Tucker Christou: We need to start talking to stop so many men dying by suicide

Every day in Australia, eight people die by suicide. Six of them are men.

That means each year we lose more than 2000 fathers, brothers, sons, partners, mates to suicide.

Each death sends shockwaves through families, workplaces and communities. For every life lost, there are countless loved ones left behind grappling with grief, guilt and the painful question: “What could I have done?”

We have just recently marked World Suicide Prevention Day and R U OK? Day and the key message for both days was that we need to start talking. Men, in particular, need to start talking.

As a professional counsellor and in my role as service operations manager at Hope Community Services, I oversee suicide prevention services and am privileged to lead passionate frontline teams who support some of the most