Men’s mental health support group is growing

Ryan Allsopp, 37, from Sleaford, set up the group called A Broken Mind with fellow founders to help men talk through their struggles with anxiety and depression without fear of stigma.

Ryan, who has been overcoming his own issues, was keen to share his experiences to benefit others. He said: “A year on and we now have 247 members and still growing.”

He said most members are local and the team believe the group is slowly making a difference with the fight against stigma. “We have a handful of specialists who have joined to offer support. We have counsellors, alternative therapists and fitness experts. We are still at the minute online only but we are slowly looking for a place to start holding meet ups.

“We have plenty of activities that we are looking at too such as a mindfulness walk down by the River Slea held by a Reki Master. We want this to work so we can fight the stigma behind mental health in men. As it’s still an unspoken issue.”

A co-founder is Logan Bonham Smith of Unmasked Mental Health, while Stuart Couling of Holistic Therapy can help find techniques to help men process situations affecting them.

Ryan said: “We are still relatively new and taking each day as it comes. We as a team really want to be able to take this as far as it can go.

“People know it’s there for them and that there is no judgement from anybody. They know that if they just want to read the support messages they can. They also know that if they ask a question about anything someone from the group will pick it up and help where possible.”

You can visit the group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/168411063809079/