"From childhood boys are told to keep quiet about emotions and that men don’t talk to each other… It became tiring and I became very withdrawn. I felt forced to conform."

- Mark, Mind in Harrow focus group participant (from the Mind website)

This sounds very familiar to me and a lot of men who have been brought up to believe that to speak about their worries, and 'problems' is a sign of weakness. Thanks to organisations such as Mind and the NHS, things have improved considerably over the past 10 years. There is still a long way to go, however. 

A Mind survey discovered that: 

• Men are now almost 3 times more likely to see a therapist if they're worried, compared to 2009.
• 2 in 5 men admit to regularly feeling worried or low, an increase since 2009.
• The number of men experiencing suicidal thoughts has doubled since 2009.

They concluded:

The report recommends the UK government, NHS and employers better support men’s mental health. We asked for 3 key things:

• The NHS should co-produce mental health services with communities, including men, to make sure that effective support is available locally and meets men’s needs.
• NHS England has pledged that by 2023/24, 900,000 more people will have access to social prescribing. This is an opportunity for men to access alternatives to traditional clinical services, like exercise, walking groups, or gardening groups.
• Men should continue to be a key target audience for suicide prevention action. The government should set national and local targets for suicide reduction.

Blue Lotus and Men

Since we started providing courses for local people back in 2019 we have noticed that all the participants have been women. Why is that? It is a known fact that women find it easier to talk openly about the issues that beset them in their daily lives and there are many local organisations, often set up informally, where women can meet and get help. In Stourport-on-Severn, not far from where I live a group was established for men called Walk and Talk. It is very successful. But that is just scratching the surface and many men nationwide till feel isolated and alone. Where men work alone for hours at a time, such as in the building trade or in farming, the isolation is overbearing and there are many instances of suicide.

Blue Lotus is responding to this crisis by offering a course that directly deals with the issues that best many men: stress, anxiety, relationship breakdowns, unemployment, all of which have an impact on men's mental health.

The Mindful Living course is designed to help people deal with these issues in a positive and informed way and we welcome individual me, groups and businesses to take advantage of the opportunity we offer, small though it is in the overall scheme of things.