A suicide charity for men marked five years since opening in 2018 and says it has treated more than 1,250 men during that time.
James Place, in Liverpool 8, offers free, life-saving treatment to men in a suicidal crisis driven by life events such as a relationship breakdown, financial problems or bereavement. Men typically receive six to eight face to face sessions with a professional therapist in a friendly, non-clinical environment.
Will, now 28 went to James Place in 2020 and told the ECHO: "The building is so at ease as soon as you come in. It’s the first place I’ve felt safe in terms of being able to discuss how I felt.
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"I didn't feel I had to lie to anyone. I did a lot of lying to people for quite a long time before. The first time I felt safe enough compared to other places I had been to and tried.
"The way you were treated was really nice, They treated you like any other normal person. It's kind of just like you’re welcome here, we want you here.
"I didn’t really have any expectations when I went to James Place for my first appointment. I was so low at that point I couldn’t really see a way out of it and for a long time I didn’t make any progress".
The charity was founded in 2018 by Clare Milford Haven and Nick Wentworth-Stanley, after the loss of their son, James in 2006 aged 21. With the success of the Liverpool centre, the charity opened a centre in 2022 in London, and plans to open new centres in Bristol, Birmingham and Newcastle, which is due to open in autumn 2023.
The World Health Organisation reported over 700,000 people die by suicide each year and was the fourth leading cause of death among 15 - 29 year-olds in 2019.
Jane Boland, Clinical Lead at James Place said: “Suicide is the leading cause of death of men under 50. When we started we wanted to tackle this by making a real difference to the lives of suicidal men in Merseyside.
"We help quickly, when they need us, and our treatment is proven to work. I’d like to say thank you to the amazing men who reached out to us for help, the local community, NHS services in Liverpool for all their support, and to our fantastic team of therapists and centre staff for their life-saving work”.
Will continued: "I think young lads in particular are not educated in the ways people suffer with mental health. I was lucky, I had quite a lot of experience.
“My dads a psychiatrist, so I knew it happens. I was exposed to quite a lot of it as a young person, but still ended up here because of the situation I was in.
“So education, and trying to speak to people and understand what you're going through is so important. The main thing for me was trying to not get embroiled in panic and the stress of a situation.
“As hard as it is, being able to take that step back and not overthink it, by taking yourself away from a situation. Being taught the kinds of physical symptoms of anxiety was so important for me to say OK that’s happening, here is the situation I’m in, what I need to do to stop that happening, which will make me able to deal with the situation.
"Physical symptoms would be; my heart rate hits the roof, I start sweating. If I have a full on panic attack, essentially you feel like you're going to die. You feel like you're going to vomit everywhere”.
For people suffering in silence Will added: "Say something, anything at all, you don’t have to open up all of your doors. That first piece of information you give to someone and the first time you speak to someone, that's the start.
"You'll find someone who you can confide in and then you can keep telling them. Even if you only tell them one thing, that's the start.
"When you feel like you can tell someone something, you can tell someone else. Then you can just snowball it in that way.
"Speaking to someone is the most important thing you can possibly do".
Service user James added: "I went online and found James Place and emailed them straight away. I started treatment shortly after and it saved my life.
"It was my escape, my hope, it helped me get through a really difficult time. I don’t know what would’ve happened to me without them".
Men can self-refer or be referred to James Place by a professional or a friend or family member.
For more information For information visit James Place HERE
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