Male Suicide Awareness

Here at Rage Fitness, I believe it is our duty to shine a spotlight on all mental and emotional health issues; this way, we can reach out and help individuals directly or indirectly.

Someone may take the strength they need from a client story, reach out to us, or get the support they need.

In the UK, suicide is the highest cause of death among men under the age of 45. In fact, the highest recorded suicide rate in the UK belongs to men who fall in the 40–44 age bracket. In addition to this, there are also disparities between gender and suicide: male suicide rates are higher than females, and there is much evidence to suggest that a key reason for this is down to the way that men generally communicate their mental health needs.  It will come as no great surprise that they are less likely to ask for help or openly express depressive or suicidal feelings.

Anybody who knows somebody that has died by suicide is left with the inevitable questions:

Why didn’t they reach out? Why didn’t I see the signs? Could I have done something to prevent this?

Raising awareness:

Rage Fitness Company are going to be running Mission 84, a campaign aimed at raising as much awareness of death by suicide in males as possible. The name of the campaign itself is linked to the massively saddening statistic that on average, 84 men in the UK take their own lives every week.

The Plan:

I (Craig Brown Rage Fitness Owner/ CEO) will be cycling 3570km over 84 days prior to Christmas Day (25^th December 2020). Suicide in men rises nearer the time of the festive season, something that could be caused by isolation, pressure of finances or simply just more time spent indoors.

The Distance:

Start date (84 days before 25^th December 2020): 2^nd October 2020

Distance per day: This will increase by 1km every day

2^nd October 2020: 1km

3^rd October 2020: 2km

4^th October 2020: 3km . . . and so on until…

25th December 2020: 84km (hopefully before my Christmas dinner).

Collectively this equates to 3570km across 84 days!

The Ambition:

I hope this shines a light on a real issue in modern society and want to support all men, of all backgrounds. I hope this unites the men of Blacon, Chester, Cheshire and who knows, perhaps even the UK! I also hope this inspires us to look out for one another. To have the confidence and courage to speak to our wives/girlfriends/husbands/parents/friends/counsellors and say at the time it is needed most, ‘I need help.’ 

A personal request:

Use your social media platforms to share the posts, videos and pictures I post as I work through this challenge and support us all at Rage to raise AS MUCH AWARENESS AS POSSIBLE! Mission 84 is a just a small voice surrounding a big issue. But, if a select few hear or see this, it may help. Simply saying to somebody at crisis point to ‘go and get help’ can be daunting, overwhelming and may feel demasculating. Let’s work together to raise awareness of the issue so that more men have the courage to come forward and get the support they need.