THE MAN BEHIND THE BEARD - SPEAKING ON MEN'S MENTAL HEALTH

Hello, good day to you all, and welcome back to the TBS blog.

Today I want to discuss a very important topic with our readers in the hope of gathering a clearer understanding of men's health, men's mental health to be more precise.

Your mental health is just as important, if not more so to your physical health. Many men suffer in silence for fear of being judged as weak, or none 'macho' if they should speak out about their emotional state and how they are feeling or coping with certain life situations.

Men who vocalize any kind of mental issue can be dismissed as showing signs of weakness, being flawed or even inferior, broken if you will. When in all honesty, this couldn't be further from the truth.

It takes a huge slice of bravery to speak up and be heard when you are low, often we sit on our emotions in fear of being told to ''Man Up'', or to ''put on your big boy pants'', suggesting our gender alone should guide us through our toughest challenges.

The real facts here are 9% of men experience some form of depression each and every day. That figures out at more than 6 million men. Even when we understand the emotional draining feeling of depression, so many of us would rather compress those feelings rather than to voice them and seek help.

Instead, we label these feelings as nothing more than a ''bad day'' or maybe you're ''just overtired and overworked'', hence why you might be somewhat more cranky than your usual happy self.

Often we choose to retreat away from our friends and loved ones, choosing to hide away from the world on the hope that our troubles will also subside in doing so, usually coated with an overuse helping of alcohol or other abusive substances.

Male suicide is alarmingly on the rise, and has been tagged as the ''silent epidemic''. It is believed to be the seventh leading cause of death for men globally. That's a shocking statistic by anyone's standards, I'm sure you'd agree.

Our manly macho attitudes are ultimately setting us up to fail. It is perfectly okay to NOT be okay. It is okay to feel down in the dumps and low and lethargic. It is okay to be scared and feel alone and not have everything worked out for yourself. But most importantly it is perfectly okay to talk through such feelings with a loved one or close friend, in fact, it is key to your wellbeing and health.

Now, I understand saying and doing are two completely different challenges to many, and opening up can prove rather difficult for most. So, if it proves any easier there are also helplines that can help you find resolve in your troubles too.

Even the best of us have bad days, we have seen celebs take their lives in recent years followed by a string of crippling depression they may have struggled with behind closed doors in silence. Comedians, in particular, are the ones who seem to suffer in silence the most.

WWE Superstar and Hollywood actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson also spoke out about suffering from depression in his younger years, proof that even the toughest cookies sometimes suffer too.

Today, I want to reach out to each and every one of you who reads this post, and guide you to not sit in silence, please find solace in your mind and seek help in any way you see fit.

Speak to your partner, reach out to your friends and loved ones, visit your doctor or call a helpline for which I will provide you details of below. Just don't suffer in silence any longer. You are worth more than you could ever know.

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. As always we fully encourage you to speak with us, you can do so via the comments section below, or by reaching out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

And until next time, Beard on Brothers...

Please don't suffer in silence, seek help by calling the Samaritans in the UK on - 116 123.

Seek help by calling the Samaritans USA on - 1800 273 -TALK