The Lone Wolf: Suicide Rates in the UK
The Lone Wolf: statistics on male suicide in the UK
"More women get skin cancer than men but more men die from it than women"
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The Stats - the lone-wolf and the old man
“More women get skin cancer than men, but more men die from it"
This indicates men are seeking help much later than women which is having a serious impact on their health. Men are less likely to reach out for any health-related support. If men are less likely to address physical health then they are even less likely to address – or even recognise – any mental health issues.
- The biggest killer of men in the UK, aged between 25 – 50 years old is suicide
- More than 75% of all UK suicides are male. Indeed that number is rising to approaching 80%
- Many of those men are someone’s Daddy
- Indeed, the risk is far greater for Single Dad’s
Mental Health affects all people, regardless of money, career, nice things, even friends and family as well as the lack thereof; indeed nothing like that makes you immune to it.
Single Dads have significantly reduced life-expectancy compared to single women and to men who remain in the nuclear family
Single Dads are dying far earlier than they need to, due to ill health or suicide
Often the root cause of that ill health is based on unhealthy coping mechanisms that originate from mental health, a break-up, the loss of their family and the separation from their children
Either way, Single Dads are living shorter lives than their female counterparts and shorter lives than men who don’t have families and those who remain in the family unit
And those lost lives impact the children they leave behind and their ex-partners in significant and negative ways
If you want to speak to a man you need to talk to him in his own language
Nearly 80% of suicides in the UK are men and often caused by men battling their problems alone. The problem extends to loneliness. Men are less likely to stay in touch with old friends and as a result, are losing important peer support networks in their lives. In a 2015 UK study, 2.5 million men described themselves as having one or fewer friends. Ama Papa will help change that. You can help change that.
Redefining What It Means To Be A Real Man
Their sense of identity is steeped in the good, strong, independent man who is the lone wolf. And the lone wolf goes it alone. It is also shaped by the men who came before them. Our definition of what it means to be a real man is often programmed by our fathers and forefathers. Our compass is set to go it alone, not to show weakness and although offering help is acceptable, asking for it is often not.
My Dad was a factory worker who grafted from 8am to 5pm every day then went for a pint with his work mates from 12noon Friday when the factory bell signalled the end of the week. He would never ask for help; his Dad was a local boxer who set the standard of independence and set Dad’s compass as to what it is to be a man. We need to realign that. It’s outdated and dangerous. My Dad displayed physical symptoms consistent with bowel cancer and failed to seek help until it was too late. He and the few men around him he did speak to chalked it up to “Too many pints, Tommy”. He died aged just 34 years old when I was just 5 years old. His death certificate will always say cancer but it might as well say pride.
Ama Papa can change that. You can change that. Because I love my Dad and I miss my Dad but I am not my Dad. I am strong enough to ask for help.
