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Cited by 194Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesGender Roles and Identity StudiesHomicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse

“You feel like you can’t live anymore”: Suicide from the perspectives of Canadian men who experience depression

Oliffe, John L., Ogrodniczuk, John S., Bottorff, Joan L., Johnson, Joy L., Hoyak, Kristy·2012·Social Science & Medicine
DOI 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.03.057
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Abstract

Severe depression is a known risk factor for suicide, yet worldwide men's suicide rates continue to outnumber reported rates of men's depression. While acknowledging that the pathways to suicide are diverse, and being mindful of the complex challenges inherent to studying suicide, we interviewed men who experienced depression as a means to better understanding the processes they used to counter and contemplate suicide. This novel qualitative study provides insights on how masculine roles, identities and relations mediate depression-related suicidal ideation in a cohort of 38 men in Canada, ranging in age from 24 to 50 years-old. Constant comparative analyses yielded the core category of reconciling despair in which men responded to severe depression and suicidal ideation by following two pathways. To counter suicide actions, connecting with family, peers and health care professionals and/or drawing on religious and moral beliefs were important interim steps for quelling thoughts about suicide and eventually dislocating depression from self-harm. This pathway revealed how connecting with family through masculine protector and father roles enabled men to avoid suicide while positioning help-seeking as a wise, rational action in re-establishing self-control. The other pathway, contemplating escape, rendered men socially isolated and the overuse of alcohol and other drugs were often employed to relieve emotional, mental and physical pain. Rather than providing respite, these risky practices were the gateway to men's heightened vulnerability for nonfatal suicidal behaviour. Men on this pathway embodied solitary and/or risk taker identities synonymous with masculine ideals but juxtaposed nonfatal suicidal behaviours as feminine terrain.

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  • Qualitative studies suggest threats to masculinity (e.g., loss of the role of breadwinner or household head) are associated with depression and suicidality.

    “Qualitative studies have suggested that threats to masculinity (e.g., loss of the role of breadwinner or household head) are associated with depression and suicidality [10,11]”

    From Masculinity and suicidal thinking (2017) · cites this paper as [11]

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Authors
Oliffe, J. L., Ogrodniczuk, J. S., Bottorff, J. L., Johnson, J. L., & Hoyak, K.
Affiliations
  • University of British Columbia (CA)
  • University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus (CA)
Corresponding author
Oliffe, John L.
ORCID
Venue
Social Science & Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-02
Volume
74
Issue
4
Pages
506-514
ISSN
0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.03.057
OpenAlex
W2014402555
Cited by
194
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 5
FWCI
7.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Bank (Australian Catholic University) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Institute of Gender and Health) (11R92369)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Roles and Identity Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
Keywords
male depression, suicidal ideation, masculinity, help-seeking, social isolation, alcohol and drug use, family support, gender and suicide
MeSH terms
Adult, British Columbia, Depression, Family, Health Personnel, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Morals, Peer Group, Religion, Social Isolation, Social Support, Substance-Related Disorders, Masculinity, Suicidal Ideation

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