Andy's man club

[DIDO.1 20,796]

Andy's man club . Ok it sounds like somewhere our Mushroom would go for a sauna.... But give me chance to explain...

The leading cause of death in men under 30 is suicide. I know 3 men who have been good friends in the past who went on to take their own life, I know numerous others I wasn't close to but were school friends or acquaintances. Apparently a young man takes his own life every 2hrs. 

Andy's man club takes its name from Andy Roberts who took his own life aged 23. It was started by his friends to give men a chance to meet and talk without judgement. They meet at 7pm on Mondays at over 100 locations around the UK. 

I've been through the worst 6 months of my life due to numerous reasons. Now I have good mates, good social networks and a good family. I've never been suicidal.....but I have experienced some very low lows. 

I'm sure we will get some funny comments about the name 'man club'...but I'll add a link below if anyone wants it 

Andy's Man Club | #ITSOKAYTOTALK

ANDYSMANCLUB.CO.UK

---

ANDYSMANCLUB are a men’s suicide prevention charity, offering free-to-attend peer-to-peer support groups...

 

[Astanley 11,465]

Sounds like a great thing ,recently lost a young fella who I loved very much to suicide .

[FLATTOP 3,654]

Suicide in men is rife I had to attend a suicidal male last night on a railway bridge all turned out well and hopefully he gets treatment, but any organisation where men can have a chat is a positive thing, I don’t think people do too bad on here to be honest it’s a good place to let off steam and most topics are tackled. 

[DIDO.1 20,796]

2 minutes ago, FLATTOP said:

Suicide in men is rife I had to attend a suicidal male last night on a railway bridge all turned out well and hopefully he gets treatment, but any organisation where men can have a chat is a positive thing, I don’t think people do too bad on here to be honest it’s a good place to let off steam and most topics are tackled. 

True that... 

[kanny 19,321]

I think depression is something that you can only really understand if you have  experienced it , ive had black dog days like anyone but I've never really been depressed ,I have lost a couple of friends to suicide though so  anything that helps can only be a good thing, its important to talk lads ,I'd have  done anything to help my lost friends if I only knew they were suffering. 

[tatsblisters 7,914]

Sounds a great cause. A lad i recently worked with posted a video on Facebook where he was on his way to a motorway bridge to end it all thankfully he saw sense and turned back though i found it disturbing seeing what state he was in for a young 30 year old who had a good job and had got his class 1 hgv licence i was at a loss what to really say to him bar think of your young daughter.

[NEWKID 26,085]

Hard topic for most men to deal with, we tend to keep everything bottled up and talking about your problems is deemed a weakness. I think we all have our low points, life in general throws certain amounts of shit at you that you have to deal with, I think I'm pretty lucky that I've never been what I consider depressed. I have seen and been there through quite big parts of my life watching and being a part of the effects of severe depression. I hate the new trendy "my mental health is suffering"... it's thrown around to easily for my liking, using it for social media likes or to avoid hard conversations (something that we have had to put up with very recently), I just don't think it is something that should be downplayed or used as an excuse for poor decisions, general bad character traits... true mental health issues are far deeper lying than that imo 

This set up looks fantastic Dido, sorry to hear you've been feeling a bit down mate, hopefully times/your mind set changes for the better soon mate. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by NEWKID

[NEWKID 26,085]

5 minutes ago, tatsblisters said:

Sounds a great cause. A lad i recently worked with posted a video on Facebook where he was on his way to a motorway bridge to end it all thankfully he saw sense and turned back though i found it disturbing seeing what state he was in for a young 30 year old who had a good job and had got his class 1 hgv licence i was at a loss what to really say to him bar think of your young daughter.

Sounds like a cry for help mate... which is good!

If the lad truly wanted to end his life I don't think he would be posting on FB etc.... it's a desperate situation when you can see no other option but ending your own life, the switch that must flick in your brain to go through with it must be so powerful, we are set on survival mode from birth, for someone to go against that true natural instinct is hard for most of us to comprehend.

  

[tatsblisters 7,914]

7 minutes ago, NEWKID said:

Sounds like a cry for help mate... which is good!

If the lad truly wanted to end his life I don't think he would be posting on FB etc.... it's a desperate situation when you can see no other option but ending your own life, the switch that must flick in your brain to go through with it must be so powerful, we are set on survival mode from birth, for someone to go against that true natural instinct is hard for most of us to comprehend.

  

Only advice i gave him at a later date was if he was feeling that down again is keep off the drink and cocaine and go for a run or a good walk in the countryside.

[NEWKID 26,085]

Just now, tatsblisters said:

Only advice i gave him at a later date was if he was feeling that down again is keep off the drink and cocaine and go for a run or a good walk in the countryside.

Aint that the truth mate...

Surely the increase of coke users has some bearing, whether its the debts they get themselves into or the affects of the drug who knows. But I do know that when we were first getting out and about in pubs, clubs etc I didn't know hardly any coke users.. e's were a big thing in the rave scene obviously but amongst my crowd that wasn't our thing... now if I go out pretty much half the pub is doing coke, from the 18 year olds to the 50 year olds... lads that I wouldn't ever thought would be bothered by drugs are off to the toilets for a line... I find it embarrassing that some middle aged bloke with a Mrs and kids at home is sneaking off to the toilets with younger lads doing coke.. I also find it worrying that its seen as part and parcel of a night out now.. drinking is no good for you but if you have to do coke every time your out it soon gets you into a mess one way or another... most lads can't afford it for starters, they can barely afford their rent and next thing they are getting coke on tick... 

[kanny 19,321]

29 minutes ago, NEWKID said:

Sounds like a cry for help mate... which is good!

If the lad truly wanted to end his life I don't think he would be posting on FB etc.... it's a desperate situation when you can see no other option but ending your own life, the switch that must flick in your brain to go through with it must be so powerful, we are set on survival mode from birth, for someone to go against that true natural instinct is hard for most of us to comprehend.

  

A lad I worked with asked to borrow another lads phone  as his wasn't working,it turned out that he had had a falling out with with his Mrs and she wouldn't answer his calls from his number,  he gave the lad his phone back and said he had to nip out,he went and threw himself in front of a high speed train. It's the old cliche but he appeared to be one of the most happy go lucky types you could ever meet. 

 

[NEWKID 26,085]

3 minutes ago, kanny said:

A lad I worked with asked to borrow another lads phone  as his wasn't working,it turned out that he had had a falling out with with his Mrs and she wouldn't answer his calls from his number,  he gave the lad his phone back and said he had to nip out,he went and threw himself in front of a high speed train. It's the old cliche but he appeared to be one of the most happy go lucky types you could ever meet. 

 

Real sad that! ...99% of us will never understand mate....

[tatsblisters 7,914]

1 hour ago, NEWKID said:

Aint that the truth mate...

Surely the increase of coke users has some bearing, whether its the debts they get themselves into or the affects of the drug who knows. But I do know that when we were first getting out and about in pubs, clubs etc I didn't know hardly any coke users.. e's were a big thing in the rave scene obviously but amongst my crowd that wasn't our thing... now if I go out pretty much half the pub is doing coke, from the 18 year olds to the 50 year olds... lads that I wouldn't ever thought would be bothered by drugs are off to the toilets for a line... I find it embarrassing that some middle aged bloke with a Mrs and kids at home is sneaking off to the toilets with younger lads doing coke.. I also find it worrying that its seen as part and parcel of a night out now.. drinking is no good for you but if you have to do coke every time your out it soon gets you into a mess one way or another... most lads can't afford it for starters, they can barely afford their rent and next thing they are getting coke on tick... 

I see it all the time around me mate its a sad state of affaires for some folk and a few young men at work who always knew i was good for lending them a few quid till payday soon as i heard them talking about taking coke that stopped straight away. The lad i mentioned in the other post i found out he was dabbling with coke and he knows if he had still been working at the same place as me i would have given him a right bollocking some times its what folk need to see sense.

[Daniel cain 42,793]

Sniff is one of the worse drugs you can get into imo....wrecks lives,if it gets hold of you,won't take long until you ain't got a pot to piss in...Scumbags are happy to strap folks through the week,kids going to school hungry because mam or dad need 3 for £100...every pub you go too, nothing but jokers back and forth the toilets all night, chatting shit, thinking they scarface...How many of us,know a Crystal Cindy?

 

[poxon 5,555]

Ive know a few lads that have deleted them selfs over the years it’s pretty sad to be honest.I suffered a bout of depression about 20 odd yrs ago Id been delt a shitty hand an didn’t know how to deal with it an was at the point that I felt I didn’t want to go on no more what made it worse was drinking an dabbing in drugs it makes your mind not have clear enough thoughts it’s always negative thoughts an you feel that everything is against you an there’s no way out your worse enemy is your own mind. I personally think anything or place were blokes/lads/young men can go for a casual chat an won’t be judged is a good thing. Something I’ve noticed about the few people I’ve known that deleted them selfs is it tends to involve women it tends to be the wife/girlfriend has swept the hard working dudes life from out under his feet an the dudes didn’t even see it coming usually he looses his wife/gf ,house,right to see his kids an get rinsed for all he’s worth with no place to go.