Shock tactics to help suicidal young men
Shock tactics to help suicidal young men
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Monday, 27, Mar 2006 12:01
A new publicity campaign has been launched to point out high suicide levels among young men in western society.
Billboards featuring "stark and hard-hitting visuals" will be put up all over the UK today by the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).
They will compare suicide rates to casualty rates in Iraq and add three new names a day to represent the number of young men killing themselves daily, while attempting to foster a debate about stereotypes that prevent men from discussing their problems.
"We need to ditch the idea that there is any value in the strong and silent man being in any way attractive," said Jane Powell, CALM's national development coordinator.
TV comedian David Baddiel, a patron of CALM, agreed, saying that "we want men to recognise that being strong is being verbal, because as soon as you start talking about problems, you start dealing with them".
Global suicide rates among men have risen dramatically since 1950, up from 17 to 27 per 100,000 people, whereas the number of suicidal women has only risen from five to six.
In the UK in 2004, more young men aged between 15 and 34 died because of suicide than did because of any other reason, with the nearest cause of death being 'land transport accidents'.