Men and suicide after divorce - 3/15/00

[owner-smartmarriages]

from: Smart Marriages


This article features comments by Howard Markman who will present
related research at the Denver Conference.  It also speaks to the
keynote that will be presented by Michele Weiner-Davis, "Walk-Away
Wives."  -diane

Men more likely to commit suicide after divorce, study finds

March 15, 2000 Web MD


By Sarah Yang 

Men seeking a good reason to salvage their marriages may want to consider 
this: A new study finds that divorced and separated men are two and a 
half times more likely to commit suicide than married men. 

Divorce, however, doesn't seem to lead more women to commit suicide -- a 
surprising finding considering the popular wisdom that women suffer more 
than men after a divorce, according to the study, published this week in 
the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 

"We now need to look at the possibility that divorce negatively affects 
men, too," said study author Augustine Kposowa, Ph.D., an associate 
professor of sociology at the University of California at Riverside. 
Women are set back financially, he said, but "the man does not emerge 
unscathed." 

A variation in coping

The difference, he theorized, lies in how men and women form social 
bonds. Men make friends with whom they can hang out, and women make 
friends with whom they can share their feelings. "Women are socialized to 
have more friends, deeper friendships, and so on. Men are socialized 
differently, to be macho, and do not have much deeper friendships. So 
when a divorce occurs, women have more of a social support network." 

Another reason why men may have problems coping with divorce is that they 
not only lose the role of husband, but their fatherly role also often 
changes, said Bruce Hillowe, J.D., Ph.D., a family law attorney and a 
clinical psychologist in Long Island, New York. 

"It's still generally the case that when children are involved, the 
mother becomes the custodial parent," said Hillowe. Generally speaking, 
"men lose the role of being a father in a way that women do not lose the 
role of being a mother." 

Compounding the problem: Men often feel like they're responsible for the 
failure of a marriage, said Alvin Baraff, Ph.D., an expert on 
relationships from a male perspective, and founder and director of Men 
Center Counseling in Washington, D.C. 

"Typically, the man is shocked at the news that he's going to be 
divorced," said Baraff, noting that women initiate the majority of 
divorce proceedings. "The woman has also been dropping hints all over the 
place for the man, but he just doesn't get it. He never thinks it's as 
bad as she does. He's lost not only a wife, he typically loses his 
children, home, and money." 

Women suffer too

That's not to say divorce is a bed of roses for women, said Howard 
Markman, Ph.D., author of "Fighting for Your Marriage" and a psychologist 
at The University of Denver. Rather, the findings reflect different 
coping styles between the sexes. "Men, in general, in the face of stress, 
tend to do more destructive coping, like turn to substance abuse," 
Markman said. 

He pointed out that men tend to have a higher suicide rate because they 
are more likely to use guns to kill themselves, whereas women attempt 
suicide with less lethal methods, such as poisonings or cuts. 

Staggering results

Kposowa analyzed data on more than 472,000 people collected from 1979 to 
1989. Of that group, 545 people committed suicide, with men outnumbering 
women four-to-one. 

Confirming other studies on suicide, Kposowa found that for both sexes, 
poverty and age increased the risk of killing oneself -- those 65 and 
over have a 55 percent greater risk than people aged 15 to 24. White men 
in the study were also 51 percent more likely than African American men 
to commit suicide, a finding that may suggest a stronger support network 
among men in the black community, Kposowa said. 

The study emphasizes the need to adjust the gender roles expected by 
society, said Constance Ahrons, Ph.D., author of "The Good Divorce" and a 
sociology professor at the University of Southern California. But experts 
admit that convincing men to acquaint themselves with their emotional 
side can be a hard sell. "Maybe, if we go back to (a younger) age, we can 
teach men skills for having friendships," Ahrons said. 

Only for the divorced

Unlike prior research on marriage and suicide, this study showed that 
widowed and single people weren't at higher risk for suicide. 

"With death (of a spouse), I don't think there is that sense of failure 
that follows divorce. There's no sense of personal inadequacy," Hillowe 
explained. "I guess in (the) case (of divorce) it's not better to have 
loved and lost than never to have loved at all." 


**************************
This FREE online newsletter shares information on marriage, divorce and 
skills-based educational approaches.  Opinions expressed are not 
necessarily shared by members of the Coalition.

Copyright © 2000 CMFCE. All rights reserved.

To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE to the list, mail majordomo at his.com
Leave the subject line empty. In the body of the 
message type: subscribe smartmarriages or unsubscribe smartmarriages 
(do this on the first line, do not skip a space at the top)

- to CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS, follow the directions to unsubscribe your old 
address and subscribe your new address.  

- this is a moderated list.  When you send a reply message it is read by 
Diane Sollee, director, only.  

Newsletter archive - all past posts to the newsletter:
http://archives.his.com/smartmarriages/index.html#start 

4th Annual Smart Marriages conference/June 29 - July 2, 2000, DENVER  
http://www.smartmarriages.com/conferencedetails.html 
for registration, hotel and travel information.
up to 57 hours CEU -APA, SW, MFT, NBCC, CFLE

List your program in the Directory of Providers at:
 http://www.smartmarriages.com/directory_browse.html 

Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education, LLC (CMFCE)
Diane Sollee, Director
5310 Belt Rd. NW, Washington, DC 20015-1961
www.smartmarriages.com
202-362-3332  (FAX 202-362-0973)   Email: cmfce at smartmarriages.com