London, December 20 (IANS) Sexually abused children are 10 times more prone to suicide as grownups, latest research says.
Patrick O'Leary and Nick Gould, both professors at the Bath University department of social and policy sciences conducted a series of surveys and face-to-face interviews with men in a study funded by the University of South Australia.
'Men are particularly vulnerable to suicide and are three-and-a-half times more likely than women to end their own lives, with more than 2,000 men dying as a result of suicide in the UK each year,' said Leary.
'However, it is estimated that for every suicide, there are between 20 and 25 failed attempts,' he added.
'Childhood sexual abuse is an under-recognised problem in men - most of the studies exploring the link with suicide have been in women,' he said.
'Men are particularly vulnerable because they don't like to talk to others about their problems. It's difficult for anyone to come to terms with traumatic experiences such as childhood sexual abuse, but for men the stigma is worse because they don't tend to confide in their friends as much.
Leary suggested that lives could be potentially saved if abuse victims are identified earlier. 'The abuse that these men have suffered as children often sees them attempting to cope by suppressing the experience through substance abuse, alcohol abuse and obsessive behaviour, with many ending up in the criminal justice system, said a Bath release.
The findings have been published online in the British Journal of Social Work.
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