Men’s health: financial difficulties at the source of many ailments

May 13, 2010 – Few studies have been done to uncover the factors that hamper men’s health, but financial hardship and poverty are the root of many ills.

This was stated by Jean-Yves Desgagnés, from the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Family Violence and Violence Against Women, in the context of a workshop on men’s health, held as part of the 78^e Acfas congress¹.

Jean-Yves Desgagnes

“It is undeniable that women are poorer than men, but in Canada in 2003, 1 in 3 men lived in poverty; and among those 65 and under, single men are more likely than single women to be poor, ”said Mr. Desgagnés.

According to him, the absence of work and economic marginalization would put “a lot of pressure on men, because this situation does not correspond to the norms of male socialization”.

Results? Men who are poor or in economic difficulty often resist stress by engaging in destructive behaviors, including alcohol or drug abuse, and antisocial behaviors – a pathway that greatly undermines their mental and physical health.

Words of menâ € ¦

Sophie Dupéré

Of men living on less than $ 600 a month, Sophie Dupéré met about twenty of them, as part of a research project carried out in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal.

It should be noted that only 4 of them considered themselves “poor”, because they overwhelmingly reject this label.

The doctoral student in community health at Laval University gathered their testimonies on the suffering and difficulties they face due to their precarious financial situation.

“These men don’t live, they survive,” she said. They told me that poverty wears out their bodies, since they cannot meet their basic needs. “

“Poverty is physically deceiving you: you get sick because you can’t afford to be healthy on social assistance,” she said, quoting one of the men.

Poverty also erodes self-confidence and all social ties. It also creates the inability to seduce and enter into a romantic relationship.

“You feel excluded (…), you cannot dress like the others (…), you cannot invite a woman to eat a slice of pizza, so you don’t invite her, you don’t even talk to him, ”one of them told him.

The feeling of being useless also undermines what remains of their dignity. “It has to work, a man. It really depresses me to see that I am useless. I do not consider myself to be a true citizen, I am someone who costs society money ”, testified another.

Listening to avoid the worst

Is it any wonder that low-income men are significantly more at risk of suicide among the general male population? Among poor homosexuals, this risk is 6 times higher; among aboriginals living in poverty, it is 8 to 10 times greater. However, since the advent of listening services, the number of suicides in Quebec has fallen by 33% among men.

Janie Houle

But Quebec remains the Canadian province where people commit suicide the most, recalls Janie Houle, professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM).

Of the 361 suicides recorded in the Montreal region from 2000 to 2006, 80% were committed by men, 88% of whom had a mental health problem and 45% were suffering from depression. Likewise, 60% were unemployed.

Ms. Houle, who met 40 men admitted to the emergency room after a suicide attempt, noted the flagrant lack of follow-up to which they may be subject:

• 66% had a hospital stay of less than 24 hours;
• 70% obtained their leave without being directed to competent resources;
• 88% of those who were given a follow-up appointment attended, compared to 40% of those who were given the contact information for a resource on a piece of paper;
• in 60% of cases, relatives showed little inclination to collaborate.

The avenues for solutions inevitably go through listening more to what men have to say or manifest, according to Janie Houle.

Both on the part of those working in the health system and on the part of those around them and members of their families.

“In this regard, men are very vulnerable to the breakup: because the spouse is often the only emotional support, men who are left have no one to confide in”, she raised.

And on the social services side, stakeholders must reach out to men more and be more proactive, while adapting their interventions, according to her.

“It is up to social workers to explain to men in distress what they can do for them, and not to these men to try to look for them”, she concluded, quoting the retired general Roméo Dallaire. , who was a speaker at the International Congress of the Francophonie on Suicide Prevention, held in Montreal.

Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net

1. To find out more about 78^e Acfas congress: www.umontreal.ca/acfas2010 [consulté le 13 mai 2010].