1. GENDER & SUICIDE
Jane Powell & Simon Howes
NW Suicide Reduction Summit 2013

2. Depression occurs as often in
men as in women but women
are twice as likely to be
diagnosed and treated

3. FEMALE SUICIDE RATES
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85 +
1981 2.4 4.4 5.4 7.0 7.7 11.5 11.4 15.4 16.1 14.9 17.0 16.8 14.6 13.0 12.3
1982 1.9 4.9 6.1 6.9 8.2 10.5 10.4 14.3 15.2 14.6 14.9 16.8 14.7 15.3 11.3
1983 2.1 4.1 5.1 5.7 8.6 9.8 9.6 12.4 14.8 14.2 14.8 15.5 14.2 12.1 13.2
1984 1.9 3.3 5.6 5.5 8.4 9.4 10.4 13.7 13.5 15.3 13.5 14.1 14.2 14.8 9.8
1985 2.2 3.7 4.6 6.8 6.7 9.2 11.0 13.6 14.8 15.2 16.9 15.8 14.9 14.0 10.0
1986 2.6 4.1 5.5 5.9 7.9 7.0 8.1 13.2 11.3 13.8 13.5 14.3 16.3 11.1 10.0
1987 3.0 4.6 5.8 6.1 7.1 7.9 8.7 10.5 10.7 12.0 11.4 11.9 10.1 12.3 10.0
1988 3.0 5.2 4.7 7.2 8.0 8.0 7.8 10.7 10.7 9.5 11.6 12.7 13.8 12.1 10.8
1989 3.1 4.5 5.9 6.4 5.8 6.8 7.0 10.0 8.7 10.3 8.7 8.8 11.2 10.0 10.2
1990 2.4 4.3 5.6 6.5 6.8 7.0 7.7 7.7 7.5 9.2 9.6 9.6 10.2 8.5 9.5
1991 3.1 4.7 4.7 6.4 6.0 6.6 6.7 8.6 8.7 7.6 7.3 9.5 9.1 9.3 8.5
1992 2.3 5.1 6.5 6.0 5.7 7.0 7.4 7.6 7.7 8.6 7.6 8.9 8.5 8.9 7.2
1993 2.3 4.8 6.1 6.0 6.4 7.6 6.0 7.6 8.0 6.3 7.9 6.8 8.9 9.7 10.1
1994 1.9 4.8 5.6 6.1 5.7 7.4 5.1 7.8 6.3 7.2 6.3 7.8 8.2 10.2 9.7
1995 3.0 4.2 5.3 4.8 7.1 8.1 6.1 7.0 6.8 6.6 5.2 7.3 8.6 9.0 7.1
1996 3.6 4.9 5.8 6.3 6.2 6.6 5.6 7.2 6.5 4.8 6.3 6.3 6.7 7.5 8.7
1997 2.6 5.4 5.5 5.5 6.8 7.5 6.5 6.6 7.2 5.8 6.7 6.6 5.1 6.2 7.0
1998 3.5 5.5 6.1 6.5 7.3 6.6 5.8 6.5 6.6 5.2 7.4 6.9 6.7 6.9 7.2
1999 3.2 5.0 6.0 6.2 6.8 7.2 4.9 6.9 6.3 4.9 6.6 6.5 7.0 7.1 7.0
2000 3.8 5.0 6.4 5.9 6.4 7.0 6.8 7.3 7.0 5.1 5.9 5.8 5.9 6.2 7.6
2001 2.3 4.9 4.9 6.3 7.0 6.7 5.2 7.2 6.6 6.7 4.6 5.8 5.9 6.2 6.5
2002 2.7 4.7 7.4 5.2 6.8 6.2 5.5 6.7 6.4 5.4 5.6 5.1 5.6 6.7 8.6
2003 2.7 5.0 4.5 6.5 6.5 6.6 6.1 8.1 6.1 5.2 4.7 4.6 6.3 5.3 7.6
2004 3.3 3.9 5.3 5.9 6.3 7.6 7.3 7.2 6.7 5.7 6.0 5.9 6.8 5.9 8.6
2005 2.7 4.5 5.2 5.9 6.3 6.5 6.6 8.4 7.0 5.6 4.9 4.1 4.4 5.7 6.7
2006 2.3 3.4 5.1 4.6 6.0 5.1 6.6 8.0 6.6 6.6 4.6 3.4 4.0 5.3 5.0
2007 2.3 2.8 3.5 5.6 5.2 5.7 6.0 7.2 6.0 5.3 5.3 4.6 4.1 4.9 4.4
2008 2.4 3.5 5.0 6.2 5.5 6.7 5.7 8.2 6.3 4.6 4.7 3.6 4.3 5.6 3.6
2009 2.4 3.6 5.6 4.3 6.1 7.2 5.8 6.1 6.6 5.3 4.5 3.8 4.5 4.9 4.9
2010 2.8 4.5 4.2 5.0 6.4 6.2 5.8 7.3 6.0 5.4 4.5 4.1 4.3 4.3 4.0
2011 3.1 4.3 4.9 5.7 6.7 6.8 5.9 7.7 7.1 5.1 4.4 4.1 4.0 5.3 5.3
per 000,000
25 - 30
20 - 25
15 - 20
10 - 15
5 - 10
< 5
Using ONS UK rates 1981-2011

4. MALE SUICIDE RATES
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85 +
1981 7.1 14.6 19.4 17.9 19.6 21.5 19.5 23.5 23.8 23.0 20.1 23.0 27.7 28.9 31.9
1982 5.8 13.6 18.6 18.5 18.4 20.2 21.7 21.8 24.9 20.7 22.9 22.8 25.6 30.7 34.2
1983 6.1 13.5 17.4 18.4 19.3 21.9 20.5 22.7 21.8 22.9 22.4 22.0 27.7 31.9 25.3
1984 6.5 14.0 17.3 19.5 19.6 22.4 20.3 22.5 23.9 20.3 20.1 24.3 27.3 30.1 25.2
1985 7.0 16.5 18.7 20.9 20.8 23.2 21.4 22.8 23.0 23.2 22.5 21.7 28.1 31.5 27.8
1986 7.7 17.8 18.4 21.2 19.2 22.6 20.0 23.2 21.9 23.1 22.8 24.7 27.4 39.9 28.9
1987 9.0 19.1 18.0 21.8 20.2 21.0 19.7 19.9 21.5 22.1 21.3 20.7 23.7 31.1 36.4
1988 10.5 22.5 21.1 23.7 25.1 23.4 19.2 21.0 21.1 22.1 20.2 23.4 29.9 39.7 36.6
1989 9.4 20.7 21.2 21.5 22.2 20.7 18.3 20.0 22.8 15.5 18.0 17.4 24.8 27.9 32.2
1990 9.1 24.1 25.3 21.6 24.2 23.1 21.1 21.2 20.8 16.3 19.3 18.8 20.1 30.5 33.9
1991 9.6 21.9 24.4 24.5 25.5 25.0 23.2 21.0 17.2 16.5 15.9 14.0 19.7 26.0 34.9
1992 9.6 23.6 24.5 22.7 25.2 25.0 21.1 21.7 19.1 17.5 15.8 18.7 18.8 25.9 28.6
1993 9.5 25.5 24.0 22.1 22.9 25.0 21.4 20.2 19.7 14.7 16.3 14.7 17.8 22.5 28.7
1994 9.1 23.9 26.0 25.0 21.4 22.3 17.6 19.3 16.7 16.0 16.1 14.0 19.1 25.1 36.2
1995 8.4 23.3 26.1 24.8 23.2 26.6 17.5 20.8 18.2 15.1 15.5 11.8 17.6 21.4 30.7
1996 8.3 21.2 24.6 26.1 21.1 23.5 19.5 16.8 16.9 12.9 13.0 17.3 16.5 25.0 28.2
1997 9.8 23.9 25.2 24.3 21.5 20.2 19.5 18.1 15.5 13.7 12.0 13.2 16.7 20.5 28.3
1998 10.4 25.8 30.0 30.0 23.7 24.0 21.2 18.9 17.7 14.6 14.3 11.3 15.8 18.1 22.9
1999 9.9 22.4 26.9 27.8 25.7 23.1 20.6 18.8 17.7 16.0 14.7 14.4 17.4 19.6 30.9
2000 9.6 23.3 26.7 24.8 25.9 22.3 19.9 18.6 16.8 13.5 13.0 14.4 15.3 18.1 28.8
2001 10.2 19.3 23.1 24.6 23.1 22.4 21.5 19.4 17.9 13.4 13.0 14.3 16.1 15.9 26.9
2002 8.5 17.9 23.8 25.9 23.8 23.0 19.5 18.9 16.6 13.0 13.4 12.4 11.6 14.0 21.3
2003 6.6 18.4 21.2 24.2 24.2 23.1 18.5 17.8 16.2 14.0 11.7 13.4 15.1 16.7 20.8
2004 7.1 16.5 19.3 22.7 25.9 22.5 18.7 20.6 16.1 13.0 13.5 11.3 14.2 19.3 26.4
2005 6.7 15.1 17.3 22.7 23.6 23.1 20.0 19.0 15.8 15.0 12.1 12.0 10.6 19.0 25.2
2006 6.5 14.5 16.8 21.5 23.2 23.7 18.9 20.1 18.2 14.9 12.2 11.7 12.8 14.5 19.5
2007 6.7 14.4 17.0 21.9 23.5 21.9 17.7 18.3 17.1 13.9 11.8 9.4 13.2 16.7 17.6
2008 7.2 15.0 18.8 21.6 24.0 24.9 19.2 19.5 17.6 14.5 11.5 12.0 11.3 16.7 16.4
2009 6.5 14.4 19.2 18.6 24.9 24.2 20.0 21.5 18.8 13.1 10.8 10.5 11.8 15.1 15.7
2010 5.6 15.1 14.8 19.3 21.5 23.9 20.1 20.9 19.4 15.1 10.0 11.3 11.9 16.5 18.3
2011 6.6 15.4 17.3 19.2 24.2 26.9 22.0 18.5 15.4 14.4 10.9 12.2 12.2 13.9 17.0
per 000,000
25 - 30
20 - 25
15 - 20
10 - 15
5 - 10
< 5
Using ONS UK rates 1981-2011

5. AROUND THE WORLD
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
LITHUANIA
BELARUS
KAZAKHSTAN
HUNGARY
LATVIA
REPUBLICOFKOREA
UKRAINE
SLOVENIA
ESTONIA
REPUBLICOFMOLDOVA
FINLAND
CROATIA
SERBIA
POLAND
SWITZERLAND
FRANCE
CZECHREPUBLIC
AUSTRIA
ROMANIA
CHINA(HongKongSAR)
CUBA
IRELAND
BULGARIA
CHILE
NEWZEALAND
NORWAY
ICELAND
LUXEMBOURG
PORTUGAL
KYRGYZSTAN
NETHERLANDS
INDIA
ELSALVADOR
ARGENTINA
SPAIN
MAURITIUS
UNITEDKINGDOM
ECUADOR
COSTARICA
ITALY
PANAMA
SEYCHELLES
COLOMBIA
BRAZIL
Males
Females
UK
WHO statistics, using 2007,2008, 2009
only: top 75 counties

6. What’s Expected

9. BE RICH, FAMOUS, HANSOME

10. STRONG & SILENT

12. MEN & DEPRESSION / CRISIS
Pride
Anger
Irritability
Self Medication
Lack of libido
Lack of sleep
Risk taking
Sleeping too much

17. MEN
 Men are far less likely than women to seek help with
medical problems
 Men are three times more likely than women to be
alcohol dependent
 Men make up 94 per cent of the UK prison population
 Men represent 85% of people who sleep rough
 Men represent 73% of people who go missing each year
Sources: BBC News & MIND

18. LONDON PCTS
• 32 PCTs were asked how much they paid for services they commissioned
outside the NHS, broken down by gender. Our of with gender-based
services that replied:
• 4 borough PCTs commissioned specifically men’s services at a cost of
£11,135,291
• 15 PCTs commissioned women’s services, at a cost of between £13,156,785
and £13,429,785.
• Women’s health services received between £1,775,766-£2,048,766
more funding than men’s over the past five years.
Sources: BBC News & MIND
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism –
June 2012

19. LONDON COUNCILS
• Were asked for information relating to third sector services, which
although not directly related to health are focused on wellbeing.
• Of those that responded, three times more was spent on services
aimed at or predominantly used by women.
• £20,111,866 was spent on services aimed at women.
• £6,022,289 was spent on services aimed at men.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism –
June 2012

20. MOVING AHEAD

21. …

22. Awareness vs. Credibility
Chose credibility
Build a reputation
Get peer-to-peer recommendation
CURRENCY

24. Mens
Magazine
Ad.

25. MERSEYSIDE

26. MERSEYSIDE

27. MERSEYSIDE

28. 1. What is perceived as acceptable
“manly” behaviour
 Requires societal change & personal change – CULTURE
2. The current shape of services that
could help men
 Requires changes in practice and delivery
The problem…

29. Welcome to…
North West
Reducing Suicide Summit 2013