Fate of single older gay men highest rate of suicide in WY is among still 2011?

[Artiste]

Starbow said on PF why Annie Proulx wrote Brokeback Mountain:

   fate of single older men - the highest rate of suicide in WY is among single men over 65     

!


I presume Starbow and Annie are talking about gay men!!

Is this still the same in 2011:  fate of single gay older men - the highest rate of suicide in WY is among single men over 65?


Au revoir,
hugs!

[huntinbuddy]

Starbow said on PF why Annie Proulx wrote Brokeback Mountain: !


I presume Starbow and Annie are talking about gay men!!

Is this still the same in 2011:  fate of single gay older men - the highest rate of suicide in WY is among single men over 65?


Au revoir,
hugs!

I'm not so sure I believe the statement.   It's been a number of years since I've looked at this, and would suspect the demographics of suicide in the U.S. are shifting again, this time due to the severe economic downturn for so many areas.   I'm not sure what the numbers were for WY in the 1996-97 time frame when Proulx originally penned the story.  It's not to hard to find good statistical information regarding any state, but becomes more technical when you search by various age groups.

Here is an article from USA Today in late 2007.  I would assume the figures presented are from probably that year or the previous year.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-11-28-depression-suicide-numbers_N.htm

[Artiste]

Merci Huntin!

Je suis heureux de ta participation!
I am happy of your participation!!!
Any way to find out that since the Annie story, there are less or no older gay men 65 + committing such act?

And for this 2011, the 65 or over gay men in the USA are to maybe or likely NOT to have their old age pensions because the United States is over 14 trillions $ in debt and therefore can not borrow anymore; which will lead to some of the gay men with no money and wanting to commit suicide?


I Pray that all gay men will be well and happy!!

Au revoir,
hugs!

[bradINblue]

Wyoming does have a very high suicide rate as does places like Oregon. There is no way to tell which states have the highest rate of suicide among older gay men as most men that have homosexual tendencies never made those tendencies known. Personally, I believe a lot of young men that commit suicide have homosexual tendencies but were never out or considered 'gay' by others. I base this on 25 years of investigating such incidents, and tale tale signs were abundant--many times only to me.
The ones--older or younger that self identify as gay don't seem to have the 'suicide' problem probably because they are out and have dealt with their sexuality to some degree. The stereotypical lifestyle, however, can lead one down to the path of despair especially if he wants to settle down in a monogamous relationship. Just read Prayers for Bobby for a classic example.
There was also a spike in older gay men committing suicide in the wake of the AID's epidemic. I knew several who took their own lives, and again, investigated many more. These guys knew their life was over and decided to end it rather than go through so much pain. This was prevelant (sp) in urban areas. Places like Wyoming & Montana had few AIDS related deaths.

Brad

[Milo]

There was also a spike in older gay men committing suicide in the wake of the AID's epidemic. I knew several who took their own lives, and again, investigated many more. These guys knew their life was over and decided to end it rather than go through so much pain. This was prevelant (sp) in urban areas. Places like Wyoming & Montana had few AIDS related deaths.

Sadly, that was all too true. AIDS was a death sentence back then, and some guys simply did not want to waste away and die a slow, painless death. The early medications available for the treatment of HIV had horrible side effects, and were not very effective.

Luckily, times have changed, and so has medical technology.

[Artiste]

Merci Brad!


Your experiences count very much! I appreciate you telling us that!!!

Their must be more that can be done so that men can feel better if finding themselves homosexuals such as in Wyoming and other such states, but what??

Any idea?

Au revoir,
hugs!

[Artiste]

Merci Milo!

That could be true what you say about medical AIDS advancing, but in such states as Wyoming and Montana, would a homosexual in the closet seek a medical doctor in his area ( a heterosexual one) if he thought that he might have AIDS in 2011?

Au revoir,
hugs!

[Milo]

Merci Milo!

That could be true what you say about medical AIDS advancing, but in such states as Wyoming and Montana, would a homosexual in the closet seek a medical doctor in his area ( a heterosexual one) if he thought that he might have AIDS in 2011?

Au revoir,
hugs!

That's a big problem, Artiste. There are several issues at play when it comes to HIV and the closet.

- Some closeted men think that because they're "not really" homosexual, they can't be infected.
- Some closeted men won't go to gay venues to meet partners, but rather cruise discreet public areas. Proper protection is not always on hand, and desperation takes the place of safety.
- Some closeted men won't even get tested.

[MagicM]

Certain factors in rural life present a higher suicide risk for men anyway as this fact sheet shows. For example, men in rural Australia are 1.3 to 2.6 more likely to commit suicide than men in urban areas. Maybe some of these factors are also relevant in Wyoming.

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Ixr4jsTypDAJ:nrha.ruralhealth.org.au/cms/uploads/factsheets/fact-sheet-14-suicide.pdf+rural+suicides&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj2fj00lij-Xxxs65vW_8Fat9fuLYDGdXLEvIvAQT72OUaQF0KZ9mWvrIaGHNcTh0ORqR4Ub8R4Qq4eNBzq6KNVwCJrdpCV9YU30yKPt6vne1rQyhfpUjmvx2xYchGcmi8Y35bV&sig=AHIEtbQBzPFxO_jTjtYZro00_AoQPQislg

[huntinbuddy]

Certain factors in rural life present a higher suicide risk for men anyway as this fact sheet shows. For example, men in rural Australia are 1.3 to 2.6 more likely to commit suicide than men in urban areas. Maybe some of these factors are also relevant in Wyoming.

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Ixr4jsTypDAJ:nrha.ruralhealth.org.au/cms/uploads/factsheets/fact-sheet-14-suicide.pdf+rural+suicides&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj2fj00lij-Xxxs65vW_8Fat9fuLYDGdXLEvIvAQT72OUaQF0KZ9mWvrIaGHNcTh0ORqR4Ub8R4Qq4eNBzq6KNVwCJrdpCV9YU30yKPt6vne1rQyhfpUjmvx2xYchGcmi8Y35bV&sig=AHIEtbQBzPFxO_jTjtYZro00_AoQPQislg

Kind of a morbid topic we've got going on here, yet somewhat fascinating.  Here is another statistical website I found this morning.

http://www.suicide.org/suicide-statistics.html

Still, I doubt we will ever see specific stats on gay people as a demographic breakdown simply for the above reasons mentioned....those who are closeted.  And seriously, I doubt many who bother to leave suicide notes behind say something to this effect:  Open gay person:  "I'm gay, and nobody loves me, so therefore it's lights out...goodbye."   or  Closeted gay person:  "I have lived a horrible life, and nobody loves me, so therefore it's lights out...goodbye"

I don't know.  As mentioned earlier, one of our members here, as part of his vocation, has had to deal with the aftermath of this topic first hand.   I have limited experience in this area, as I haven't decided yet to pull the plug so to speak.    But seriously, I grew up in a rural area, and for whatever reason, it seems the rural, or less populated areas tend to have more suicides, or perhaps that is simply because there are less people in those areas, and when it happens, it is just more widely known.   Say with NYC, and 8 million people, I would suspect there are several suicides daily, and no one could care less.

Just a couple years ago, in the rural area where I grew up, a farmer/rancher who had lived  there all his life, killed himself.  He was in his late 70's and essentially retired, still a big land owner, no debts, grown children, so he had lots of grandkids.   He drove to one of the fields on his land, and shot himself.  No one knew why; he left no note.  Well it shouldn't have taken a NASA scientist to figure out why.  Just a couple weeks prior, he had been diagnosed with cancer, and from what I was told a fairly aggressive one, and I suppose they gave him six months or so to live.

No doubt, over the years he had seen friends, if not even family members suffer from this disease, only to die in the end, because sadly, there is no cure for cancer.   He had seen this, and simply did not want to go the suffering route.  Still, from my own standpoint, I think it is a selfish thing he did, and is really bad for the little grandkids; those who are old enough to understand.

[Artiste]

Merci Milo!

Like you say, it could be more complexe for closet gays in many of the USA, in order to seek a medical doctor... even in 2011!!!


I remember that when I thought that I had maybe HIV/AIDS, that I was scared and did NOT at all want to see a medical doctor who could be straight.

Since I had heard of a gay doctor who was in another town around the city, I went to see him and that was perplexing for me too, as I did not want his waiting patients to hear me, and so I used the word for him to check my flower, but I saw that everyone knew or felt that was so... when I walked out!


You want to hear more, Milo? Or, have you Milo, other ways to seek help?

Au revoir,
hugs!

[Artiste]

Merci Magic!

That is interesting about those factors!

What do you think can be done to reverse that... that is to help closet rural gays?

Au revoir,
hugs!

[Artiste]

Merci huntin!

It could be like you say that no one care in NYC! But is that so too in rural areas in the USA?

At first when I went to NYC, I was alone and felt so much loneliness!
One day, one living there asked me to share his art studio when I projected to come back the year after. This way, it was great not living alone and I was able to meet other gays too... who cared!!- that was so for many wonderful years

Even when I did live in Los Angeles, I saw that like NYC that people did care: gays did about other gays!! I had placed an ad seeking gays (?) in a daily newspaper (no internet in those days). I found out that the way is to see that each big city is composed of small villages which can help you! But why is that not so too in rural areas, or that just starting to happen since gay parades, homosexual organisations are starts now more so maybe, and even some gays go into the schools?

Any other ways to help Huntin?

Au revoir,
hugs!

[injest]

Kind of a morbid topic we've got going on here, yet somewhat fascinating.  Here is another statistical website I found this morning.

http://www.suicide.org/suicide-statistics.html

Still, I doubt we will ever see specific stats on gay people as a demographic breakdown simply for the above reasons mentioned....those who are closeted.  And seriously, I doubt many who bother to leave suicide notes behind say something to this effect:  Open gay person:  "I'm gay, and nobody loves me, so therefore it's lights out...goodbye."   or  Closeted gay person:  "I have lived a horrible life, and nobody loves me, so therefore it's lights out...goodbye"

I don't know.  As mentioned earlier, one of our members here, as part of his vocation, has had to deal with the aftermath of this topic first hand.   I have limited experience in this area, as I haven't decided yet to pull the plug so to speak.    But seriously, I grew up in a rural area, and for whatever reason, it seems the rural, or less populated areas tend to have more suicides, or perhaps that is simply because there are less people in those areas, and when it happens, it is just more widely known.   Say with NYC, and 8 million people, I would suspect there are several suicides daily, and no one could care less.

Just a couple years ago, in the rural area where I grew up, a farmer/rancher who had lived  there all his life, killed himself.  He was in his late 70's and essentially retired, still a big land owner, no debts, grown children, so he had lots of grandkids.   He drove to one of the fields on his land, and shot himself.  No one knew why; he left no note.  Well it shouldn't have taken a NASA scientist to figure out why.  Just a couple weeks prior, he had been diagnosed with cancer, and from what I was told a fairly aggressive one, and I suppose they gave him six months or so to live.

No doubt, over the years he had seen friends, if not even family members suffer from this disease, only to die in the end, because sadly, there is no cure for cancer.   He had seen this, and simply did not want to go the suffering route.  Still, from my own standpoint, I think it is a selfish thing he did, and is really bad for the little grandkids; those who are old enough to understand.

it IS a bit selfish...but I also have a lot of compassion for people that do..they have to be in so much pain..

but no, I can't imagine there would ever be a good record, we dont' really understand why anyone commits suicide for sure so pinpointing sexuality doesn't seem very accurate..

[Artiste]

Merci Injess!

Since there seems to be no file on such gay 65+ men committing suicide, then
there must be ways to help them to encourage them to continue to live?

Au revoir,
hugs!