{"id":2370,"date":"2020-12-04T17:03:26","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T17:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/?p=2370"},"modified":"2020-12-04T17:17:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T17:17:50","slug":"a-man-dies-by-suicide-every-minute-of-every-day-movember-aims-to-change-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/2020\/12\/04\/a-man-dies-by-suicide-every-minute-of-every-day-movember-aims-to-change-this\/","title":{"rendered":"A man dies by suicide every minute of every day \u2013\u00a0Movember\u00a0aims to change this.\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
Oliver Turner, Stage 3 Economics student and Harvey Dorset Stage 3 History student took part in ‘Movember<\/a>‘ last month with the leading charity that focusses on men’s mental health, suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did you get involved?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Ollie: D<\/span>ads, brothers, mates \u2013 men\u2019s mental health<\/span>\u00a0effects everyone and<\/span>\u00a0is something that, until recently, has been massively overlooked.\u00a0<\/span>Movember<\/span>\u00a0has played a big part in removing the stigma around\u00a0<\/span>Men\u2019s mental health issues; \u2018<\/span>man up\u2019<\/span>\u00a0is no longer good enough<\/span>. <\/span>\u2018<\/span>M<\/span>en are dying too young. We can\u2019t afford to stay silent.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How have you found the start of university in lockdown?\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Harvey:\u00a0<\/span>I certainly\u00a0<\/span>haven\u2019t been immune to the pressures associated with university \u2013\u00a0<\/span>I broke my\u00a0<\/span>thumb in September, requiring surgery,\u00a0<\/span>so\u00a0<\/span>trying to cope with the workload of my final year, I have found that I get increasingly frustrated with myself \u2013 more than I ever have before.\u00a0<\/span>But, as<\/span>\u00a0a\u00a0<\/span>third year<\/span>\u00a0student,\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019ve<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>had the opportunity to make\u00a0<\/span>a great group of friends at\u00a0<\/span>uni<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>whereas<\/span>\u00a0a lot of student<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>havent<\/span>\u00a0have\u00a0<\/span>the same luck<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>For\u00a0<\/span>many\u00a0<\/span>peo<\/span>ple, especially first year students, who don\u2019t know anyone at university, lockdown could be a very difficult time \u2013 and with no one to turn to<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0it<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s unsurprising that so many guys struggle with their mental health.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ollie:\u00a0<\/span>I was f<\/span>ully aware of what to expect as a third<\/span>–<\/span>year student going into a very soci<\/span>able<\/span> household.<\/span> I didn\u2019t expect to find it as difficult as I did, both educationally and mentally. <\/span>All<\/span>\u00a0of\u00a0my academic work\u00a0<\/span>was\u00a0<\/span>released at the beginning of the week<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I would find myself working long hours and getting stressed and swamped in the\u00a0<\/span>start<\/span> of the week,<\/span>\u00a0only<\/span> to struggle and repeat it all over again the following week. This had<\/span> a negative spill over effect into my social interaction with housemates. However, having mates to turn to and sometimes simply just ask \u2018How\u2019s your day been?’ Or ‘What\u2019s the highlight of your day?’ really can go a long way to change this frame of mind. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Motivation behind\u00a0Movember?\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Harvey; <\/span>Many amazing individuals take part in astonishing fundraisers for charity<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The reason\u00a0<\/span>we love the movement and cause\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>Movember<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>that\u00a0<\/span>all men can have a laugh and a giggle\u00a0<\/span>while\u00a0<\/span>attempt<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0to grow some very questionable facial hair and all because its\u00a0<\/span>Movember<\/span>, there is this underlying respect for growing a dodgy\u00a0<\/span>ta<\/span>che<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Sports teams, societies and groups of pals all take part to form a sense of camaraderie and there\u2019s no better feeling than belonging and\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>have others\u00a0<\/span>look<\/span>ing <\/span>out<\/span>\u00a0for you, which we believe is a core principle of\u00a0<\/span>Movember<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you set yourself any other challenge apart from growing a ‘tache?\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Ollie;\u00a0<\/span>As<\/span>\u00a0a group of mates<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0we all love to take part in Strava challenges between us.\u00a0<\/span>We have both set the challenge of running every day for November<\/span>, with<\/span>\u00a0no specification on distance or speed<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0just get out\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>enjoy a run in the morning to start your day or in the evening to clear your head after a long day of work<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 whether p<\/span>lug<\/span>ging<\/span>\u00a0your headphones in and\u00a0<\/span>enjoy<\/span>ing\u00a0<\/span>your own company or run<\/span>ning<\/span>\u00a0together for a general chat<\/span>, as we often do<\/span>. With a house full of third year students with very demanding workloads some days you will only see your housemates for 20 minutes between 9-5 so a run together is always enjoyable.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How Is the ‘Tache?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Ollie;<\/span>\u00a0Personally am not a fan, I am very much looking forward to December 1<\/span>st<\/span>\u00a0t<\/span>o<\/span> say goodbye to the ‘<\/span>ta<\/span>che<\/span>. However<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0proved to myself I can grow some substantial facial hair, not fashionable just substantial.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Harvey: As I normally have a beard, it\u2019s a struggle to force myself to shave frequently<\/span>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/span>thank god for online seminars<\/span>!<\/span>\u00a0That said, I\u2019ve\u00a0definitely had\u00a0a few compliments which I am not ready to let go of yet! Will I keep it? Probably not.\u00a0<\/span>Has it been<\/span>\u00a0worth it? Undoubtedly.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Aside from that,\u00a0<\/span>Ollie\u2019s moustache is\u00a0definitely better\u00a0than he realises, even if it isn\u2019t as good as mine.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you try to encourage others around you?\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Harvey;\u00a0<\/span>We always like to encourage our mates to join our running challenge<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>post<\/span>–<\/span>run\u00a0<\/span>you\u00a0<\/span>can see\u00a0<\/span>that\u00a0<\/span>they have enjoyed it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>We like to add a comedic value and compete as to who can write the wittiest Strava captions<\/span>. These captions add a competitive but comedic aspect to our challenge,\u00a0<\/span>with the aim of everyone feeling included<\/span>\u00a0and sharing the fu<\/span>n.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ollie;\u00a0<\/span>Everyone is different<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and there should be no perfect mould of what you should be<\/span>. T<\/span>he idea\u00a0<\/span>of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Movember<\/span>\u00a0is the feeling of togetherness<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0not the sense of competition and who can run the quickest or furthest. It<\/span>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>Important for men to not feel scared<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>embarrassed or cautious to do anythin<\/span>g \u2013 w<\/span>e would encourage anyone to get active release some endorphins as<\/span>\u00a0everyone\u00a0<\/span>has<\/span> a day one. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ollie and Harvey raised over \u00a3200 between them this year.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oliver Turner, Stage 3 Economics student and Harvey Dorset Stage 3 History student took part in ‘Movember‘ last month with the leading charity that focusses … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66395,"featured_media":2371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[14562,214388,225057,142628,237848],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2370"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2370"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2379,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2370\/revisions\/2379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}