Why Do Men Have Higher Suicide Rates Than Women?

**The problem:** Men are significantly more likely to die by suicide than women. Understanding why matters — for yourself and for the men around you. **The answer:** The disparity is real and consistent across most countries. Men account for roughly 75% of suicide deaths in the UK and US. Several factors converge: **Help-seeking gap:** Women are more likely to seek mental health support earlier. Men tend to reach crisis point before acting — but when they do, they use more lethal means. **Social isolation:** Men's social networks shrink significantly in adulthood. Many have no one they could call in genuine crisis — not because no one cares, but because those relationships were never built with that depth. **Masculine identity under stress:** When the things men ground their identity in — work, providing, strength — are threatened, the loss can feel total. **Underdiagnosis:** Men's depression often presents as anger, irritability, or risk-taking rather than sadness. It frequently goes unrecognised and untreated. **What this means:** The conversation around men's mental health is not academic. It's urgent. And it starts with the men around you, right now.