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The Movember Campaign Confronting Men's Suicide

Toughing it out is killing our men.

Suicide is a silent social crisis in Australia, especially among men.

It's the leading cause of death for men under the age of 44 and it has the highest gender disparity among all causes of death in Australia, with men three times more likely to end their own life than women.

To work towards changing these statistics, the Movember Foundation have launched a campaign ahead of World Suicide Prevention day this Saturday September 10, urging men to talk when things get tough.

The video Suicide Notes Talk Too Late features men reading notes they left behind, intended for loved ones.

Justin Geange is one of the men to put his hand up for this project. He tried to take his life in 2013.

"I had a huge 2012. I was a middle level manager at the job I had, decided to run for state politics that year and appear on Australia's Got Talent. So I was putting myself out there, so to speak, but I came crashing down at the end of all of that," Justin told The Huffington Post Australia.

"I had my boss asking me week after week, am I doing OK? So I said, typical bloke, 'Yeah, I'm alright, I'm alright', until finally I couldn't stand it anymore and I had to say, 'yeah, nah I'm not doing OK.'

Justin Geange attempted suicide in 2013, believing his family would be financially better off without him.
Movember
Justin Geange attempted suicide in 2013, believing his family would be financially better off without him.

Justin was hospitalised late 2012 where he was diagnosed with BiPolar Type 2.

"They gave me medication and all that sort of stuff. But I didn't like the meds, took myself off, went back to work and pretended like everything was OK."

Then in 2013 Justin's company began making redundancies.

"20 years in one job I felt very incarcerated, I didn't think I was capable of doing anything other than what I had been doing, so I believed the only thing I could do to protect my families financial future was to take my life and devote the life insurance," he told HuffPost Australia.

"So for two months I planned, I tidied things up, I paid all my bills. I love my family like you wouldn't believe so it was quite bizarre that I was planning to do this. But I thought I was doing the right thing."

"So for two months I planned and the 1st of August that's when I attempted to take my own life."

Justin took himself south of his home away from where his family might find him. But after Justin sent his wife a farewell email, she had a gut instinct as to where he might be and found him just in time.

"I woke up in hospital a day or so later just shattered that I'd failed," he said.

"I didn't think I would affect many people other than my family, but what I was overwhelmed with was the amount of mates that I'd worked with over the last 20 years that would just turn up, or send messages of support. And I couldn't get over that.

"It's like a hand grenade going off. You don't realise that it's not just the people closest to the hand grenade that get effected, the shrapnel spreads far and wide.

Since his suicide attempt in 2013 Justin has been sharing his experience with as many men he can in the hope it encourages more conversation.

"You know as blokes we think we need to fix things, and that's what I was trying to do.

"The more that I talk and share the more people put their hands up and say 'yeah we're doing it tough too'.

"To me we do that when we go to war, we're there for our mates. This campaign about speaking up, it's about being there for your mates. That's a true man. And someone that can say how he's feeling and be fair dinkum with the people around him."

And although over the past 18 months there have been plenty of good and bad days, ultimately Justin is grateful for his second chance.

"It's funny when you get a second chance, my kids, they get me cranky sometimes, but I tell you what, I still hug them a little bit longer and squeeze them a little bit tighter because, you know, they could have been facing a really tough time without a dad in their lives, and I've still got the opportunity to walk my girls down the aisle."

If you need help in a crisis, call Lifeline on 131114. For further information about depression, contact beyond blue on 1300 224 636 or talk to your GP, local health professional or someone you trust.

If you would like to donate or know more about the Movember Foundation you can visit their website here.

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