitations • Vulnerability • Living within a social system

  9. Men & SuicideHow Do We Explain It? • Need to understand the impact of Shame - “mate” • Sense of forgiveness of self / others • “Utu” - restoring / making right • Compassion • Restorative justice • Reciprocity

  10. Men & SuicideDiscourse of Depression • Different discourses but some similar themes across contexts: • Not on top of it • Going through a rough patch • Feeling out of sorts • Not coping • Feeling flat • Tends to neutralise - does not indicate the depth of emotions experienced

  11. Men & SuicideDiscourse of Depression • Masked Depression: • Feelings of sadness replaced with rage, anger, violence, sabotaging, acting out behaviour • Aim of therapeutic interventions and mental health promotion messages should be an invitation to explore in depth.

  12. Men & SuicideDiscourse of Depression • Identification of emotions must be balanced with ability to reach out. • Expectation for “people to know” • Degree of proactiveness of mates does socio-economic determinants • Young Mens Study - Jesuit Social Services

  13. Men & SuicideDiscourse of Depression • Stigma in naming Depression • However when named there can be relief - may explain why they are feeling this way • After naming there can be a reluctance to engage with treatment • Treatment challenges “ability to cope”

  14. Men & SuicideDiscourse of Depression • Risk calculation in compliance with treatment • Arapax vs Climax - impact of medication on sexual functioning • Challenge is to have men to talk with each other about their depression and the ways of dealing with it.

  15. Men & SuicideDiscourse of Depression • While men may be comfortable to talk to women about problems - need to challenge the myth that men won’t talk with men • Create community dialogue lead by social commentators • Example of John Kirwan • Beyond Blue Initiative

  16. Men & SuicideDiscourse of Depression • Influence of behaviour by significant males • Sons of Vietnam Veterans were 50% of client of VVCS. • Positive outcomes for young men with depression and behavioural issues in mentoring programmes.

  17. Men & SuicideDiscourse of Depression • Challenge to both clinicians and mental health promoters • Need for more qualitative research on men’s experience of depression • More men especially from over represented groups eg Maori men to participate in the solution finding

  18. Men & SuicideTake home points • Draw on a range of disciplines to understand men’s experience of depression • Mental health promotion messages need to be developed by men for men • Mental health promotion messages must be careful not to denigrate men and masculinity but use that which we see as barriers to become solutions

More Related