David Lester

John F. Gunn

Paul Quinnett

The goal of this book is to explore the phenomenon of suicide, focusing on males who are at a greater risk than females. Scholars and mental health professionals continue to have the tendency to ignore men and focus instead on the more narrow demographic groups. Attention is drawn to the lack of help-seeking behavior exhibited by men as well as the numerous recommendations for the prevention of male suicide. The issues specific to male suicide includes the atypical nature of male depression, the role of loneliness, drug and alcohol abuse, the male hormone (testosterone), and men’s preferred method for suicide (guns). Suicide in specific groups of men, including male athletes, soldiers, mass and serial murderers, suicide bombers, murder-suicides, and famous creative men, is discussed in great detail. In addition, the text explores the many and varied reasons for suicide in gay men and in ethnic minorities. The invited contributors provide a cross-cultural viewpoint with essays on male suicide in Australia, China, Ghana, Palestine, and Uganda. Two examples are given for potential programs that appear to be effective for men: Mates in Construction which was designed to help construction workers in Australia, and Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR) training. The book concludes with discussions of how to prevent suicide in men, a group known to deny the existence of personal problems and is reluctant to seek help. With three illustrations and 19 tables, this book will be an excellent resource for crisis interveners, researchers, counseling centers, mental health professionals, and human service providers.

How Men Differ from Women in Expressing Their Distress

SUICIDE IN MEN

This book looks at the problem of why so many professional and amateur athletes kill themselves. Professional athletes lead what seem to us to be glamorous lives and make large, and sometimes huge, salaries. In schools, the athletes are often the formal and informal leaders, given recognition and honors. News of their suicides shocks us because, to the rest of us, these are the successful members of our society, often looked up to as heroes and role models. The book, therefore, explores the incidence of suicide in athletes and reviews the risk factors that increase the likelihood of suicide in athletes. Research on these risk factors, such as the role of steroids and concussions, is reviewed, and case studies are provided to illustrate these risk factors. Some of the topics include: suicide in baseball and cricket; how steroids is often linked to suicide, as well as concussion and traumatic brain injury; how social relationships of athletes, including suicide among lesbian, gay and bisexual athletes, and sexual abuse, can lead to suicide; suicide as a result of bullying among high school and college athletes and suicide contagion; how spectators’ involvement in sports can be related to suicide; and the effect of retirement on athletes, psychiatric problems among athletes, and how substance abuse among athletes can cause suicide, along with many other topics. The book concludes with ways in which suicide might be prevented in athletes. It will be of great interest to crisis workers and those who work in crisis centers, as well as suicidologists, mental health workers, and others interested in the topic.

Incidence, Risk Factors, and Prevention

SUICIDE IN PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR ATHLETES

Some researchers in the field of suicidology think that the old theories of suicide are too constraining and impede advances in the understanding of suicide. However the book’s authors are not quite so critical of past theories. In the book they review the classic theories of suicide, both psychological and sociological, because they are the foundation of our current theories and also propose the skeletons of possible future theories. The goal of the text is to present researchers with theories to guide their research, encourage them to modify these theories, perhaps meld them together in some cases, and think how they might propose new theories. Presented in three sections, the first reviews significant psychological theories including: Suicide as Escape; Interpersonal-Psychological theory; The Role of Defeat and Entrapment in Suicidal Behavior; Suicide, Ethology and Sociobiology; Stress-Diatheses; Cognitive Theories; Learning Perspective on Suicide; Theories of Personality and Suicide; Typological Theories; and the Pathophysiology of Suicide. The second section of the text addresses Sociological and Economic Theories including: Suicide as Deviance, Naroll’s Thwarting Disorientation Theory, three classic sociological theories as well as several minor theories. A comprehensive chapter on economic theories is offered by Bijou Yang. The final section concentrates on Critical Thoughts About Theories of Suicide, a new and growing influence in academia and scholarship.

John F. Gunn

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