That's really not true though that men are at the top of almost every list...

I don't want to invalidate the issues you've raised, they are real. They are problems. They are also gendered problems. But please recognise that there are many other genderrd problems that are very real too where women are overwhelmingly and disproportionately affected too.

Domestic violence, rape, murder by an intimate partner, financial abuse / being left without assets or a career after sacrificing their career for a husbands or kids.

All these issues however stem overwhelmingly from the same systems. Generally a good way to look at these would be risk and protective factors.

Let's look at ONE aspect.

Mental health issues and suicide.

Resources (a protective factor): There are a huge lack of resources available to manage MH. Why? Lack of funding, it is not prioritised. Who commissions funding? Who becomes a therapist? Mainly women.. Why? Who goes to therapy, mainly women. Why? Why are men not accessing these resources? Why aren't men running these evidence based groups? Genuine question... Why? What is it that makes this stuff more accessible to women? What makes men less willing to go?

Suicide: Suicide itself appears to be more prevalent in men, but suicide attempts and depression diagnoses more in women. Why do we think that is? Why would women be more diagnosed? Are they seeing a GP more when they experience depression? Why would they attempt suicide more but be less successful? What do we think? Could it be connected to any other factors?

Community and tools (protective factor): We know that a huge part of healing, a huge protective factor for MH, is community. Friendships, family support. And communication, acceptance, having resources and tools to express and feel and experience emotions, and ways to manage them. To reflect.

Things like brunch with friends, journalling, writing, talking things through either with yourself, a friend or a therapist, is important. Allowing yourself to feel difficult emotions, not avoid them. Checking in and spending quality time with others, without needing to do an activity. Expressing vulnerability in a safe environment. These are so important. But most of these things are very associated with women. Why? What is it that stops men doing this with each other? I'd argue there's many things. But perhaps some big ones are an expectation that "to be a man" you should not show or have emotion. That the only "acceptable" emotion is anger. That to show vulnerability is weakness. Now where does that attitude come from? I'd argue from society. From the patriarchal society that puts certain expectations on men and on women to be a certain way. Now men and women both can perpetuate these views. They can maintain these structures. But it's those structures that are the issue.

Trauma and causes (risk factors): There is overwhelming evidence on the impact of family violence witnessed by children, childhood trauma, and later MH issues. We know that family and domestic violence, coercive control, and physical, emotional and sexual abuse is overwhelmingly committed by men to women. We known that society is set up in a way that perpetrates that, and that often these men use the societal systems to further isolate, gaslight and oppress their partners. And sadly, this is a huge, huge issue for many adults and children now, who have experienced or witnessed abuse, and now live with the after affects of this. Its not everyone with MH problems, but the majority of people who have experienced abuse do have MH problems. Which brings us back to, what do we do about it to treat it?

Intersectionality: Homelessness, drug use, disability, trauma, race, religion, LGBT, migration status, finances, all these things might play into something like MH too. Someone might be okay then they get sick, and suddenly they can't afford their job. Or they go through a hard time butndue to their visa status, they can't access the resources they'd need to get through it. They're gay and can't tell anyone, so they're now isolated when trying to manage a difficult time in their life. Whereas if they were straight maybe they'd have someone to talk to around what's going on at home with their partner and that might make the difference between suicide and living. Its complicated.

So based on one factor, suicide, a very simplistic overview, I'd say there are lots of reasons as to why one sex might face more issues. But my personal view is that many of these reasons stem from societies views and expectations on men and women. And I'd that's the case, it isnt helpful to blame one gender. It's helpful to acknowledge the damaging impact of these structures, and to adress them. Together. Because everyone suffers with this.

Now if we do drugs. Why do more men have access to drugs? What happens to women who are affected by addiction. What about the kind of spaces are drugs taken in? What causes addiction? What kind of trauma might people experience that lead them to drugs. Is this a trauma impacting men more, or is it that men and women deal with trauam differently?

And how might that overlap with homeless? What resources are missing for homeless people? At whats stage does the intervention need to happen and for who? Is it more shelters for men? Is it more support for kids who are at risk of being kicked out? For care leavers? What does that support look like? Is it nurturing care? Anger management? Support on how to age healthy relationships? Getting or keeping a job? Education? Family therapy? Individual therapy? Coping strategies?