Men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women, according to Statistics Canada.
They also make up half of the population of Canada but account for nearly three-quarters of suicide deaths.
Shannon Daygull knows this personally. She lost her son Conner several months ago after a long battle with mental health.
November is Men’s Mental Health Awareness month and Daygull has advice for other parents.
“Look for the signs, always encourage them and make sure they can always come talk to you for anything,” she said.
Conner fought his battle with mental health for more than five years. He was in and out of hospitals and private facilities.
“He told me I don’t wanna die. But it was just like in his head, you know, like the demons in his head,” said Daygull.
She said Conner used drinking as an outlet to help cope with his anxiety, something that’s not uncommon.
“A lot of men use substance abuse to cope or maladaptively cope,” said Ryan Liang the occupational health nurse at Ontario Shores.
The Center for Addiction and Mental Health found people with a mental illness are twice as likely to have a substance use disorder compared to the general population.
Owen Verspeeten, a men’s mental health advocate and jujitsu athlete in Oshawa, organized a fundraiser with Movember to raise awareness for men’s overall health.
Verspeeten is competing in jujitsu tournaments to fundraise for men’s mental health awareness in the first four weekends of November.
He wants men to know they can reach out and get help.
“I think the worst thing you can do is just sitting with your thoughts and letting your brain eat your thoughts,” he said.
Verspeeten said one of the reasons that led him to starting this fundraiser was “growing up and seeing everyone have a mustache and kind of raising awareness for it.”
A survey of 2,000 men last year by the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation found 67 per cent of them had never sought professional mental health services.
“I feel like a lot of men do not feel like it’s safe to come forth with their feelings or kind of what’s going on,” said Liang. “You’re taught to just suck it up and kind of you know manage instead of actually seeking care that could be preventative.”
He said when he was younger expressing feelings could potentially have negative connotations. Part of what he wants to do is break down the stigma of men not being able to talk about mental health or their feelings.
Men “were taught to suck it up” for something even as simple as having a cold, said Liang.
“I think as men, were usually taught that, you know, were supposed to be the strong silent type. I think a lot of men view that kind of strong silent type architecture as strength,” he said.
Sumeet Makhija, coordinator for occupational health, wellness and safety at Ontario Shores, said that’s part of the stigma he and his colleagues are trying to break, “to get people to open up a little easier and have it seen anymore as a sign of weakness bus as a sign of strength.”
Liang and Makhija struggled when it came to finding men’s mental health resources in Durham Region. “Stigma and lack of supports may be some of the reasons why mental health is high,” said Liang.
The Buddy Up Program was created by the Center for Suicide Prevention and is a men’s suicide prevention, communications campaign working to break stigmas and provide men with support.
The Buddy Up organization highlights programs available for men by men. The “Tough Enough to Talk About It” program is one of them. It was created for trades, industry and agriculture workers.
The Buddy Up organization has various other programs such as “Man Therapy,” “HeadsUp Guys,” “Next Gen Men,” “Men’s sheds,” and “DUDES clubs.”
Buddy Up also offers extensive information on men’s mental health and suicide awareness as well tools and programs for men who may be struggling.
Shannon Daygull is also hoping to inspire men to get the help by leaving painted “CCR ROCKS” all over the world to “let someone know they matter and brighten someone’s day.”