The biggest killer for men age 14-44 in Australia is suicide, and one group of men in Australia decided they had to do something about it.
From their website:
We’re standing up to be counted. We’re saying it’s time we chuck out that tough Aussie bloke stereotype and bring back the laid-back Aussies. Speak up if you’re not feeling right. Soften the fck up like a real man would.
Look after your mates if something seems a bit off. Ask them if they’re okay. If they’re really okay. Ya gut will usually be right, even if your mate doesn’t wanna talk about it. Grab a beer and have a chat.
Tell your mates and your bros. Get on Facebook and Twitter. Share your thoughts or experiences. So go on, be tough and go soft.It is time to admit something is wrong or isn’t right and take action.
Here’s their mission:
“It started with a conversation and quickly turned into a national platform to prioritise the prevention of avoidable suicide amongst Aussie men. Soften the Fck Up is passionate about making it easier for men to take action than to take their own lives. Suicide is the main cause of mortality for males aged 14-44 and in 2010 a quarter of all male deaths aged 15-40 were due to suicide. The main factor is the reluctance, or inherent challenge, for men to recognise and identify their need for help and to seek it out. We’re here to challenge the conversation around mental health and the perception of what it really means to be a man. Our message is simple – if you’re going through a tough time, you need to soften the fck up and talk about it.”
What do you think about this campaign?
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Read STFU’s Creative Director Lee Crockford’s post about starting a dialogue on men and suicide here.
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This if fucking brilliant. +1
The Aussies have come up with a great idea!
Bad news, good news, and further good news.
The bad news is that suicide is the major killer. The good news is that suicide has risen among causes of death partly because other causes of death have declined. Just guessing here, but probably fewer traffic fatalities, fewer murders, fewer on-the-job deaths, etc. The further good news is that people are now turning more attention to it as a major health issue.
One problem with using percentages: don’t forget that all the causes of death always have to add up to 100%, so if you reduce one cause then others will become more common. If more men had died from other causes, suicides would have been less common. Ultimately you have to choose which causes are more acceptable than others if you compare percentages of causes of death.
This is a brilliant campaign for raising awareness about suicide and suicide prevention.
aren’t people without friends more likely to commit suicide? Doesn’t that wain on the effectiveness of “asking your mate’s if they are ok”?
In my view, it’s always a good day to die. I suppose it’s progress that someone cares that men are killing themselves. That said, it seems to me that it’s still always a good day to die, even at your own hand.
If I ever needed a push to help me over the edge, personally, I’d want it to be there. Pulling the trigger is probably hard.
Just sayin’.
Death ain’t the worst thing there is.
The Wet One
@the wet one … I’m a little concerned with what you said. I’m not gonna put you out there but I hope you’ve talked to someone about how you feel. Yeah, there are a hell of lot of worse things then death but there sure as heck a lot better things too. Please, if you’re feeling really really down, talk tro someone, okey?
Suicide is the main cause of mortality for males aged 14-44 and in 2010 a quarter of all male deaths aged 15-40 were due to suicide.
Wow, I never knew that a quarter of all male deaths were due to suicide – thats scary.
Didnt Movember also originate in Aus? The Movember campaign has managed to connect with men in a way that is rarely seen when it comes to getting men to care about their own health.
Lets hope this campaign gains similar traction in the minds of Men.
Good intention, bad approach. I have know three people who committed suicide, and all three were pretty apparent with their cries for help. The main factor is not men not asking for help; it is people not recognizing or not caring about men’s cries for help. We need to teach people how to read men’s cues instead of expecting men in pain to “soften the f*** up”.
Actually, I think it was calling for all men to soften up so that men around the troubled person would be recognized as being in distress.
Jackobtk, not sure if you know but “eat cement and harden the fuck up” is a common saying here basically trying to get men to macho up, softening up is a play on words to get them to talk about it and seek help which I can assure you as as aussie male myself it’s very much needed in this machobullshit culture of Australia.
I softened the fuck up myself but I have had quite a few people give me shit about it, luckily I had more who loved n respected me so I avoided suicide myself from the love n support of my family and friends. The macho culture here in Australia though can really make you feel like a failure as a man if you have problems like these, the whole boys don’t cry stuff can really get to you.
I’m incredibly happy to see this issue even being addressed in such a public fashion. That is a great start.
I’m not so sure this particular message is that great. My biggest problem with it the same old shaming strategy they decided to go with for the campaign. It seems like they hit upon a new variant of the man up phrase.
I see such a contrast between the “soften up” and the “it gets better” campaigns. It gets better seems to address the state of mind of the person and stress that however they might be feeling right now things will change and for the better. It also has a strong undercurrent of telling that person that they are a unique and valued member of society and it is a tragedy if they are taken from the world too soon.
It gets better:
If you can just hang on a little longer things will change and society will change as well to meet you some place in the middle.
Soften the fuck up:
I was depressed, I was a drug addict, but then I manned/softened the fuck up and here I am now. Now it is your turn. Take some responsibility for your situation.
That being said, I’m glad this is a topic of discussion at all. Maybe we will end up with a dialog that really helps change this situation.
Women outnumber men in attempted suicides but men outnumber women when it comes to succeeding in suicide.
Great idea to “soften” up and it’s great to get men to talk about it but what’s being said as to why men feel the way they do? What’s throwing them into the feelings that they feel? Suicidal ideations is a symptom, what’s the problem that have them there?
I too have personally known men who have committed suicide. None of them showed what you would think were outward signs of being suicidal. Men who are committed to following through are slick about it. The signs started long before they made a commitment. We need to educate people on what signs (hardly noticeable) look like.
I don’t know about Australia, but here in the USA we have a health care proposal that pretty much excludes the mental needs of men. We’ve been on our own and continue to be on our own.
In my circle of male friends, we know each other very well and the slightest change is behavior is a red flag and prompts a discussion. Change in behavior doesn’t just mean the typical moodiness but could also be his taking chances he hadn’t in the past. We know obvious stats of men committing suicide but there are many suicides which are deemed “accidents” because of the manner in which he killed himself. Guys will kill themselves in a way that the family he leaves behind is financially secure.
Again, what’s happening in that guys life that brought him to that point