Men commit suicide after divorce at a rate 3 – 4 times higher than women, a shocking divorce and suicide statistic.((https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/)) And marital breakdown is a factor.((The Canadian Mental Health Association)) “The tipping point for many men is divorce,” says Prof. John Oliffe, a University of B.C. psychology researcher. Professor Oliffe is part of a team fighting male depression and suicide.
“Divorce is a classic factor in suicide because divorced men are at high risk to become isolated. There are so many examples of good men ending their own lives.”
North American divorced men are eight times more likely to commit suicide than women. Professor AJ Kposowa used data to analyze the effects of marital status on suicide risk.((Department of Sociology, University of California)) He found that divorced men were more than twice as likely to commit suicide as married men. And he found that divorced men are almost 10 times more likely to kill themselves than divorced women.((https://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/men-and-suicide-the-silent-epidemic))
The yearly suicide rate for divorced men highlights the urgency of this disaster.
The research of AJ Kposowa reveals that each year, more than 3,600 divorced men — about 10 every day — commit suicide.((Kposowa AJ. Marital status and suicide in the National Longitudinal Mortality Study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2000; 54: 254-261.))
Divorce should mean the end of a marriage, not the end of life, for a man, or a woman.
Something is wrong with a divorce process that results in the death of so many men, fathers, husbands, sons and brothers. Why should any man marry knowing that there is clear data that divorce means certain death for so many men? And for every divorced man that commits suicide, his children are left behind, haunted and traumatized by their father’s death. First, the children have the trauma of their parents divorce. Second, they experience the unimaginable; the permanent loss of their father.
Not to mention the families of the divorcing men who prefer to kill themselves than live. The higher suicide rates among divorced men is an indictment of the flawed legal divorce process. No divorce should end in death, only an amicable separation of the marriage.
We must condemn the legal divorce process which results in the death of 3,600 men every year.
The Real Reasons Men Suicide After Divorce more than Women
17 Reasons Why Men Suicide After Divorce
The Wrong Reasons Assumed for Why Men Suicide After Divorce
Some say that men commit suicide after divorce because they do not want to pay child support or alimony. Let’s examine that assumption; is that a believable reason for a man to suicide? A man who has spent most of his waking hours supporting his family. Will such a man decide to take his life now because he cannot bear the thought of providing for his kids?
The answer of course is no.
It is akin to saying that people will commit suicide when their taxes go up. Or because they have to pay higher health care premiums. This smacks of a snarky gender condescension. It is an insult to the men who do commit suicide. To trivialize the act of suicide down to escaping a financial burden, no matter how heavy that weight is.
Some claim men cannot handle the rejection of their wife.
However, divorce from a spouse is a different issue than divorce from your children. The parents are the ones who divorce. No man or woman should suffer divorce from their children. Men do not commit suicide after divorce because they cannot see their ex again.
Men commit suicide after divorce when they no longer have a relationship with their children.
Others say men suicide after divorce, because men need a woman to take care of them. What a ridiculous reason for a man to off himself. Lets see a fuller picture why divorce and suicide is more of an issue for men than women.
Who is a deadbeat? The father of course. Even if he pays the child support and/or alimony imposed by the court. Why is the father always a deadbeat? Because the child support and alimony payment will always result in less money for his ex and kids. The divided family now has to support two rents or two mortgages, for two households.
His ex and kids are will feel the pain of less money as a result of the divorce.
Access to less money than in the past, leads to open hostility to the father. Even if he pays the exact amount ordered by the court, there is a new false narrative that he does not pay his fair share. Do you think you can escape being accused of deadbeat dad if you are a famous millionaire? Even Brad Pitt cannot escape, what chance does the common man have?
Now Pitt pals are fuming to Page Six of the New York Post that the “Seven” star has in fact been forking over hundreds of thousands a month — and that Jolie is just trying to smear her ex by claiming he’s a “deadbeat dad.”
What happens when the mother considers the division of money by the court to be unfair? Or fair but still unsatisfactory? The father almost has no chance of ever having a good relationship with his children again. His status changes from dad to ’deadbeat dad’. The mother will impute that the father can afford more money than the court decided. He is in a losing battle for the heart and minds of his kids.
As a result of this dissatisfaction, the mother influences the children to hate their father for lack of financial support.
Whether this influence is intentional or not, the result is alienation or estrangement. Misery is unmet expectations. In this case, misery occurs when the mother expects a larger share in the monthly income. Who is the target of this misery? The father.
It is unbearable for a man to feel loathing from his own children.
Especially when he does his best to support them. He also has nowhere else to turn for more financial or emotional support. In this case, a man no longer feels that he has a reason to live. The mental pain of loathing from his own children is enough to send him over the edge. The only option left at this point is to commit suicide, to get relief from this great pain of isolation and derision. The chronic demonization of the father can lead to permanent alienation or estrangement.
Can you imagine how a permanent estrangement from your children would feel? Estrangement between a father and his children is enough to cause clinical depression.
Estrangement from children is the reason why the divorce and suicide risk is so high for men.
The same reason that women are less likely to commit suicide is the same reason that divorced men are more likely to commit suicide. The temporary or permanent estrangement from their children. Do you fear alienation or estrangement from your children?
A man can end up paying 50 % of his income for child support and alimony, with another 20 or 30% on taxes, and debt from legal fees. If he is poor, he will not feel much difference in his lifestyle. The court does not have much to take from him. And, if he is wealthy, he can hire lawyers who will protect him from the court. He too will not feel much of a difference after divorce.
Divorce will most affect the middle class man. He is in a financial crisis.
There is for example the refusal of the court to allow for any economic downturns. If his business has a difficult year, the child support and alimony payment has no immediate sliding scale. As a result, he is subject to monthly threats of arrest and jail by the child support agencies. Forget about retirement in style.
In the old days, he dreamed of himself relaxing on the beach or in a second home.
Now, while sitting in his one room apartment, he knows that one room might be as good as it gets. After ten, twenty or more years of working and saving, he now has to start all over again.
Suicide becomes a more attractive option than sitting and stewing for the rest of his life. Especially when he knows that he might end up homeless on the streets. There is also the threat of losing his professional license if he is not able to pay the child support.
In contrast to the enforcement of child support, the court will not enforce visitation.
4. Criminalization of a Law Abiding Citizen
Men report feeling as if the judge or opposing attorney in divorce court treat them like criminals. But his job, which the divorce court holds with high regard, treats him like a human being. This creates cognitive dissonance and the mental stress of living in conflicting realities. At his job, where the court wants him to remain successful to provide child support, he is not held in contempt .
In fact, he might be held in high esteem with a title and responsibility.
The divorce court on the other hand treats a man, a provider, a father, like a criminal. This ravaging of a mans' self esteem, is another reason why the risk of divorce and suicide is so high for men.
5. Losing the Entire Structure of Family Life and Home
Yesterday, he had his wife and children around him. Today he lives alone, without his family, especially without his children. Before his divorce, he lived in a decent home, and in a good neighborhood. But now, he finds himself in a garage, or an apartment, or in his friends or mothers basement, or living out of his car. And he will soon have to return the car because he cannot afford to pay for the lease.
He realizes that he no longer has a home.
On top of that, he no longer has the funds to pay for his new small living quarters. Wherever they may be. This all contributes to a precipitous loss of self-esteem.
6. The ’Dangerous’ Libel
Men are vulnerable to character assassination by the court and their ex. A common tactic of the opposing divorce lawyer is to persuade the judge that a father who loves his children, is dangerous. Or depressed. Fear is a great persuader. If the judge believes there is a credible fear that the father is dangerous, he will lose his relationship with his kids.
All it takes is for the opposing side to accuse him of being dangerous.
Even if the accusation is false, it is difficult to prove it false. Because it is now a he said / she said argument. And the judge will decide in favor of protecting the children from a ’dangerous father’.
7. Needing a Supervisor
Needing a supervisor to see your own children is a huge humiliation. Imagine if you can no longer be alone with your children. This further cements the idea in your children’s minds that you are dangerous. As a result, their fear grows and they no longer relish the idea of being in your company. Not only do you have to see you kids with a supervisor, you are also the one who has to pay for the time of the supervisor.
Imagine this disgrace.
8. Loss of Total Identity
Men after divorce are usually the ones who lose more than their marriage. Besides the marriage, he also loses his children, friends and family who may now have become distant. As a result, he no longer recognizes his life.
How do men after divorce feel about their life?
They feel cut out of their own family portrait. As if they no longer exist or never existed, because the family they helped to create, is gone.
9. Shock
Men often do not see the signs that their relationship is in trouble. By the time their wife decides to start divorce proceedings, it is too late. Unfortunately for men, they are not great mind readers. Unless their wife communicates that there are problems in their marriage. It is not enough to say that he should have known there is a problem from the signs.
As a result, his wife knows that she is over and done with the marriage. Sometimes years before her husband ever had a clue.
When she pulls the trigger and serves him with divorce papers, he goes into shock. And she does not, because she has been planning the divorce for months, or even years. The best way to deliver a message is to say it, especially when it comes to dissolving your entire family. Not by giving hints or signs and expecting the other party to be aware.
Some say that 75 – 80 percent of the time, the husband has no clue that the divorce is already in process.
When he is not prepared for divorce papers, that shock alone can send him into a tailspin of depression, reduced self esteem, bitterness and anxiety. His ex might have thought that ambushing him with divorce papers in his driveway to humiliate him in front of his kids, or at the office to embarrass him at work, was a wonderful idea.
But in the end, if he suicides due to the shock, she only hurts her own children.
10. The Loss of Reality
Which brings us to the point of non existence. A man after divorce, is more likely to feel as if he has lost all touch with reality. For his ex, she remains in the marital home, and she remains with the children. She is not treated like a pariah by the child support agency, the court or court appointed guardians.
Her reality is not too different from her life before divorce.
Other than the fact that her ex is no longer in the home. But, for him, his life is upside down. Suicide becomes a much more attractive option than constant degradation.
11. Disgrace Kills, Not Divorce
The court does not decide divorce cases overnight. The divorce process can take years.
First comes the delivery of the divorce action to appear at the opposing lawyer’s office or to appear in court. Imagine you receive a subpoena on your front lawn in front of your kids or neighbors. Or in your office in front of your coworkers and boss.
You will experience a mountain of disgrace.
Once your office and co workers are aware of the divorce proceedings, a cloud will hang over your head. Instead of working, you will prepare net worth statements. You will try to keep up with lawyer fees, and juggle court dates and your job. Your work will suffer.
You will write, answer and edit divorce papers written by yourself, or if you can afford, your lawyer.
Every day in the divorce process and after is another day of disgrace.
12. A Catastrophic Year or More
The divorce process can take one to two years, sometimes longer. If he is not able to keep focus on his job, he runs the risk of losing his employment. Imagine you lose your children, marriage, home, friends, neighbors and career, in the same year. This explains the connection of divorce and suicide.
These are the factors that lead to depression for a father:
Separation or worse, estrangement from his children, as well as sensing the rejection of his children.
The demonization by his ex, the court and the child support enforcement agency.
The loss of money, home, car, career, neighbors, friends, and community.
These all lead to depression. Severe and chronic depression is a clear suicide risk.
13. Loss of Love and Affection
Your ex-wife still has the love and affection of her children and how they need her. The children have their own trauma and have already lost their father. He is gone from their physical space and is a deadbeat in their heads. Even when he is complying with the court. All the father feels is that everyone is angry at him for not providing enough money. Even when he gives as ordered by the court, the expectation is that he should be giving more.
He only feels that his family wants money and nothing more from him. He is nothing more than an ATM machine. There is no love or affection. This loss of love and affection is another prime reason for the divorce and suicide risk for men.
14. No Support
A man is less likely to have the emotional and friend support that a woman has. Especially if he has been working in a career during his marriage. A woman is more likely to have developed emotional bonds outside of her job with friends. A man is more likely to focus on his work. When the divorce hits, he is only left with work and no more emotional support from his family.
Now, after work, instead of going to a home, he is more likely to go to his new post-divorce living quarter and stew over what went wrong. As a result, the sense of isolation for a man is intense after divorce. This severe sense of isolation is another trigger for men to commit suicide after divorce.
15. Negative Side Effects of Antidepressants
When women prepare for divorce, one strategy they are advised to use by friends or lawyers, is to get her husband on antidepressants. They suggest and sometimes insist that their husband take medications for ’your own good’, or to ’take off the edge’.
This is a big mistake.
Once you are on antidepressants, you are now assumed to be ’flawed’ and someone to fear. The greatest persuader is fear of danger. And a man on antidepressants becomes a frightful character in the eyes of the law. Now that you are on meds, the judge assesses that you might be dangerous. Now, the judge will rule to order visitation with a supervisor.
This starts the ball rolling to estrangement from your own children.
Women push antidepressants to help them get an advantage in court and do not think about the catastrophic consequences for their husband’s or children’s physical and mental health. The sad reality is that the judge will see a devoted father as dangerous to his children. All the judge sees is that the dad is using antidepressants and is now a danger to his children and himself.
Once you are on antidepressants, you face a new danger to your mental and physical health.
Antidepressants do have side effects that double the risk of suicide, which is why most antidepressants come with warning labels that they could cause suicidal ideation or suicide. If he does not suicide, he still faces the onslaught of slowed movement and night sweats.
Along with other side effects like insomnia, loss of feeling in extremities, nightmares and general malaise.
Some men after divorce see no future. His wife still has a life and family, the children, and/or friends. He sees a life of struggling to pay the bills, avoiding jail, and with no emotional feedback. And worse, no relationship with his kids.
What is the point of living?
He sees no path to living a good life. The mental pain of knowing that he has no path to a life worth living leads a man think that the best course of action is to end his life now. Why? Because he feels that the key aspects of his life, which gave his life meaning, are over. So, since it is already over, he might as well end it.
17. From Dad to ’Visitor’ or ’Him’
How do you recreate your life, after ten, twenty or thirty years of marriage dissolves? The wife’s life is much the same, the father’s is in upheaval. The losses of marriage, children, income, home, security, stability, and pride. They all happen in a short amount of time.
This causes enough shock and humiliation to the father to contemplate suicide.
She is still the mother and the father becomes a ’visitor’.No one likes to lose their status. The demotion from father to visitor or ‘him' is a catastrophic humiliation.
Why Men Do Not Want to Marry
Here is where the go solo movement for men picked up steam. Single men see the catastrophe that divorced men experience. Why would they want to marry and risk the same? You cannot blame a young man today if he swears off marriage and children.
Especially the children of divorce.
Considering the state of divorce court in the country and the real bias of the court system. And even more, especially the children of a father who did commit suicide after divorce. They see a clear picture of what happens to a man after marriage, children and divorce.
And it is not a pretty picture.
The long term consequences of divorce go beyond family disunity and estrangement. If a father after divorce ended up in depression, job loss and/or suicide, do you think his kids would want to marry? The chances are that his children do not want to take such a risk, especially his sons.
How Divorce and Suicide Courts Slaughter Men
Do you think characterizing the ’legal’ divorce court process as a ’slaughter house’ of men is an exaggeration? Do you think it is too over the top? Have you read the story of Jeremy A. from Canada who committed suicide after divorce court screwed him? The divorce court and his exes caused the suicide of Jeremy A.
They committed against Jeremy many of the egregious 17 reasons divorce and suicide is a fatal brew for men noted above.
The ’legal’ actions they took against Jeremy are a disgrace. This divorce court, judge, plaintiff’s attorney and his exes all have blood on their hands. Just because the legal system weaponized divorce courts against men is not a reason to use them.
Every wife must be aware that if she unleashes the manhating divorce court against her husband, it can result in his suicide.
Next time you hear an ex wife wonder why her husband committed suicide after divorce, have her read this excerpt of what Lawrence Killium of Meninist reported in March of 2017:
In today’s courts system, divorce courts are clearly stacked against men. One only has to look at the historical data to see that women are unfairly granted child custody about 85% of the time, and receive over 94% of all child support dollars paid. These battles can be vicious, full of conflict, and can rage for years.
In Canada, such a struggle has unfortunately ended in tragedy. Jeramey A. (the media isn’t using his full name since some of his children share it) was involved in a legal battle with between an ex-wife with two daughters, a former fiancée who has a young son, and his present wife.
According to Canadian news outlet, The National Post:
[Jeramey] unsuccessfully had applied for an order varying the amount of child and spousal support he had to pay his former wife, a total of $6,500 a month. She in turn was seeking he be found in contempt of another order and fined an additional $10,000; the judge adjourned those issues.
Another woman, with whom he’d been briefly engaged and fathered a son after his divorce, was seeking retroactive and ongoing child support for their son.
Both those applications were successful, bringing his total child and spousal debt to about $8,000 a month, but then, in fairness, that woman is herself a family court lawyer.
Early on the morning of March 9, Jeramey apparently rigged his truck so that when he drove down an embankment at the end of Page Road in Abbotsford, B.C., his neck would break.
Jeremy’s Suicide Note
In a scrawled and bloody suicide note found in the truck, he wrote:
“FAMILY LAW NEEDS REFORM. I recommend mandated lower costs and less reward for false claims of abuse. Parental Alienation is devastating. I loved my children as much as a husband and father could. I see no light. Recommend; an authority consistent during high conflict separations: It is exploited in family law.
“Sorry Dad and Angie. I’m very sorry.”
This is devastating. This is a man that, because of how the law is structured, felt like he had nowhere else to go. He ended up declaring bankruptcy, and paid more than $330,000 in legal fees, according to his wife.
He was chased by family management agencies, and even had agencies moving to take away his driver’s licence and passport. His ex wife was even supposed to get his pension.
On top of that, he hadn’t been able to see his daughters for almost a year, they had been completely separated from him.
Angela knew he was in despair, but weeps that she didn’t realize the depths of it. “I just didn’t know,” she sobbed on the phone. “If he could have seen those girls, he could have handled all this, the National Post reported.
“His bank accounts were locked, he lost his homes, his vehicle, his business. You emasculate a man and take away his ability to provide — he’s a human being. He has limits,” Angie said.
Hopefully we can learn from this tragedy, and bring the change we need into the court systems that push people to these lengths.
Rich is a Certified Personal Trainer-AAPT and Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. At the age of 55, he lost 75 pounds in 6 months and discovered if you change your body, you can change your life. Go here to read his story and see how he did it. Feel free to send Rich a message here.
Get The Fat to Fit Transformation Plan Cheat Sheet
that I used to trim 18 inches off my waist in 6 months. This cheat sheet is a roadmap for your own fat to fit transformation. What do you have to lose, other than your belly?
Rich is a Certified Personal Trainer-AAPT and 