...due to "gender mystique"
From the OP's article--
"ONE thing standing in the way of further progress for many men is the same obstacle that held women back for so long: overinvestment in their gender identity instead of their individual personhood. Men are now experiencing a set of limits — externally enforced as well as self-imposed — strikingly similar to the ones Betty Friedan set out to combat in 1963, when she identified a “feminine mystique” that constrained women’s self-image and options.
Although men don’t face the same discriminatory laws as women did 50 years ago, they do face an equally restrictive gender mystique.
Rising tide of suicides needs education and action
The sheriff, who has seen a large increase in the number of threatened and attempted suicide calls, refuses to speculate. Because suicide is not a crime, he does not keep track of motives.
But one who follows this closely and would speculate is Rennie Shuler-McKinney, director of clinical services, behavioral health, at Shawnee Mission Medical Center. She has been a therapist dealing with suicidal clients for 25 years.
Shuler-McKinney thinks it is the poor economy that is leading to more suicides in Johnson County, particularly among middle-aged Caucasian males.
That mirrors a national suicide epidemic where there currently are 12 suicides per 100,000 persons. By that measure, Johnson County should be experiencing approximately 66 suicides.
We are this year, but last year was way above the national average.
“A few years ago, these men lost their jobs,” she said. “The impact was not immediate. But after they don’t find a job, their home goes into foreclosure, they say, ‘I can’t do this any longer.’
“These men feel like they have let down their families,” she said. “They have been the providers, and now they feel like they are a burden.”
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