Turnaround tales
Two friends who set up a monthly meeting in their office to improve men's mental health are now expanding their idea to help male members of the public in Chesterfield.
Business partner analyst Jason Cotton and CREDO analyst Frazer Longford, from the Future Walk office in Chesterfield, started the ‘Men+Talk’ group last year.
Jason told the Derbyshire Times: ‘After a dear friend died by suicide last year and myself going through a divorce and child access battles in the courts, I thought it would be a great idea to actually do something to improve men's mental health, and so we set up Men+Talk.
‘Men+Talk is all about improving men's mental health, raising awareness, removing the stigma and ultimately reducing male suicide. It's been running within the workplace for around 12 months and is doing incredibly well - the feedback is wonderful.’
Jason said that more than 200 men have benefitted from at least 10 meetings held in five locations and the change in those who have attended has been incredible.
‘To see the change in their energy from the start to the end of the meeting is simply great,’ he said. ‘We've heard many harrowing stories, but we’ve also heard many incredible turnaround tales. There are so many guys just in Chesterfield alone who are going through hell, unable to see a way out.
‘We have many survivors coming along. We intend to stop the helter-skelter of negative thoughts early on in their tracks, simply by getting men to talk about them - and they do; in fact, they often can't wait to get it out, it's been bottled up so much. Our meetings are fiercely open, brutally honest and incredibly dark as well as energetic and positive with many, many laughs.
‘We're not counsellors or therapists - we're just two blokes who have been through hell and been lucky enough to survive. There are so many more of us out there and we want to reach out and ease the suffering that so many men go through.’
According to the Mental Health Foundation Society, suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50 in the UK. Those at highest risk are men aged between 40 and 44. One reason that men are more likely to commit suicide may be because they are less likely than women to ask for help or talk about depressive or suicidal feelings. Recent statistics show that only 27% of people who died by suicide between 2005 and 2015 had been in contact with mental health services in the year before they died.
Whoever you are, however you feel, whatever life has done to you, please remember that you are not alone and help is at hand. For urgent supportcall the Samaritans for free 24/7 on 116 123 or in the case of an emergency situation, ring 999, or 9999 from a Royal Mail landline.
For mental health support, colleagues can call our 24/7 First Class Support helpline on 0800 688 8777 or www.rmgfirstclasssupport.co.uk. The Feeling First Class wellbeing website can be found at: www.feelingfirstclass.co.uk (use code FFC1 to register).
