The following video was first featured on the Australian website SoftenTheFckUp. – PW
“Harden the Fuck Up. Suck it Up. Man Up.”
These are words we’ve heard plenty of times before. We pride ourselves on being a country where “men are men” and we stare down problems with a steely, unflinching gaze.
This is fine in theory, but in reality we live in country where suicide is biggest killer of men between 14 – 44. In fact, 80% of all suicides in Austalia are men.
Why is this? As blokes, we can be too stubborn and proud to take action and to get some help when we going through tough times. And, let’s face it, we’re all going to go through some shit times in life, so we need to learn how to deal with them.
We’re here to make it easier for men to take action than to take their own lives.
We want to return to an Australia where the idea of mateship trumps all. Where if a bloke is going through a rough patch, his mates are there to see him through.
We also want let guys know that it’s OK to take action and ask for help when needed. Think about it for a second – if your mate had problems, would you prefer him to take his own life or ask you for a bit of help? Yeah, we thought so. The same thing goes for you, too – your mates would prefer to give you a hand and have a chat than see you deal with your problems alone.
We think it’s a simple idea: Go hard and soften up.
Campaign Background
Soften the Fck Up is an initiative of Spur Projects. At Spur, we believe that to tackle the rate of suicide among men in Australia, bold new approaches to suicide prevention are required.
We also know that the risk of suicide diminishes with help and support. For many men, however, seeking help and support is the last thing on their mind. That needs to change, and we exist to change that.
Who is Soften the Fck Up? We are a group of passionate people made up of project managers, entrepreneurs, marketers, hr people and a range of other professions that have nothing to do with mental health. That’s why we have a kick-ass advisory board who have been in the mental health spacefor years. They include doctors, psychologists, youth workers and people who have been a part of organisations like Lifeline, beyondblue and Young and Well CRC.
