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They talk about a few causes, but this is the gist of it for anyone who doesn't want to click:
Researchers cited the pandemic as the biggest factor in the widening gender gap; it took a heavier toll on men. Unintentional injuries and poisonings (mostly drug overdoses), accidents and suicide were other contributors.
Still is, men are still dying more from Covid and in excess deaths from related conditions that are elevated like heart attacks and strokes.
The declining cd4 and cd8 cell counts however will strike men and women equally over time.
There are also studies that show men are less likely to got to a doctor or they go to late. In part that is because most male bodies tend to take longer before heavy symptoms are coming up but then they progress faster.
It has something to do with differences in immune system of men and women. When for example a man and a woman are infected with the same amount of viruses the women's immune system will react faster so she gets symptoms earlier and goes to the doctor earlier as well. The man won't have any symptoms but then the infection will suddenly progress fast when a critical amount of viruses is reached.
It's of course more complex and there are tons of studies about it, but I think that's something to keep in mind "in practice".
This comes on top of the gender stereotypes which make some men shun the doctor.
That's because in addition to the disinformation, many men also have to do the macho thing: https://youtu.be/1chYhsp3NRw
I forgot that suicide was super macho.
I warned my ex to be safe when the biology of it was just beginning to be understood back in March/April 2020, and his exact response was, "It's not like I'm going to die." He says, occupying every high risk category except "immunocompromised."
So yeah, apparently.
Fuck Joe Rogan. At some level I want to say “if you are really going to take advice from Joe Rogan and other idiots online, Darwin will just be checking off posthumous boxes,” but I’ve seen too many family members be trapped and warped by social media into believing garbage that I realize it’s the fault of the system. People have always profited off of needless human death, it’s way worse though when it’s a podcaster spewing garbage.
i wonder if this is correlated with the loneliness increase / the loneliness gap. if you're a guy, lonely, prone to depression, in a crumbling post-capitalist society that's getting more malignant by the day....how much will to live can you have
Nah, the older men I know either won't go to a doctor because they didn't need them when they were younger, are scared of them, can man up through whatever pain they have, whatever. These are folks with Medicare, so at least access to doctors. These are all married men with kids. They don't go until they're literally forced to and by then, it's already too late and they just die.
I won’t go to a doctor because my experience with doctors is they tell me I’m imagining it, refuse to order any tests, then send me a bill for hundreds of dollars for the privilege of hearing them gaslight me about my symptoms.
I won’t open up emotionally to people for similar reasons: experience of it going wrong.
quick question, how is this any different for women?
It's less acceptable for men to open up, it's one of the toxic masculinity traits that harms men the most.
I think as men get older, we also tend to have less close friends than women. Or at least it sure seems to be that way for many. Saw it with my dad before we lost him last year. I see it with my brother and myself. It has brought me and my brother somewhat closer in that we text and talk more than we used to despite not living close and being pretty different personalizes.
I have a few close friends, but not male ones. I had to stop working at a young age and I feel that is when I stopped having a connection to any sort of male bonding.
But I agree, that it still seems unacceptable to open up, share feelings, and be vulnerable as a man. Probably why I have mostly had women as close friends most of my adult life.
Men and women seem to make friends differently. Men have more of a tendency to make friends through work. The change in work culture can cause these to collapse more easily. It's particularly harsh at retirement. They not only lose their day-to-day reason to go on, but the friendship net that should help them.
By comparison, women tend to make friends independently of work. This makes their friendships more tolerant to changing jobs, or leaving work. Women also seem to be better at maintaining friendships at a distance.
Lastly, there is the (slightly controversial) glass floor. It's the inverse of the glass ceiling. Both men and women have a bias to help women in distress over men. This makes it a lot more likely that someone will step in to help, before the downward spiral gets too deep. This is partially why men make up a large proportion of the homeless.
That’s fine. My job as a man is to die first. Is that toxic masculinity? Yes. Is it stupid? Also yes. But I’d rather die on my lawnmower than acknowledge feelings. I will go out 6 years early like a man.
I will work 12hr days and sacrifice my health for my family. Toxic maybe, but my duty as a man.
I'll eat that 12oz sirloin and wash it down with beer and whiskey every night. Just so someone doesn't call me gay. Doesn't matter how many dudes I fuck in the ass!
Get that umbrella away from me faaaag.
Ironic that the thread is about men dying on average younger than women, and the majority of the responses are people completely ignoring that fact and instead just taking an opportunity to negatively stereotype men so they can shit on them collectively.
Here’s what you get for listening to joe rogan for medical advice lol
Edit: for those calling out missandry, the article and I are talking about american men. You’re not the center pf the universe…
Oh good. Another article about men struggling with X. This certainly means that help is coming, right? Right guys?
The help: “Remember guys, it’s okay to not be plagued by X”
It's ok to be weak without support structures, you'll be fine. It's ok to not have friends, making friends is hard, 15% of the male population having no close friends is something you can work past, you'll be fine. It's ok to have mental health problems, despite there not being any help or support for them, it's ok to let them take over your life from time to time, lonely men's bills pay themselves, right?
But you're men, you're meant to be strong, and stoic, and nothing is meant to phase you emotionally. You're allowed to cry, just don't be pathetic looking when you do it. Cry like a fucking man.
Has anybody considered that maybe we don't want to live longer?
My entire life, I feel like my only value as a person has been to provide financial benefit to others. There is no passion. There is only obligation.
I've met those obligations. Those obligations required a whole lot of struggle and doing whatever was necessary with no regard to my physical or mental well-being. If at any time I tried to take pause and do something for myself, I was considered loathsome and..favorite zeitgeist buzzword, toxic. Only when I returned to giving all of myself to others was there any tolerance of my existence.
Now in my fifties, I'm tired. I don't mean I'm I need a nap tired. I mean it at an existential level.
I refuse to spend my remaining years in doctors offices as they systemically extract every remaining dollar I've got while telling me I'm a terrible person for not living a perfectly physical life. I'll choose the early exit and a nice clean estate to leave to my daughter.
When my time comes, I will go quietly into that cold dark void, and I will do so enthusiastically. I see no value in prolonging the inevitable merely for the benefit of others. Let me have this one small thing
I'm so sorry to read this. It must be ok to do stuff for yourself, anybody that tells you no is the one being toxic. As they say in fight club, you are not defined by your job. Especially in this time of AI and extreme automation, we must normalise that not having a job, or not living for your job, doesn't mean you are worthless. This is valid for women as well, btw.
I wish the men in my life would visit a doctor, get an annual check up, and take more preventative measures protecting their health.
That's weird. Well, I'm gonna go catch a speeding bullet with my teeth, wish me luck!
Yes, but what about those women who have to lose their husbands and sons? They are the real victims.
"There's been a lot of research into the decline in life expectancy in recent years, but no one has systematically analyzed why the gap between men and women has been widening since 2010,"
Since 2010, what happened in 2010? Was that when they started prescribing oxy willy nilly, maybe. I think women took as much though, why would bring down the life expectancy just for men.
100% with you on opioids being a leading cause.
To your 2nd point: in pretty much all drug abuse/addiction, men are more likely to abuse or become dependent, and they tend to use higher amounts on average.
It feels like if the issue involves men it is not considered important. Boys struggle in school more now but only girls get attention, young men die to violence more, middle aged men die to suicide more, etc.
So I’ll be honest and say I have no want to prolong my life any longer than I absolutely have to. I have a myriad of mental issues, no plans to start or have a family and in general very little want to live another 50ish years.
I think that’s not uncommon in a lot of men either. There’s very little incentive to make it that long anymore. I’ll be working till the day I die and some poor choices in my life up to this point have put a significant damper on what’s left.