Leeds Rhinos star, playwright and mental health nurse tackle suicide prevention in podcast for World Mental Health Day

A Leeds Rhinos star, a local playwright and an NHS mental health nurse will speak frankly about male suicide within a special podcast.

The scale of suicide will be talked about, and the roles that each of us can play to help its prevention.

The just published Audit of Suicides in Leeds shows that although the city has a similar suicide rate to England as a whole, male deaths from suicide are higher.

In 2018, there were 74 deaths attributed to suicide in Leeds. The gap between deprived Leeds and the city as a whole is a challenge. But there is real commitment here to suicide prevention work..

Every death in the audit, for 2014-16, left a trail of people shattered by the loss.

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust recorded tomorrow’s podcast with Josef Faulkner, a community mental health service manager at the Trust, Leeds Rhinos’ Stevie Ward, founder and editor-in-chief of Mantality magazine, and Chris O’Connor, a Leeds-based writer whose plays tackle men’s mental health.

The podcast explores men’s mental health issues and highlights inspiring projects. Listen to it at https://soundcloud.com/lypft-nhs/world-mental-health-day-2019-podcast

The new Leeds Recovery College has courses on how to overcome life’s challenges. Visit www.leedsrecoverycollege.com.

If you need to talk to someone about how you are feeling, visit MindWell Leeds website. If you’re a young person, the MindMate website can help you .