Even in the face of the recent suicides men are still not being told it is okay to seek help.
Mental health advocate and clinical psychologist, Christa Soleyn, said society was still not telling men it was okay for them not to be okay.
“I’m tired of mental health being a line item in budgets and policies, we have to get serious and it has to be all hands on deck when we see people struggling and can say ‘let me see how I can help’.
“Lots of young people in school don’t know how to cope. If we teach them how every week and we are drilling that into them as much as we drill everything else we will see a change, but we have to put resources where our mouths are,” she said.
Soleyn called for community and sports groups as well as the church to step up or she warned the trend of young men seeing death as the only way out would continue, something in which she feared society may become desensitised. (CA)