We must examine the reasons that at a time of unprecedented prosperity so many people feel so despairing that they choose to take their own lives. Changes in society and the expectations of and demands on young people have created enormous stress and strain for them. Males are proving less adaptable to changes in their status. They are more likely to bottle up problems and less likely to discuss them than their female counterparts. It has been a thread through Irish life, which unfortunately persists, that whereas females tend to discuss their problems, we males tend to keep our problems within.