A Silence That Kills.

I'm pleased to say my operation went well but I'm having a difficult time with the morphine. I'm not great with strong pain medications, I seem to have a low tolerance for most prescription drugs. I do have a high pain threshold and tolerance though so despite the nurse insisting I needn't be in pain I'm not having to use my switch much.

Between the vertigo, the nausea and the drowsiness I'm not too bad. I can't get out of bed by myself without collapsing, which I learnt the hard way trying to go to the bathroom this afternoon, so between sleeping and been force fed crappy hospital food and copious amounts of water (seriously I've never felt so thirsty and I have had some epic hangovers over the years!) I've been scouring the internet on information about men's mental health.

I figure even though I need to take it easy I can sit on my laptop/phone and be of some use to somebody and not fall behind on what is important to me.

I was considering posting about my experience so far in hospital but I've instead decided to do so when I get home(hopefully Thursday).

 Anyway, Men's Mental Health. Although I guess the majority of it is the same as women's it does have a different kind of stigma attached to it, "man up" being the most prominent I think. 
Here are some key facts about mental health in men to show just how serious this is:

• 76% (just over 3 out of 4) suicides are by men and suicide is the biggest cause of death for men under 35
• 12.5% of men in the UK are suffering from one of the most common mental health disorders
• Men are nearly three times more likely than women to become alcohol dependent (8.7% of men are alcohol dependent compared to 3.3% of women)
• Men are more likely to use (and die from) illegal drugs
• Men are less likely to access psychological therapies than women. Only 36% of referrals to IAPT are men

Information available here


I've found trying to get men to open up to me about their experience is proving the biggest hurdle and I'm at a bit of a road block on how to get past this right now, but I will keep trying. I feel as though I have read every bit of research I can on it over the last 3 months, although this is helpful, I really want to hear it from people who suffer themselves. I'm attempting to network with organisations and people via social media and email but people are reluctant to help me, frankly it's infuriating!

I intend to use this information to help create a HELPFUL support group for men but I'm having such a difficult time with it I want to just throw my arms up, say I tried and move on to my next project. But no, I will keep pushing and find the resources and information I am after, somehow.🤔

I thought this would be easier but how wrong I was. It is extremely disheartening that even in this age of social media and celebrities backing mental health that men are still feeling so isolated and embarrassed by their mental health. Understandable as it is I want to physically grab each one and shake some sense into them! We can't help you if you don't ask or admit there is something bothering you!

Until next time,

stay safe, stay amazing💕