09: Suicide prevention in the construction industry

**Trigger warning.** This episode contains content on suicide and mental health distress. If you need help please reach out to your free available mental health helplines or reach out to Clearhead for support if your employer uses Clearhead as your EAP provider.Today we are looking at what we can do to improve the mental resilience of those in the construction and manufacturing industry where the pressures of the jobs are really high. We also understand that it has traditionally been very hard to reach the stereotypical blue collar worker as due to the stigma they feel the need to portray an image of toughness and that everything is alright. However what we know from the research for example is that construction workers are six times more likely to lose their lives due to suicide than in a workplace accident.Joining me today are 3 very special guests. We will kick off with Mates in Construction field workers Nicole and Nathan. Mates in Construction is an industry backed, research-based, suicide prevention and support program to share the insights they have learnt onsite. Then we will get Rob to share his personal story about how he got to the brink of suicide and how he turned it all around as founder of Beard Brothers, award-winning sausages and one of Deloitte’s Top 50 fastest-growing companies of 2022.In this episode, we really dive deep into answering the following thorny subjects:0:00 - Intro2:00 - Mates in construction introduces themselves3:25 - What are the challenges for the construction industry4:55 - How to address the systemic issues in the construction industry8:23 - How do you define wellbeing for those that might think it’s fluffy11:35 - What are the cultural considerations for migrant mental health16:05 - Rob shares his personal story with overcoming his suicidal thoughts27:21 - Angela summarises what are the signs of someone who is feeling suicidal33:40 - What are the wellbeing practices to stay well after going through severe depression?36:50 - What do you do to maintain work-life balance in a high workload/pressure environment?38:15 - How do you check in with someone you are worried about?40:18 - Angela summarises what you can do if you are struggling with your mental health.43:40 - What can you do when life gets overwhelming and you need to find balance?47:45 - How do you move away from using alcohol to self-medicate your stress?53:50 - How do you get people to share about their mental health and wellbeing?57:10 - What is our guest's one well-being practice?Visit: https://mates.net.nz/https://mentalhealth.org.nz/suicide-preventionHave a burning question about mental health that you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected], or visit our website: www.myclearhead.com

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