Samaritans offers help with festive male angst

The Samaritans has launched a comic-style booklet about the problems faced by young men, to be distributed in schools, youth clubs and sports organisations.

The booklet, called The Bloke’s Own Paper, is backed by comedian Sean Hughes and musicians Phil Selway – the drummer in Radiohead – and Danny McNamara, the lead singer of Embrace. Hughes, Selway and McNamara have all contributed to the book.

The aim of the publication is to help young men deal with different experiences of crisis in their lives. It contains Viz-style cartoons about emotions such as anger, feeling inadequate, loss of appetite and drug use.

The Bloke’s Own Paper will be backed by TV, radio and poster ads and through beer mats printed with the message “You don’t have to deal with it on your own”.

The booklet is being launched just before Christmas and coincides with a new MORI survey commissioned by the charity which reveals that negative feelings towards Christmas are widespread.

One in four men – 27 per cent – feel negative about Christmas, according to the report. During the Christmas period from December 25 to 31, calls to The Samaritans rise by ten per cent – three calls a minute.

The Samaritans chief executive Simon Armson says: “People expect men to be strong and cope with problems on their own. But the reality is that blokes, like everyone else, can feel stressed, anxious, angry and inadequate.”

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