Northland charity Men-Tall starts ‘barbershop’ chats to talk about men’s mental health

With mental health issues on the rise, a charity in Northland has begun to offer workshops called ‘barbershop chats” in an effort to raise awareness. The Men-Tall Health Club is a men’s mental health and suicide prevention charity aimed at providing services to men to help deal with their mental wellbeing

Founder Mitch Thompson says Men-Tall was created “by blokes, for blokes”, and highlights the struggles men have with mental health.

Mental illnesses affect 19 per cent of adults, 46 per cent of teenagers, and 13 per cent of children each year, and while New Zealand men report lower rates of depression than females, three-quarters of suicide victims are male.

Thompson says 75 per cent of all suicides in this country are men “and the way we change that is by having these types of conversations”.

So began Thompson’s journey to establish Men-Tall Health Club and Barbershop Chats.

“I lost a cousin who was more like my big brother and I felt that I had nowhere to go really to talk about all those feelings and emotions and help me to process that.”

He says the whole point of Barbershop Chats is to create a safe space for men to discuss their feelings.

“As men, we know we struggle to talk about this kind of thing and we always seem to feel comfortable in the barbershop, sitting in that chair and talking to our barber. We build that relationship.”

The advice from Thompson is to not stay silent.

“If anybody is feeling depressed or down or just not sure of what’s happening in their life then book an appointment. Go and see your GP. You can get free funded sessions”