Injury, Interiority, and Isolation in Men’s Suicidality

Abstract

Men’s high suicide rates have been linked to individual risk factors including history of being abused as a child, single marital status, and financial difficulties. While it has also been suggested that the normative influences of hegemonic masculinities are implicated in men’s suicide, the gendered experiences of male suicidality are poorly understood. In the current photovoice study, 20 men who previously had suicidal thoughts, plans, and/or attempts were interviewed as a means to better understanding the connections between masculinities and their experiences of suicidality. The study findings revealed injury, interiority, and isolation as interconnected themes characterizing men’s suicidality. Injury comprised an array of childhood and/or cumulative traumas that fueled men’s ruminating thoughts inhibiting recovery and limiting hopes for improved life quality. In attempting to blunt these traumas, many men described self-injuring through the overuse of alcohol and other drugs. The interiority theme revealed how suicidal thoughts can fuel hopelessness amid summonsing remedies from within. The challenges to self-manage, especially when experiencing muddled thinking and negative thought were evident, and led some participants to summons exterior resources to counter suicidality. Isolation included separateness from others, and was linked to abandonment issues and not having a job and/or partner. Self-isolating also featured as a protection strategy to avoid troubling others and/or reducing exposure to additional noxious stimuli. The study findings suggest multiple intervention points and strategies, the majority of which are premised on promoting men’s social connectedness. The destigmatizing value of photovoice methods is also discussed.

“Do You Want to Go Forward or Do You Want to Go Under?” Men’s Mental Health in and Out of Prison

“…Similar to previous research ( Ardino, Milani, & Di Blasio, 2013 ; Evans, Ehlers, Mezey, & Clark, 2007 ; Wakeling & Barnett, 2011 ), men with their first incarceration were particularly vulnerable to negative ruminating thoughts from which there was little opportunity for respite. Work in masculinities and suicidality ( Oliffe et al, 2017 ) also suggests that social isolation is a significant risk factor for self-harm, and perhaps the prospect of being isolated in the long term heightened participant’s vulnerability.…”

Internet Gaming Disorder: An Emergent Health Issue for Men

“…However, conspicuously absent in the literature are insights to the connections between socially constructed masculinities and men’s IGD, creating challenges for PCPs diagnosing and treating IGD, especially in light of many men’s estrangement from health services ( Galdas, Cheater, & Marshall, 2005 ). There is a significant body of work on masculinities and men’s mental health ( Oliffe & Phillips, 2008 ; Oliffe, Galdas, Han, & Kelly, 2013 ; Oliffe, Creighton, Robertson, Broom, Jenkins, Ogrodniczuk, & Ferlatte, 2017 ; Robertson, 2007 ) that could be extremely relevant for future research on IGD, enhancing the current biomedical and psychiatric approaches to behavioral addiction.…”

“…The trends for the current generation of young men to maintain increased leisure time, amid the rise of the internet are likely strong contributors to the emergence of IGD. The increased prevalence of mental illness among young men has also been linked to social isolation and masculine practices of stoicism and self-reliance, whereby many men internalize their problems and employ maladaptive coping strategies ( Oliffe et al, 2017 ). Young men are known to often rely on maladaptive coping strategies such as excessive alcohol consumption or drug use to self-manage emotional distress, anxiety, depression, or suicide ideation ( Capraro, 2000 ; Oliffe et al, 2013 ).…”

“Is Life Worth Living?”: The Role of Masculinity in the Way Men Aged Over 80 Talk About Living, Dying, and Suicide

“…Loneliness and fears of being a burden for others and entering nursing care were identified as potential triggers for suicide. Research by Oliffe et al (2017) provides insight into why these challenges may be particularly difficult for older men. In their study of (younger) men’s suicidality, they noted a theme related to struggling with psychological trauma and injury.…”