I was recently invited to contribute to a post focusing on the issue of men’s mental health. As you would expect, I consider this to be a hugely important issue, and I was very grateful for the opportunity.

If you are in any doubt about just how important an issue this is, for everybody, consider the following statistics:

• Suicide rates are 3 times higher for men in the UK
• In 2015 alone, 6,639 people in the UK died by suicide; 4,997 of those suicides were men
• The highest rate of suicides is in men between the ages of 40-44
• Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK

Suicide is killing far too many of us. It is killing husbands, sons, brothers, fathers, friends. We MUST talk about this and really understand how and why stigma still exists around men’s mental health.

I encourage you to read and share this excellent post by Kel at Anxious Lass: http://anxiouslass.com/men-mental-health/

Matthew’s debut book, Something Changed: Stumbling Through Divorce, Dating & Depression, is available now Click here for info

Soundtrack:
Father & Son – Cat Stevens

“All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It’s hard, but it’s harder to ignore it”