House of Commons – Sept. 13, 2016

That this House welcomes the launch of the mental health awareness and suicide prevention campaign, It Takes Balls to Talk, across Coventry and Warwickshire; notes that the campaign is a public information programme targeted at male-dominated sporting venues to raise awareness of mental health support services and reduce male suicide by encouraging men to talk about their feelings; recognises the importance of the campaign as suicide continues to be more than three times as common in males than in females, with research showing that suicide is the largest cause of death of men under 45, and that up to 85 per cent of men who take their own life have not been reached by current public health messages and have never been known to mental health services; realises that the reluctance of men to seek support when distressed adds to their vulnerability and that key factors associated with male suicide include depression, alcohol and drug misuse, unemployment, finance and debt issues, family and relationship problems, social isolation and low self-esteem; and calls on the Government to support initiatives such as this which can play a significant role in addressing mental health issues and reducing the incidence of male suicide.