Men 'pushing their lives to the limit'

IRISH men are playing Russian roulette with their lives, a conference has heard.

Men do not take care of their health and when they do need help, either on a physical or emotional level, they don't ask for it, said Fergus Hogan, course leader in Applied Social Studies at Waterford Institute of Technology.

He said men were pushing their lives to the limit drinking more than they should, becoming involved in more accidents and living an average of six years less than women.

Men need to slow down and when they are depressed, need to muster up the courage to look for help, rather than drowning their sorrows or throwing themselves into their work, Mr Hogan said.

Women also have a role to play in getting men more actively involved in family life and life outside of work, he said. "Men die on average nearly six years younger than Irish women and have higher death rates than women for all leading causes of death at all ages," Mr Hogan told delegates at WIT's Mental Health and Relationships Awareness Week lecture.

"Men actively avoid visits to the GP and ignore any signs and symptoms of any disease in their bodies," Mr Hogan said.

"We soldier on believing the myth that, as a man, we are somehow invincible.

"The way in which we have been conditioned as men and boys is central to how we have colluded with the notion that real men must take great risks with their health and bodies. The results of which are quite literally killing us," Mr Hogan said.

The Centre for Social and Family Research hosted the conference, in partnership with the Men's Development Network.

Delegates heard how men drink more frequently, 73% more so, and binge drink 90% more often than women.

They are also three times more likely to die in a car crash and four times more likely to commit suicide.

Far too many men hide from their problems by working too much, said Peter Kieran of the Health Services Executive, South East.

Mr Kieran said that men need to be more true to themselves and need to be more open and honest about relationships at home.

David Casey, speaker, also suggested that men need to have a look at what's important in their lives, particularly where suicide was concerned.

"If we could reconnect and re-enchant men's lives, we could all see what's important and what's not.

"We need to slow down. We're speeding through life and we've no time to look after one another," he told the conference.