David Drew
Main Page: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)Department Debates - View all David Drew's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(7 years ago)
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Ged Killen
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. A lot of good work is going on around the country to encourage men to talk more.
Initiatives by the Samaritans and Time to Change encourage us all to think differently about mental health and suicide and to be alert when the behaviour of our friends, families and colleagues changes. Personal interventions can save lives and it is incumbent on us as individuals and as representatives to challenge traditional conceptions of masculinity, in particular when they pose a risk to life.
Put simply, men need to get better at talking to each other. I include myself in that. I have not always been good about talking about my own mental health and my experience of anxiety and OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder. We need to get over any embarrassment or awkwardness we might feel, and realise that sitting down for a simple cup of tea or coffee and asking a friend how he feels might be the thing that saves his life.
Dr David Drew (Stroud) (Lab/Co-op)
My hon. Friend is making a very powerful speech. Does he agree that we need to start very young with that? There is a lot of evidence to suggest that if people can talk about that when they are at school, that may be the greatest preventer of all.
Ged Killen
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, though early intervention with mental health is an entirely separate debate, which I suggest would want its own time. I certainly agree with his point.
As I was saying, if a friend is experiencing a suicidal train of thought, a simple chat might be just the thing to break that cycle of thought. It might refer the person to the help they need.
Suicide among men, however, can no longer be seen purely as a health issue. There is a statistically significant relationship between high levels of deprivation and high levels of suicide. That association means that as area-level deprivation increases, the likelihood of suicidal behaviour will probably increase as well.