In 2022, 2,833 men killed themselves in Sri Lanka. 574 women. That's 5 men for every 1 woman.
Male suicide rate: 27 per 100,000. Female: 5 per 100,000. Both higher than the global average but the gap between men and women is massive.
And its getting worse not better. Male suicide has been trending upward since 2016. Hanging is now the most common method, nearly 70% of all cases.
Why?
Because Sri Lankan men don't talk. We don't ask for help. We drink instead of dealing with problems. 53% of men drink, 14% at hazardous levels. When the money runs out, when the business fails, when the marriage falls apart, there is no system to catch them.
Sri Lanka has 1 psychiatrist for every 500,000 people. Switzerland has 150 for the same number. We have fewer than 5 clinical psychologists in the entire country. The mental health budget is 1.6% of total health spending and it hasn't changed since 2012.
75% of patients avoid mental health care because they fear discrimination. Employers fire people who get diagnosed. Families hide it. The culture treats mental illness as weakness or karma, not as a medical condition.
Among teenagers its even worse. 1 in 5 students aged 13-17 reported persistent loneliness. 18% had depression. 15% had seriously considered suicide in the past year. Nearly 1 in 10 actually attempted it.
We built an entire article about men dying earlier than women. This is one of the biggest reasons why. Not just heart disease. Not just alcohol. But a culture that tells men to shut up and handle it!
You wouldn't ignore chest pain. Don't ignore what happens in your head. If you're struggling, talk to someone.
Sumithrayo: 011 2692909, 011 2696666, 011 2683555.
National helpline: 1926
The strongest thing a man can do is ask for help before its too late! 🙏🙏🙏
Based on global median demographics, the “average” person in the world would be a 28-year-old right-handed Han Chinese man who speaks Mandarin and owns a cellphone.
A Mandatory Offer by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited to purchase all the remaining shares of Colombo Dockyard PLC at LKR 40 per share.
It almost feels as if their brain is located closer to their ass, as they seem unable to remember that the company issued a rights issue of 9 shares for every 2 shares at LKR 40. This effectively meant the company offered a discounted price to existing shareholders to acquire additional shares. Furthermore, they themselves became eligible for the rights issue only by paying a higher price for the shares or by purchasing traded rights.
Knowing all these facts, how they decided to invite existing shareholders to tender their shares at LKR 40 remains difficult to understand.
So many people knew the convicted felon would make an awful president and/or leader of anything.
Yet here we are. Snake Oil salespeople always find victims.