Telford's male suicide rate 'highest in West Midlands'

Lucy Allan raised the issue in the House of Commons on International Men's Day – the first debate of its kind.

Speaking on the issue of male suicide, she said: "In Telford, male suicide rates are higher than anywhere else in the West Midlands.

"No one wants to talk about it is the crux of the issue

"Men talk about sport, work and politics but don't always talk about what they're feeling.

"Society has embedded social acceptance that men have to be strong.

"Not being able to talk about these issues only makes it worse."

Men's issues were discussed for the first time ever in a historic debate on Thursday, November 19 in Parliament.

This was secured by Tory MP Philip Davies following male suicide charity CALM's call for the discussion in an open letter where they urged Parliament to debate those particular issues affecting men including the high suicide rate.

This follows the CALM #BiggerIssues campaign, in partnership with male grooming brand, Lynx, that raised awareness of suicide being the single biggest cause of death of men under 45 in the UK. The socially powered campaign juxtaposes the huge attention society gives to mundane topics – compared to the lack of attention male suicide received. The campaign operates in real-time, with the creative changing every two hours to represent that every two hours a man takes his life in the UK – approximately the same time MPs debated the topic in Parliament last Thursday.

Influencers such as Stephen Fry, Professor Green and Sarah Millican have also got behind the campaign.

A YouGov survey of more than 2,000 men found half (49 per cent) of those who did not seek help "didn't want people to worry about me". While a third (32 per cent) felt ashamed, nearly four in 10 (37 per cent), did not want to make a fuss and four in 10 (43 per cent) didn't want to talk about their feelings.

Ms Allan said: "There is still a self-fueling prophecy for boys to have the 'bad boy image'."

* For more information about the CALM #BiggerIssues campagin visit biggerissues.co.uk