From sleeping lots to self-medicating with booze – 5 signs your man is depressed
Suicide is the biggest killer of UK blokes under 45 - this Men's Health Week it's more important than ever to know the signs
SUICIDE remains the single biggest killer of UK blokes under the age of 45 - three times higher than female suicides each year.
That's why this Men's Health Awareness week it's more important than ever to know the signs of depression in your loved ones.
Especially when that number means roughly 12 men - all brothers, fathers, sons and uncles - needlessly end their lives every single day.
That's a staggering 84 male suicides each week.
A suicide statistics report, released last year, by the Samaritans showed there were 6,639 suicides in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (ROI) in 2015.
Of that figure 4,997 were men, meaning 75 per cent of all suicides in 2015 in the UK and the ROI were committed by men.
Men between the age of 40 and 44 are the most at risk, with this age group recording the highest number of deaths in 2015.
Depression is not just a feeling of unhappiness or being a bit fed up for a few days - many describe it as a dark cloud hanging over their head causing an immense feeling of sadness that can last months, or even years.
Here's the key signs to look out for in your man...
Around six hours of shut-eye should be the minimum for any adult, but experts also say that we should cap it at nine hours per night.
Not least because it has other consequences, medics claim, a recent study found that too much kip can almost halve a blokes fertility.
Doctors say going beyond the nine-hour rule can reduce fertility by more than 40 per cent because it alters a man's testosterone levels, which is released into the body during slumber.
3. Anger
The majority of whom struggle to get access to appropriate support and treatment, so much goes on under the radar.
It can be easy to assume that a man eating too much - or too little - is nothing to be concerned about.
But, in reality, it's a red flag and is sometimes a sign of self-sabotage.
Needless to say, these problems can affect any man at any age.
Something Matt O'Connor, founder of Fathers4Justice, knows all too well.
He suffered depression when his family life fell apart and he was alienated from his sons.
Despite being at a high risk of suicide, there was little support in place for him. An experience that's still all too familiar for millions of men.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: "Ian Duncan-Smith once told me that men's issues had become a ‘political taboo’ amongst politicians desperate to appeal to who they believe are the largest constituency of floating voters - single mothers.
"By way of distraction, consecutive governments have demonised dads as ‘deadbeats’ and reduced them to the status of cashpoints and sperm banks, whilst denying them equal parenting rights.
"Tens of thousands of men have been washed up and disenfranchised which is part of the reason why they are choosing death, rather than life."
Since 2014, Fathers4Justice have been calling for a Minister for Men & Boys to give them an equal voice in government.
"We need someone to coordinate a response to the public health emergency facing men; a plague of fatherlessness and a suicide epidemic which is devastating families across our country," he adds.
"For too long the men’s health crisis has been taboo - in part because people won't address the issues behind it, but we need to break the wall of silence and address these problems without censorship.
"If we don't, they'll only get worse."
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans on (free) 116123 or 020 7734 2800.
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