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Man up Man Down – support for men’s mental health
A chance meeting between two young Bristol campaigners has led to the creation of a new men’s mental health support community.
Man Up Man Down offers not just help and support for men who suffer with mental health problems but a chance for them to share experiences and talk about their difficulties.
Founders Kate Mabbett and James Willetts met when they were volunteering at Off the Record – Bristol’s young person’s mental health charity. They were inspired to set up the site after they experienced first-hand the repercussions of men’s mental health problems.
is needed now More than ever
“I lost a close friend a few years back,” said Kate, “after he passed away I spent a lot of time researching mental health and the more I talked about it and talked about his story I found out that the biggest killer of young men in the 18-45 is suicide and that statistic is shocking.
“My friend suffered from severe depression and anxiety and he didn’t speak about it,” she added.
“I was very young at the time and I didn’t understand or have the right tools to understand it myself so I want to create a community of people talking about mental health and how to handle this delicate subject.”
The new website offers podcasts, articles and online support for men who need help
The pair set about creating the website and it includes podcasts, advice and importantly a chance to share stories
“The problem is a lot of men are not talking, they are bottling it up and the more you bottle it up the bigger the crisis it becomes it is all about getting men talking,” said Kate.
“We’d like to create a safe place for men to come and talk about mental health.
“We want to break down the barrier of men feeling that they can’t talk about their emotional health – we believe that there are certain aspects of our society that hold men back from talking about emotions and we think the first step is talking and we’d like to create a community for men to talk about their mental health,” she added.
Read more: Students’ bid to fight mental health stigma
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