A STUDY of young men from the North who had attempted suicide found they had “unhelpful and unrealistic” views of what it was to be a “successful” man in 21st-century Northern Ireland.

These views contributed to low self-esteem, personal stress and, ultimately, to their increased risk of suicide, the study, commissioned by the North’s Public Health Agency, found.

Between 1999 and 2008, there was a 64 per cent increase in suicide in Northern Ireland. Most of this rise was among males aged 15-34, according to the agency.

For example, eight years ago almost 76 per cent of all suicides were male, with 60 per cent of these in the 15-34 year age group; but by 2008, 77 per cent of all suicides were male, while the proportion in the 15-34 age group had increased to 72 per cent.

Suicide figures for Northern Ireland show that in 1999, 154 people took their lives, while by 2008 that figure increased to 282. The worst recent year for suicides was 2006, with 291 such deaths.

The study was conducted by the University of Ulster, Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Maine, and was designed to “understand” suicidal men aged 16-34 to “inform the delivery of accessible, acceptable and appropriate mental health services”.

Of 61 people interviewed, 36 were young men in the 15-34 age group and each had made a serious suicide attempt on at least one occasion.

The report found that suicidal young men saw a suicide prevention role for others who had tried to take their own lives.

“They maintained that suicidal young men could find support and hope from such a peer group and create opportunities to voice feelings and behaviours in a ‘safe’ forum. Hearing the testimonies of formerly suicidal young men opened the possibility for recovery and served as a protective factor, helping suicidal young men to see suicide as unacceptable,” it said.