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You may have come to a point in your life when it seems like the only available option is to throw in the towel.
You may have been laid off from a job you gave your all to…
You may be going through a financial bottleneck that has taken you to the brink of bankruptcy…
Your house may be about to be foreclosed on and you’re way behind on the car loan…
Whichever category you find yourself, it is a very difficult place to be.
At this point in your life, you’re weighing a lot of options – taking the wrong lane, shutting out everyone, or even suicide!
Regardless of how bad your situation might be, you can still thrive.
How do I know? I have been there. I have once written a suicide note. I felt there was no reason continuing with life.
I will share my story…
My dad was everything to me. He was what I could call “a good man”. He sacrificed his personal pleasures to get me educated.
I struggled all through high school. It was a Herculean task getting a University degree. I gave in my all and I promised to make my dad proud. While in school, I was involved with a writing club, where we wrote articles for journals and magazines.
After graduation, it was very difficult to get a job. I was 25 and still stayed at my parents’. Frustration set in and it gradually led to depression. Everywhere I applied for a job, there would always be a reason why I would not be taken. I kept trying again and again, yet to no avail.
The jobs I would get wasn’t enough to sustain me, not to talk of my family that was looking up to me. My depression led me to contemplate suicide. I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone anymore.
Just in the nick of time, my suicide note written and sealed, I got this call that changed my life for good.
I was offered a freelance writing job that paid me heavily.
I grew it from that point forward and today, my story is getting better.
Every mother will attest to the fact that they feel the pain more just when they are about to deliver.
If you have come to the point of considering suicide, then it means your breakthrough is closer to you than ever. Just hang in a little while, you will soon smile.
Even when the chips are down, you can still thrive.
Is it a Curse to Be a Man?
I read up interesting statistics that are very revealing. In 2008, it was reported that suicide occurred about 1.8 times more often among males than among females. Another 2015 report placed the fraction at 1.7.
Let me put that in perspective. For every time 10 women committed suicide, 17 men have committed suicide. In the western world, males die by suicide three to four times more often than females do.
Here’s what worries me: Suicide attempts are between two and four times more frequent among females. So, females will manage to find a way out of suicidal thoughts, while men will not hesitate to throw in the towel.
So I ask again; Is it a curse to be a man?
I’m both worried and concerned at the same time.
So, why are men dying of suicide?
In order to find a solution to this problem, we need to know the factors that promote it. Here are a few risk factors that lead men to commit suicide:
- Drug and Alcohol Abuse: A lot of men in trying to cope with the stuff they are dealing with resort to drug and alcohol. This, in their opinion, helps them deal with emotional challenges, relationship and marriage issues, stress and pressure from work, and many other challenging issues. According to Rehabs.com, the risk of alcoholics and drug addicts committing suicide is five times greater than non-addicts. Further research shows that addiction to alcohol is linked to about 50% of all suicide cases.
- Social Isolation: There’s a level of loneliness that leads to depression. This has contributed immensely to the rate of suicide in men. A 2013 suicide report in Australia showed that men accounted for 74.7% of the 2,520 incidences of suicide. And the most common risk factor was linked to social isolation.
- Unemployment: Every man feels a sense of responsibility at some stage in life. Top on the mind of a young man is to be able to take care of his financial needs. When a man can’t afford to take care of himself or his family, the risks of committing suicide are high. An analysis in the Lancet Psychiatry journal shows that unemployment was responsible for 45,000 suicides between 2000 and 2011. I personally can identify with this. My suicidal thoughts were facilitated because I had no job at 25.
- Mental Illness: If a man is mentally disturbed, it won’t be surprising to see him attempt suicide. That’s one of the risk factors that promote suicide in men.
How Can You Deal With Suicidal Tendencies?
Well, the truth is that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach here. Every man with suicidal tendency has a particular approach to dealing with the tendency.
My one strong advice is to always get help any time you’re feeling depressed. Talk to someone. Don’t always think you can carry the weight on you alone. It will crush you. It will take you to the point of contemplating to jump from the bridge.
Depending on any substance to help you deal with depression, stress or pressure is a no-brainer. You have to talk to somebody.
After I came out of that episode, I sought help from a therapist who became my confidant. I have had a lot of setbacks since then, but suicide has never been a consideration for me.
One more thing: Always remind yourself that you can always scale through any difficult time. It may be rough now, but hey, you’ve got the strength to pull through.
Don’t write that suicide note, get help!
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, there is help available.
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