Unpacking men's narratives on suicide and depression by Barry Taylor. SPINZ Symposium, Christchurch, 2005. http://www.spinz.org.nz

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

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

8. Men & Suicide
How 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 & Suicide
How 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 & Suicide
Discourse 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 & Suicide
Discourse 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 & Suicide
Discourse 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 & Suicide
Discourse 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 & Suicide
Discourse 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 & Suicide
Discourse 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 & Suicide
Discourse 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 & Suicide
Discourse 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 & Suicide
Take 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