@aernethril wrote:
Some time ago - cannot remember where I read it - but it was an article about a very successful, very rich, very well respected guy in the finance industry who one day just gave it all up.
He decided to go into repairing cars, bought a small garage in a rural area and never looked back.
His take on it was that people needed to use their hands / bodies and brains to get a better balance of really feeling fulfilled and have pride in their work and themselves - and to feel true contentment.
I believe we have no idea of the pressure that builds up when people are essentially using just their brains to be constantly solving problems, taking complex decisions, worrying for the future, etc and how all of that affects the fine balance between feeling well fulfilled and feeling the whole thing is totally useless.
And in a way, I think just doing some kind of relatively mindless fitness/gym work only adds to that.
But, give a person something like a shed to potter in and plant seeds, go fishing, tinker with an old motor etc and the conflict of constant repetitive brain activity with no physical output is more balanced.
It also doesn't help that we have become so mindlessly materialistic that the pressure to keep getting the latest / best / whatever is perceived to be 'needed' is another contribulary factor to the feeling of it all being utterly useless to contine.
Good points. I think on one hand, Anomie is a significant driver in male suicides - particularly for those who have experienced cultural change in what's expected of gender roles - and more specifically the willingness to "talk" about depression; to both peers and medical professionals:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomie#Social_disorder
On the other hand, Austerity seems to have had a significant impact, particularly in countries and regions which have been hardest hit.
http://www.imt.ie/news/latest-news/2015/06/recession-significant-impact-suicide-self-harm.html
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102395651
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/19/number-of-suicides-uk-increases-2013-male-rate-highes...
"The UK suicide rate was 11.9 deaths per 100,000 people. The north-east had the highest rate in England at 13.8 deaths per 100,000, while London had the lowest with 7.9. The male suicide rate has increased significantly since 2007, the ONS said, while female rates have stayed relatively constant and were consistently lower than those for men."
