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Suicide and suicidal behaviour is more prevalent among certain ''priority groups'' in Ireland that have been identified as being more vulnerable to suicide, including farmers, a new report has found.
The report, by the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland and the HSE, interviewed 34 middle-aged men at risk of marginalisation who had an average age of 50.3 years.
The primary focus of the study is on middle-aged men (40-59) who are ‘at risk’ of suicide based on being middle-aged and on having at least one other identity characteristic.
For the study, a spotlight was placed on middle-aged men who are gay, transgender, travellers, victims of domestic abuse, non-Irish nationals, farmers, unemployed, rurally isolated, ex-prisoners and separated/divorced fathers.
Deteriorating physical health
The consensus from middle-aged men was that particular transitions at middle-age pose a unique set of challenges for them.
For many of the men, the deterioration of one’s physical health brought about through ageing, illness or injury had significant knock-on implications in terms of psychological distress.
Physical changes, a propensity to gain weight, a ''slowing down'' effect, and reduced capabilities to carry out habitual tasks, were repeatedly cited as sources of torment and frustration for middle-aged men.
The report found that the latter was particularly troublesome for middle-aged men working in the construction industry or as farmers, as declining health resulted in declining work productivity and, thus, more financial strain.
This reduced capacity to ''perform'', embodied in an ailing physical body, is captured by James, a farmer:
‘’...if your physical health deteriorates, and you are not able to do the things that you think you should be able to do, then that obviously affects you mentally… you are not able to make the farm perform as well as it could…’’
Being in the provider role
Middle-age is a time that all participants interviewed in the study associated with increased responsibility and financial pressures, both of which were perceived to be potential sources of significant psychological distress.
This was particularly evident among fathers, when faced with situations in which their perceived role of provider was undermined.
Jim, a farmer, said: “It puts a financial pressure on the farmer as well. If you have two or three in college at the one time, you are trying to make a living, you are trying to keep them in college, you are trying to save money for a bit of a pension. So it is a juggling act.”
The psychological distress associated with financial pressure was compounded for many groups of middle-aged men who felt additional pressure to provide for and be responsible for the household. Although it was felt that traditional gender roles between men and women had changed considerably in the past few decades, many of the men still reported feeling immense pressure to be the provider of the household while remaining stoic, strong and silent through adversity.
James, a farmer, also reflected on how he perceived men to internalise ''failures'' outside of their control, such as a family member not taking up the option of making their livelihood from the farm:
‘’Within men we are good at internalising it all - well I have failed. We would see it as a failure if we haven’t been able to make it attractive enough for the next person to stay there.”
The men of rural Ireland
The effect of recession was seen as being more pronounced in rural Ireland. Some farmers and rurally isolated men felt that their communities had simply been ''left behind'' and forgotten about, and had fallen further and further behind the economy of the country’s capital.
Vacant units and the closure of businesses in rural Ireland were issues highlighted by Mike, a rurally isolated man, as visible scars of recession and as embodying the dearth of opportunities in these areas:
‘’…it always seems that we [the west of Ireland] get left behind. It just gets accelerated with this recession. Dublin has picked up and has moved on, but there is nothing happening down here... It always seems every time something happens the west seems to get left further behind”.
Beyond the pub, the rural men surveyed felt that sporting events and the church were the only remaining social fabrics within their communities.
However, these men also identified what they felt was a fall-off in religious practices in recent decades, which was seen as another blow to the social connection within their community.
This epitomised the decline of more routine, casual interactions in rural communities – such as with neighbours after church gatherings – and were seen as starving community members of human contact and being at the core of a more insidious and toxic source of isolation.
Education
The report also found that men who had undertaken an educational course on mental health reported that their newfound knowledge increased their likelihood of seeking support during psychological distress.
Fred, another farmer, said: “I would certainly be more inclined to look for some help compared to years ago before we did some of this work [mental health education]… I think it is hard to recognise what stage you should go looking for help… should you be feeling like that, should you not, just recognising that.”
These men also suggested that early intervention in schools was the key to instilling this mental health knowledge in men.
However, to make an impact on middle-aged men, it was suggested that educational training on mental health should be incorporated into existing models of practice, such as social welfare or single farmer payments.
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