Gender differences in suicide

Gender differences in suicide include different rates of suicides and suicidal behavior between men and women, among both adults and adolescents. While women more often have suicidal thoughts, men die by suicide more frequently. This discrepancy is known as the gender paradox in suicide.

Globally, death by suicide occurred about 1.8 times more often among men than among women in 2008, and 1.7 times in 2015. In the Western world, men die by suicide three to four times more often than do women. This greater male frequency is increased in those over the age of 65. Suicide attempts are between two and four times more frequent among women. Researchers have partly attributed the difference between suicide and attempted suicide among the sexes to men using more lethal means to end their lives. Other reasons, including disparities in the strength or genuineness of suicidal thoughts, have also been given.

The role that gender plays as a risk factor for suicide has been studied extensively. While women, particularly those under the age of 25, show higher rates of non-fatal suicidal behavior and suicide thoughts, and attempt suicide more frequently than men do, men have a much higher rate of suicide. This is known as the gender paradox in suicide, a term coined by Silvia Sara Canetto and Isaac Sakinofsky.