Skip to main content

Story: Mental health services

Motives for male suicides, 1900–1950

File size
771 bytes

This chart uses information from coroners' inquests between 1900 and 1950 to determine motives for suicides by males. It shows that mental illness was a reason behind almost one in five suicides in that period.

Using this item

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: John Weaver, A sadly troubled history: the meanings of suicide in the modern age. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, 2009. p. 155

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Warwick Brunton, Mental health services – Mental health and mental illness, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/graph/29396/motives-for-male-suicides-1900-1950 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Warwick Brunton, published 6 April 2011.