The stigma of mental illness not only works to keep people suffering in silence but can blind us to its symptoms. One of the central drivers is in the way we define what it means to be a man in Australia, explains Dr Michael Flood, sociologist on men and masculinities. But there's still a powerful ideal of what it means to be a man," he told HuffPost Australia. "If we teach men to always be tough, to be stoic, to not show pain, then we stuff up men's physical and emotional health, we limit men's friendships with other men and women, we limit men's relationships and we limit men's participation in society." Lifeline is exploring Australia's suicide crisis with business and community leaders at the #StopSuicide Summit on May 1, in partnership with HuffPost Australia and Twitter Australia.

Source: Huffington Post April 26, 2017 05:15 UTC