Your mental health is inseparable from your physical health. I know it not a revolutionary concept, but what is astounding is the stigmatisation that still surrounds men who dare to talk about their mental struggles.

Men who are vocal about any kind of mental issues can be regarded as weak or inferior. As flawed, broken guys who are more likely to be ostracised for their honesty, instead of rewarded for their bravery. Instead of affording your fellow man compassion, we mock, belittle, and turn a blind eye.

We freely spit the phrase, “Man up,” as though your gender alone should be sufficed to guide you through your darkest times.

Dr Jonathan Leach looks at the role friends play within the recovery state of a person mental health problems. How friendship and support, even from a stranger can be therapeutic.

‘Quite often talking is the best form of therapy and having someone who knows you, who you can confide in and can talk back to you on a personal level based on the fact they know you, can sometimes be very comforting.’

(Service user quoted in Leach, 2015)