More than a quarter of Canadian men worry discussing mental health could impact their job: survey

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Some troubling numbers are out ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day, which is being marked on Tuesday.

A new poll, commissioned by the Movember Foundation, suggests there’s still a lot of work to do when it comes to getting men feeling more comfortable talking about their problems.

“For example, one-in-four — actually 28 per cent — of Canadian men fear their job could be at risk if they were to discuss mental health at work,” Mitch Hermansen with the foundation explains. “So, there seems to be a disconnect in terms of the awareness and actually the comfort for men to actually open up and talk about their mental health in the workplace.”

This month, the moustache-growing fundraiser is out with a new campaign dubbed “Be a Man of Mo’ Words,” to get men to open up.

Hermansen says the campaign will encourage men to talk “when they’re going through a tough time.

He notes the importance of getting the messaging out: you’re no less of a man if you’re going through a tough time, and need to talk about it.

“When you look at the age category of 15 to 44, the leading cause of death is actually suicide,” Hermansen explains. “Something really needs to be done here to stop lives from being cut short, and families losing their fathers and their sons, their brothers and their colleagues, that they love.”

According to the Movember Foundation, one man dies by suicide on average every minute, every day around the world. Globally, it adds six out of 10 suicides are men.