Words by Harrison Read
Two top car meet organisations combined recently in Birmingham, with an event to raise awareness of male suicide - Petrol Headonism worked with Breaking Silence to show support for St. Andrew's Healthcare in an attempt to reduce the stigma between men talking about their emotions.
St. Andrew's Healthcare supports some of the most clinically complex patients in the mental health system, people who could not, in many cases, be treated elsewhere.Some of the patients have been in the criminal justice system and are some of the most vulnerable people being treated anywhere in the health service. The majority of patients are referred to the hospital by the NHS, and others are send by Clinical Commissioning Groups from the area where the patient lives.
Dr Sanjith Kamath, executive medical director, St Andrew’s Healthcare - "Suicide has gradually been creeping up over the years and I think it’s somewhere in the region of 15 per 100,000. Many men still come from a background where talking about your feelings is seen as a sign of weakness.”
How could you play your part in reducing the stigma surrounding mens mental health?
