Talking about mental health
The Lions Barber Collective works hard to educate barbers on how to spot the symptoms of mental health and depression, whilst encouraging men to talk to their barbers (and each other) about their issues.
Set up by inspirational British barber Tom Chapman (pictured below) after losing a friend to suicide in 2015, the Lions Barber Collective is turning barbershops into safe spaces for men using the opportunity of a regular haircut to start conversations about mental health. The group is having an enormous impact with men who traditional mental health services can struggle to reach.
Tom organises a professionally run training programme called BarberTalk, which is teaching barbers to ‘recognise, talk, listen and advise’ clients and works with the Samaritans charity – signposting the services they offer to clients in need. In 2020 LBC has teamed up with Health Education England and NHS SW Mental Health Clinical Network to deliver a new online version during ‘Lockdown’.
2020 was also the launch of the docufilm The £1.7 Million Haircut which is available now on Amazon Prime
Lions Barber Collective are helping to end the stigma around mental health issues in men. Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK and, in 2018, 75% of all suicide victims in the UK were male.
Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Talk to someone. Sharing helps to reduce the emotional intensity and add perspective.
Mandy X
For more info on Barbertalk: CLICK HERE
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
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