The month
of the man Talking cancer, anxiety, family struggles, business pressure, and more WORDS BY BEN WINFIELD
N
ovember is both Men’s Mental Health Month, and the month in which men grow a range of moustaches in a bid to raise awareness for prostate cancer. It would be easy for us all to just ignore this, delete that notification from your calendar, like the odd tweet but scroll past the rest, but now’s the time for all of us to take notice. Prostate Cancer UK say that every year, more than 47,500 men are diagnosed with the disease. It is estimated that every 45 minutes, one man in the UK will die of prostate cancer, adding up to more than 11,500 every year. To put that into context, if you were to sit down and have a pretty thorough read of this magazine, a man will have died of prostate cancer in that time. Around 400,000 in the UK are currently living with, or have had, prostate cancer, while one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. The chances are, you have been affected by prostate cancer, either through a friend or a relative, or you know someone who has. The statistics about mental health are just as terrifying. The one we hear the most is that suicide is the largest cause of male deaths under 50. Every year, on average 191,000 men report stress, depression or anxiety developed from their working environment. Research from mental health charity Mind reveals that two in five men admit to regularly feeling worried or low, and the number of men who have suicidal thoughts when feeling low or worried has double, to 10% since 2009.
Therefore, for our November issue, we are setting the goal of raising awareness of men’s health and getting more men talking – something that far too many men still feel uncomfortable doing so. With prostate cancer, the key to beating it is early detection. We want to raise funds for Prostaid, which funds prostate cancer nurses within Leicestershire, and provides support for those suffering with the disease, as well as their families. They also fund crucial research into new treatments, as well as helping educate men and local GPs on ways to spot the disease earlier. As we emerge from 18 months of lockdowns and isolation, we are seeing the effects that trying to juggle work and home life has had. We want to look at the pressures on men for having to succeed at work, as well as providing for their families and maintaining relationships, and how we can forget how difficult it can be for men to balance the two. We will also be helping to raise money for Lamp (Leicester Action for Mental Health Project). Lamp helps offer mental health first-aid training, giving more people the ability and knowledge to support those who are struggling. We will be speaking to men from all walks of life, not just on issues solely about their gender, but on real life experiences. We will be talking to them about their childhood, their relationships, being a father, issues they may have had with both their mental and physical health, how they have overcome them, and how they have dealt with juggling family and work life.
We are setting the goal of raising awareness of men’s health and getting more men talking, something that far too many men still feel uncomfortable doing so 48 | NICHE
