Men's Sheds helping men with mental health issues

It's the place todo woodworking, fix the car or just tinker, but Canadianmen's shedsare also becoming a space where men are sharing their feelings, too.

Winnipeg's Doug Mackie founded the national chapter of "Men's Sheds,"which meets at the Woodhaven Community Club, because he saw a need for more places for men to get together and socialize.

"With Men's Sheds we are looking at mainly people who are retired and that's the last third of their life and many men are not prepared for what they are going to do in the last third of their life," Mackie said.

• Men's sheds: a safe, inclusive space for guys to be guys 'in a good way'

Newly retired men often find their friends are still working or their business contacts don't have the time for them anymore, Mackie said.

"Their self-worth diminishes," he said.

"Within Men's Sheds they come out and we don't care who you were, we care where they are today."

Men's Sheds were started in Australia and now there are more than 1,700 around the world, according to Mackie. In Canada, there are about a dozen of these groups and they all had their genesis from the Woodhaven group.

When men first join they show up with their arms crossed across their chest, Mackie said.

"That's their masculinity. You find when they come to something like Men's Sheds, they start working with other men shoulder to shoulder not face on and under those conditions you can start conversations and chatting," he said.

"There is an open ear beside you."

'Mid-life is now called a risk factor for suicide'

It's important for men to have someone to listen, according to CBC Weekend Morning Show longevity columnist Sharon Basaraba.

"When you look at suicide deaths across age groups men in their 40s and 50s have the highest rates. Almost half of suicides are in this age range," she said.

Since about 2000, the suicide rate among men in their 40s and 50s has risen even while suicides among other age groups are declining.

"Mid-life is now called a risk factor for suicide and no wonder mental health issues are being addressed in campaigns like Movember," Basaraba said.

While no one factor or illness explains it all, Basaraba said there are some common threads.

"Single men much more likely to die from suicide, followed by men who have lost a spouse or divorce," she said.

The main points for preventing depression and anxiety, in general, start early, she added. It's important for men and boys to build strong social connections and a social support system.

"Aiming for a balanced life, where this is much tougher to do than talk about," Basaraba said. "[And] taking action early also when mental health problems do arise."

At the men's shed in Winnipeg Mackie has seen how having a conversation can change a person's entire outlook. However, he also said they always have a handout with numbers to call if people are struggling.

"Within our own men sheds here in Winnipeg we have a small sheet that says, 'Do you want to talk to someone?'" he said.

"They seem to quietly disappear."

For more information on the Men's Sheds visit the website.