ABSTRACT
It is a commonplace claim that men are in crisis about their physical and psychological health. The existence and nature of this crisis may be deduced from the following statistics on health and illness:
Fetal mortality is higher in males during early and late stages of fetal development (Waldron 1986).
Life-expectancy is lower in men than in women: 72.4 compared with 78.1 years (Office of Health Economics 1992).
The number of deaths through diseases of the circulatory system (heart attacks and strokes) and through external injury and poisoning (accidents and suicides) is higher in men than in women (Department of Health 1993).
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) affects nine times as many men as women.
More than ten times as many men than women are found in surveys of homelessness (Department of Health 1993).
Men have more unhealthy lifestyles compared with women (Department of Health 1993).
Of opiod addicts notified to the Home Office, 75 per cent are men (National Audit of Drug Misuse Statistics 1990).
Although women are more likely than men to get depressed or to harm themselves, suicide rates among men are increasing (and are decreasing amongst women) (Charlton et al. 1993).
