Recently single Australian men seven times more likely to report suicide attempts

A study using the Ten to Men project, which has followed more than 20,000 Australian men and is run by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (Aifs), found that men who had a relationship breakdown in the past year were about seven times more likely to report a suicide attempt than those who had not.

Those who had a breakup were also more than twice as likely to report suicidal thoughts in the two weeks before being surveyed: 30.8% versus 14.4%. The statistics on attempts were 6.8% after a breakup compared with 0.9% for men not dealing with a recent relationship breakdown.

Aifs researchers said the heightened risk continued for years and remained after accounting for age, income, employment, social support and prior suicidal thoughts. Fathers and current or former Australian Defence Force personnel showed larger gaps. About 14.4% of fathers surveyed made suicidal plans after relationship breakdowns, compared with 2.9% of fathers who had not split up.

Australia

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