The stigma surrounding suicide, especially for young males is rampant, statistics have shown that 80% of suicides in Europe between the ages of 15-34 are male. GAMIAN-Europe has decided to address this topic and launch a campaign, titled #BreakingSuicideStigma, starting on World Suicide Prevention Day (10th of September).

The ultimate goal of the campaign is to raise awareness about the stigma surrounding suicide and suicidal ideation in general with a particular focus on young males. As part of the campaign, GAMIAN-Europe conducted two focus groups earlier this year with young males who have experienced suicidal ideation. Their points of view were made into thorough reports and a consequent toolkit called “Things about suicide that young men must know” was created. We have also created a video with testimonies from men that have lived through this experience and their advice for young men going forward. Both these resources will be presented on 10th of September and will be promoted during the following next.

The campaign, called #BreakingSuicideStigma – Suicide Prevention in Young Men, started on Monday 5th of September and included sharing daily slogans that came out of the focus groups.

Now it’s your turn! Join the campaign!

GAMIAN-Europe is asking that you help out in spreading the message as widely as possible. Therefore, there is a new section on the website where you can download relevant graphics with some suggested messages to send out. You can find them here.

Make sure that people out there realise, they are not alone in this and that there is a way out no matter how bad things are.