By the time you read this, Movember will have been in the rear-view mirror. Did you grow a mustache to raise money to help beat prostate or testicular cancer? The focus on ProstateCancer.net last Movember was not so much on physical ailments but rather on men’s mental health issues.

A whole slew of fellow correspondents wrote moving articles on this website about mental health issues. They took many themes, but if there was one overarching message, it was the importance of speaking up and telling people you have concerns about your mental health.

Difficulty talking about mental health

I’ve had various brushes with my mental health, which we will get to in a moment, but talking with my wife, she asked if my male friends and I ever discussed this topic among ourselves. She and her girlfriends regularly enquire and check up on each other’s health both mental and physical. I’m very open about my cancer, and my friends do ask me about it. But discussing our mental health is not high on the agenda when we get together.

Read on…