A NEW support group for men suffering with anxiety or depression has been set up at Warrington.
Directions for Men meets every Wednesday at 6.30pm at The Gateway, in Sankey Street.
Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 40 – because men don’t ask for help when they need it. They suffer in silence. They feel like they should be able to cope with anything and that feeling stressed/depressed or anxious is a sign of weakness.
Organiser Chris Judge, a former probation officer, said: “We want this to end. We want men to feel able to ask for help but not only that we want them to know where to go to get help when they need it. We want to provide a place for men to turn and ask for help.
“The problem with men is that we are raised to be strong and not show emotion and that can be incredibly damaging to us because that can mean that problems spiral out of control without being dealt with or we try and deal with them in a way that causes more problems.”
• In the UK men remain three times more likely to take their own lives than women.
• Suicide is the most common cause of death for men aged 20-49 years in England and Wales.
• One in four young men are turning to self-harm as a result of depression, anxiety and stress, according to a YouGov poll. Of the 500 men aged 16 to 24 surveyed, 24 per cent said they had intentionally hurt themselves
• Men are 22 times as likely as women to be imprisoned.
• 86 per cent of rough sleepers are male.
• Men are twice as likely to be victims of violent crime.
Directions is a place where men can talk to each other, share their experiences including how they may have solved problems in the past and support each other to overcome difficulties.
Anyone not sure about attending a meeting without making contact first can contact Directions by telephone on 07894 971 434, by e-mail at [email protected]
