Really great post mate. I too knew someone at the gym I used to go to who made exactly the same decision that Brad did. It's chilling. Sobering. Like you described, the signs are often subtle or just not there at all. I remember laughing with him one night at the gym prior.

I think it's important to recognise the fact that males largely feel a responsibility to provide or to be employed or to meet certain social frameworks or standards. When difficulty arises in matching this expectation there can be an element I think of shame or something perhaps deeper still whereby a male can feel worthless or like a failure for not earning enough or working at all or whatever it is.

I tend to think that females are less anchored to the expectations of gender roles and that's possibly got something to do with the statistics.

Thanks for sharing this difficult topic.