Editor’s note: This article is also available in Portuguese.

The most recent data from the World Health Organization1 reveals that an estimated 804 000 suicide deaths occurred worldwide in 2012, representing an annual global suicide rate of 11.4 per 100 000 population. However, since suicide is a sensitive issue, and even illegal in some countries, it is likely under-reported and, in countries with good vital registration data, suicide may often be misclassified as an accident or another cause of death. Due to these factors, death by suicide is likely closer to 1.2 million cases annually.2

As most readers here will know, men are vastly overrepresented in this sombre data.

As most readers will also know, the establishment is doing its darnedest to omit the prevalence of male suicide from its rhetoric, as Steve Brulé described so well in his 2013 article about male suicide reporting in the media. Here’s an excerpt from his article describing the sins of omission:

A Voice for Men has run many articles about suicide among males, and highlighted many of the contributing factors – not least of which is the global misandric culture that leads men to feeling their lives are worth naught.

To continue raising awareness about this issue, we have added a suicide clock to the homepage this website to highlight the global incidence of male suicide and, in the process, remind yellow journalists, academics and governments to devote more energy to the problem.

To that end here are a few working basics for the figures we have used to set the clock:

1. Gender Disparity in Suicide:

Despite the wide variability in rates, there is a consistently higher rate of suicide among men than among women, with men more often dying by suicide at a ratio of 3:1–7.5:1.3

The World Health Organization states that every 40 seconds4 a suicide occurs globally. A 2002 study found a slightly higher rate of one suicide globally every 20 seconds,5 or 180 per hour. Dividing the suicide frequency by the conservative male/female ratio of 3:1, the frequency of male suicide is approximately 135 incidents per hour or one every 26.6 seconds.

2. Rate of Suicide Increasing:

The data maintained by the WHO suggest that the global rate of suicide has increased each decade since 1950, especially for men.5

3. Trend Since 1950:

Based on the above table there have occurred a staggering 25,000,000 male suicides to-date.

Between 1950 (the start date of the suicide clock) and 2002 male suicides increased by 49 percent,5 and data-based projections suggest that the number of suicides will again increase by 50 percent between 2002 and 2030.6

While this data is not perfect, it is the best we currently have. If anyone can provide more up-to-date and comprehensive data, we welcome it and will gladly adjust the clock and update the information on this page.

We hope readers will take this clock more seriously than they take the national debt clock in the United States, and take seriously the many preventable issues highlighted by AVfM -reversible cultural issues- that contribute to male suicide..

Sources:

[1] World Health Organization, Preventing suicide: A global imperative. (2014)

[2] Meier, Marshall B. Clinard, Robert F. Sociology of deviant behavior (2011)

[3] Matthew K. Nock, Guilherme Borges, Suicide and Suicidal Behavior. Epidemiol Rev. (2008)

[4] World Health Organization, Preventing suicide: A global imperative. (2014)

[5] Bertolote JM, Fleischmann A. A global perspective in the epidemiology of suicide. Suicidology. (2002)

[6] Mathers CD, Loncar D. Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030. (2006)

Feature image by Cristian V