FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It's no secret divorces can be ugly, messy and uncomfortable in so many ways... but now there's research that suggests divorce is also one of the top reasons for suicide among men.
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AOL News reports that the stress and sadness associated with divorce take a much tougher toll on men than women.
Experts say suicide rates are higher among divorced men - and lowest among those who are still married. Single men fall in between.
One sociologist who studies family structure and suicide rates says divorced men are almost 40 percent more likely to commit suicide than those who are still married. That number jumps to 50 percent for a man who is widowed.
Yet for women there's a statistically insignificant difference when it comes to the risk for suicide among those who are married, divorced or widowed.
Some think it's because marriage provides a support system that men rely on much more than women. There are also studies that show married men take fewer risks and are healthier - less likely to smoke, drink or use drugs.
Another reason why women might be less suicidal is because of the children. Women often remain the primary caretakers for kids after divorce; and research shows that for every additional child in a home, the adult is less and less likely to commit suicide.
Overall - men in this country are four times more likely than women to take their own lives.
Here’s my question to you: Why does divorce make men more suicidal than women?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
G. writes:
Try paying 50% of your income in child support, another 20% in taxes, and being threatened with jail and loss of your professional license if you don't pay. Then to top it off you won't get to see your children, because the court won't enforce visitation. See what that does to you emotionally.
Philip writes:
As a divorced man, I can honestly say I contemplated suicide for the first time in my life during the first year or two of my separation. It's incredibly difficult to have your entire family life – children, home and even wife – pulled away from you. Prior to the divorce, I was very happy, making a good salary and living in a nice neighborhood. Soon after the divorce, I was saddled with very high child support payments, debt from legal fees and barely enough left over to pay the rent of my small 1 bedroom apartment.
Martha writes:
It is a known fact that women have always been able to live alone much better than men. Simply put, women are built to survive being alone better because I believe we get less emotional support from men than they get from us.
Bob writes:
Divorce takes everything away from a man: money, family, self-esteem, etc. A divorced father of a daughter is treated like a potential child molester. No sleepovers at your house for your daughter's friends during her weekend visits with you. Despair sets in. You ask yourself in the quiet times by yourself, why not?
Rosemarie in Oregon writes:
Because the man loses everything: wife, children, money, friends and family who may have been close but now are distant. There is a lot involved in the loss of a marriage. This is like a death in your close family. Almost unbearable.
R.J. writes:
I divorced my wife last year after 30 years of a dead marriage. I tried all a man could try... Even my two teenagers chose to live with me full time. Some days the pain of missing my family – not her – is so great I just wish it was over. The kicker is, I am a professional counselor and help other people. I will go on, I will love and remarry I hope, but this was not how life was supposed to be, not when I tried so hard to make it work.