Why Do Men Die Earlier? The Cards Are Stacked Against Us

We men are capable of withstanding huge amounts of adversity in life, be it financial pressure, stress, pain, or direct opposition by others. It’s no wonder then, that as a result of these extra burdens we shuffle off this mortal coil faster than our female counterparts.

So what are the main causes which lead out lives to be so harshly cut short? In the majority of cases they are:

• More risks
• Dangerous jobs
• Larger bodies
• Suicides
• Self reliance / stubbornness
• Loneliness
• Stress
• Homelessness

More risks

Men generally take far more risks than women in life. Men often take part in dangerous sports and activities which can often end up in tragedy.

Men are more likely to take drugs, drink alcohol and smoke.

Risks can come in many forms too, not just physical. Men tend to gamble more than women and also start new companies.

Risk taking is inherent in men, it’s part of our biological makeup. We used to go out hunting, with the bravest and the biggest risk takers bringing home the prize catch.

Dangerous jobs

The vast majority of dangerous jobs are undertaken by men, also most of the unhygienic jobs too.

High rise construction workers are mostly men, oil rig workers are nearly all men, road construction workers, nearly all men, policemen, mostly men, soldiers, mostly men. Sewer workers, mostly men, street cleaners, mostly men.

Being the one’s who are most likely to perform these dangerous and dirty jobs comes at a price too.

Men are 10 times more likely to die at work as a result of a fatal injury compared to women and twice as likely to have a non fatal injury at work also when compared to women.

Women seldom bring this up when they talk about equality, in fact men’s issues get swept under the carpet completely or are made fun of.

Until we can get this problem to be recognized with the seriousness it deserves many more men will die needless deaths.

Larger bodies

Men are larger than women on average so there are some health issues, such as heart disease which men are more susceptible to.

In these modern times men are more likely to be overweight than they were 10 or even 20 years ago so this worrying trend contributes to many added health issues, some of which can be avoided like stress, depression and obesity.

As marriage levels continue to diminish many men find themselves to be single guys living the bachelor life, often later in life. Many men will not be able to take care of themselves adequately with basic chores like cooking and cleaning.

Studies over the last 20 years have shown a steady increase in college-level educated men who could cook had risen from about 38% in 2003 to nearly 52% by 2016. But at that same time, the percentage of men who were less educated who could cook did not change (33%).

Even if we follow those trajectories up to today that still means about 55-56% of college-educated men can cook and less educated at 33%.

What does that translate to in terms of eating habits? It means that on average over half of single men will be reliant on buying premade food from elsewhere.

This will also contribute to a general lowering on the overall quality of men’s health as a result of eating too much processed and takeaway foods.

Suicides

In many western countries men are more likely to commit suicide. The suicide rate for men under 45 is about 3-3.5 times higher for men than that of women. In other countries it can be as many as 4 times higher.

Men are told to “man up”, “be a man”, “real men don’t cry” and other such choice phrases. When a man does show his emotions he may often be ridiculed for is, be told he is weak and unworthy of being a man.

Many men, therefore, keep their problems to themselves and are more likely to withdraw into themselves and seek comfort in the arms of alcohol or drugs.

This can lead to even further deeper issues such as depression and dependencies on substance abuse.

Self reliance / stubbornness

As mentioned men are often told to get on with things, man up and put a brave face on things, as men we have been conditioned by society, we often have a bull-headed approach to problems and that is to go it alone.

Asking for directions, a visit to the doctor, speaking out when we are sad. All things like this have been slowly bullied out of us to the point that even trying to do them feels wrong, and when we balk at them we are told we are wrong yet again. Being a man in today’s times is quite confusing.

For single men self-reliance to the point of stubbornness can also be an issue. Many men can fall ill and be unable to leave their houses making death by misadventure (accidental death) a notable statistic too.

Loneliness

Keeping your feelings to yourself can make you feel like nobody knows how you feel, which they don’t if you are not sharing, but also can lead you to think that nobody cares as well.

When you feel like there is an absence of care, understanding, and support you begin to withdraw from society and this in turn generates feelings of loneliness (see article here on loneliness and how to avoid it)

Loneliness, if left untreated can allow other negative states like sadness and depression to take root. Once you let these negatives in and allow them to fester you can start to slide down a slippery slope from which it’s hard to recover from.

Stress

This is one of the biggest factors that affect men at varying times in their lives and also to varying degrees as well.

Common stressors include money worries, supporting family, raising children, marital relationships, lack of job satisfaction, long commutes to work,

In truth the list is almost too long to be able to write, there are so many things including all the points mentioned above, they too can generate stress in one form or another.

When a man has an insurmountable problem, a problem so large it cannot be fixed quickly, if at all it will eat away at him, slowly gnawing away at his confidence and optimism until he is a shadow of his former self.

Being self reliant and told to keep things to himself, he will not let on he is stressed and this just make it worse, like a snowball rolling downhill.

Homelessness

This is another race that men are unfortunately winning as well. Roughly 70%-80% of the homeless population are men.

Why are there so many homeless men compared to women? As women are considered the weaker sex they have more opportunities to get pushed through the system and back into normal life.

Women are often offered training courses that can give them a leg up and get them to a job interview to get their foot in the door so a semblance of a normal life. Guys on the other hand get shoved around and put on a huge waiting list where they can opt for hard labor at a minimum wage job.

In conclusion:

If we had a truly gender neutral and fair society the plight of men would be much easier. Most people simply ignore it as men’s issues and men’s rights are something everyone assumes is take for granted.

Phrases like “the patriarchy”, “the boys club”, “the glass ceiling” and “the gender pay gap” are all tools used to exploit men and further the woman’s cause. It should not be a zero-sum game where the benefit of one should come at the expense of another. We should all be allowed to thrive and prosper together as one.