Men's Mental Health

*This blog and the links in it discuss suicide, including thoughts of suicide and stories from people who have lost people as a result of suicide. If you are looking for support please see the links and contact numbers at the bottom of this page.

Several pieces about men’s mental health, particularly pertaining to the risk of suicide have come up over the last week and as much work still needs to be done to normalise these conversations, I wanted to bring together and share this collection of resources and stories to help continue the conversation and promote access to it. This blog will only include minimal commentary from me as I want to centre the men speaking as much as possible. Isolation is a key contributor to poor mental health and this includes isolating thoughts and feelings: like “if I was just stronger” or “I just need to get on with it”. The hope is that in sharing some of these stories, it is clear that there is no “just” about it, and you don’t have to go it alone.

Middle-age men remain the group most likely to die by suicide and since around 1990, men have been at least three times as vulnerable to death from suicide as women according to research from the Samaritans. (The Samaritans offer support via their phone lines 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Their number can be found at the bottom of the page.)

This makes work by charities like Men Matter Scotland vital and an example of some of their work was featured last week on BBC Scotland. The piece looks at the work of street teams in Glasgow who go out every Friday and Saturday night and talk to men who may be vulnerable. About half way down the page is a video of Del McGuire telling his story of how he got involved and his own experience of losing his father to suicide: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65244757

One of the ideas he picks out, which is a theme which comes up repeatedly across these stories, is that people who are thinking of suicide think they will be making the lives of the people around them easier. I particularly want to highlight this because one of the enduring stigmas attached to suicide is that it is a selfish thing to do. This disregards the mindset of the person considering suicide and risks shaming them and shutting down important conversations.

Alastair Campbell, a former journalist and perhaps best known for his role in communications in the Labour government under Tony Blair, has talked openly about his own mental health challenges. His reputation is formidable and where suicide and suicidal ideation can too often be seen as a sign of weakness, I wanted to include his recent comments on his own experience. You can listen here at approximately 45 minutes and 30 seconds: https://shows.acast.com/the-rest-is-politics/episodes/the-brutality-of-politics-developments-in-sudan-and-diane-ab

In addition to sharing his own thoughts during particularly low times, like how the people in his life would be “better off” without him, he also highlights some stark statistics. This includes the fact that 3 in 4 people who die by suicide have never had any contact with a mental health professional (that statistic applies to men and women) and this leads to the importance of this campaign: Baton of Hope.

#BatonOfHopeUK is designed to be the biggest suicide awareness and prevention initiative the UK has ever seen, opening up necessary conversations and prompting appropriate actions. Our specially designed baton will tour UK towns and cities for two weeks in Summer 2023, raising the profile of this issue like never before. Together we can reduce the stigma, and get better at asking questions, listening, and directing people to the right help. Together we can save lives.

The tour will start in Glasgow and over the course of two weeks make its way to Downing Street. The campaign was launched by Mike McCarthy and Steve Phillip who both lost their sons, Ross and Jordan, to suicide. Their message is a powerful one “every suicide is preventable” and is a necessary communication of hope. If we talk more, if we listen more, as Del McGuire says “there is another day.”

To find out more about the campaign: https://batonofhopeuk.org/

If there is anything in this article which you would like to talk through, you can get in contact with me via my contact me page.

Or to speak to someone right away:

• Call Samaritans 24/7 on 116 123

• Text Shout 24/7 to 85258 to start a conversation.

• You can find out more about the Shout service here: https://giveusashout.org/get-help/how-shout-works/

• For an LGBTQ+ helpline you can contact Switchboard LGBT+ from 10am-10pm everyday on this number: 0800 0119 100

• You can find out more about Switchboard here: https://switchboard.lgbt/

• Or, if your life is at imminent risk call the emergency services on 999

This is an image of the Baton of Hope, taken from the batonofhopeuk.org website. The website describes: "Assisted by this community network in gold, the spirals above rise up in silver and gilt. These twists and turns represent the steady, supported climb out of despair. The silver spiral embodies strength and support, while the gilt spiral depicts the hope-inspiring golden spirit of the community."