An Open Letter To Men To Start Talking About Mental Health
Dear gents,
Before we start this, let me just ask you a question. Do you know what the biggest killer of men aged 18-45 in the UK and Ireland is?
Is it cancer? Heart disease? Obesity?
No, it's none of them.
At the time of writing this the single biggest killer of men aged 18-45 is suicide.
Suicide - the action of killing oneself intentionally.
I think it's time that we stop and talk about this for a second.
Every day we're told to fear terrorists, life threatening illnesses and evil in the world.
But yet the most likely thing to be killed by is our own mind.
How are we living through that in 2018 with all the technological advances that we have made?
As men it's clearly time we start to change this, but yet we're too proud to start.
"It's not manly to talk about our feelings."
"It's not manly to be there as a shoulder to cry on for our friends."
But we need to forget these stereotypes and start to open up and be there for each other.
I understand that sometimes talking about your feelings can be hard or might even seem a little weird.
I certainly am not the best person to talk about that as I find it hard too.
I'm one to bottle up my emotions and try to deal with everything myself.
It's hard to be open and vulnerable.
Especially when it just feels like something stupid.
It feels like it's only you going through it and you need to just get on with it.
But clearly it's not just you.
The solution starts by talking, not by ignoring.
Talking is the way we can start to make a change.
Talking about our own experiences, talking with others and supporting them, talking about what we're going through right now.
If we can't talk about it then it just stays inside.
It stays inside bottled up like a shaken can of coke waiting to burst out.
Do you think that the 6,188 known people who committed suicide in 2015 in the UK just took their lives after one bad day?
A bad day can turn into a bad week, a bad week into a bad month, a bad month into a bad year and then before we know it we're somewhere we've never been before and out of control of our own minds.
I've never experienced severe depression or suicidal thoughts to date luckily and would never try to talk from that perspective.
But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't talk about our own experiences and every stage of mental health.
If you're suffering with whatever you're going through then talk to someone you trust.
Always remember, you're not alone.
You're not the first to go through it and you're certainly not the last.
But there is something good waiting for you.
And if someone you know is suffering then just be there to listen.
It's time we put an end to this and turn the stat around together.
Yours sincerely,
Liam.
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We opened up about our own experiences with mental health recently check out the video below
If you're having suicidal thoughts or are worried about someone you love then contact -
Samaritans Suicide Hotline - 116 123
(For Everyone) https://www.samaritans.org
(For Just Men) https://www.thecalmzone.net
(For Young People Under 35) https://www.papyrus-uk.org/help-advice/about-hopelineuk
(For Children and Young People Under 19) https://www.childline.org.uk
(For Older People) https://www.thesilverline.org.uk
ANOTHER VIDEO TO WATCH
