Suicide Rampant In Men Than Women -Psychologist

A psychologist, Pius Akuchi, has said that men are more likely to commit suicide than women, though the latter make more attempts but the men are more successful.

Rationalising the greater tendency among men, Akuchi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday that they were usually more depressed than women.

Wikipedia, the online dictionary, describes suicide as the act of intentionally causing one’s own death.

It says that suicide is often committed out of despair or attributable to some underlying mental disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism or drug abuse.

Akuchi said: “The men are more likely to have less social groups than women, who can share their problems with the others and get support from them.

“People who try to commit suicide are often trying to get away from a life situation that seems impossible to deal with.”

He explained that men had no social outlet as such to express themselves because of their ego.

The psychologist said that women were less inclined to commit suicide because of their inclusive thinking. “They think deep before they act, like what would become of their children and other family responsibilities.”

He said that a man could just decide on a course of action without taking all these into consideration.

“A man might tend to throw aside seemingly minor issues to get to the core of a problem; a woman might take more things into account before she attempts suicide.”

According to Akuchi, girls who commit suicide or attempt to commit the act are usually girls who have been raped and are depressed, going by experience.

“In treating people with suicidal tendencies, it is good to take their history into account to know the cause of the behaviour.”

He advised people not to take suicide threats lightly, “as most people who commit suicide make mention of it at one point or the other”.

The psychologist said that a suicide attempt could be an early sign of a mental illness, pointing out that it was important to get help from a doctor, if this was the case.

“For people with mental illness, the distress caused by the illness can be so great they may feel an overwhelming desire to end their life.”

Akuchi said those at risk of taking their life included singles, the unemployed, low income earners and those with a history of physical or sexual abuse.

He advised that more attention should be given to people with a personal history of suicidal thoughts, threats or behaviour, or a family history of attempting suicide.