Saturday, August 7, 2010

Sad Blokes: Workshop

Yesterday I went to an all day workshop titled Sad Blokes: An Introductory Workshop on Men, Depression and Suicide.
It was taken by Barry Taylor who runs "Taylor Made Trainings" for Men's Well Being.

Across most ethnic and age groupings men are over represented in measures of poor mental health including suicide and depression. This is a serious challenge not only for the men but for the whanau and communities they belong to.

This workshop examines the particular characteristics of depression and suicide in men and issues that should be considered when developing effective mental health promotion or suicide intervention programmes or supporting men in crisis. 

Topics covered include:
• Introduction to Depression and Suicide in Men
• Risk Factors for Suicide in Men
• Engaging with the Suicidal Male
• Effective mental health promotion strategies

It was an excellent workshop in that it provided insight into men's depression plus suicide prevention.

We were given a hand out that had a copy of every slide from the presentation with room for our own notes and I would recommend anyone running a workshop to do so.
Most of the people there were health providers and counsellors and I was the only one who had a man in my life who has survived suicide attempts. I was able to share things that I had experienced, confirm information and share other ideas.
I learnt a few new things but most of all I felt empowered to help open the door to men's Mental Health.

It shows that God can use the hurts etc in our lives to benefit others as well as growing us.

No comments :

Post a Comment