Moustaches, Cancer, Mental Health and Me!
I think most people would agree that 2020 has been a pretty crappy year due to the current pandemic. There is of course the tragic loss of all those who have died due to Covid infection but I am becoming increasingly concerned about all the other health conditions that are being overlooked while our health services focus on fighting Covid.
In particular I worry about cancer patients who are having treatment delayed or postponed and also people who are not even having their cancer diagnosed due to cancelled screening appointments. The effects of the pandemic and lockdowns on mental health are very worrying indeed. Unfortunately I believe we are facing a huge rise in deaths from all cancers as well as a major rise in mental health problems.
Men are notoriously bad at looking after their health and getting checkups for cancer is often a low priority. However here are some stark facts:
- In 2019 in the UK alone, over 12,000 men died from prostate cancer.
- Worldwide an estimated 9.9 million men are living with prostate cancer.
- Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 15-39 but if caught early it has a 95% survival rate
- Worldwide on average 1 man dies from suicide every minute of every day.
A few years ago I joined the Movember movement which is the leading charity worldwide helping to improve Men's Health. The photo below is the result of my efforts at growing a moustache back then.
This year, because of the facts I mentioned above, I have decided to try once more to raise some money to support the work of Movember.
Once again I will be abandoning the razor on the top lip to see if I can recreate this picture - albeit with a few more wrinkles!
I would be grateful to all my friends if you could help me support Movember and thereby support the work of everyone involved in the treatment and support of men living with prostate and testicular cancer as well as those whose mental health issues are so great that they are contemplating suicide.
Mental health is something I have taken much more of an interest in over the past year and I have been creating a course on Stress Management which I plan to start selling from my website very soon. I am currently putting together a webinar to promote it so the launch will hopefully be later this month.
If you would like to support me and the work of Movember (this is a worldwide charity and supports men's health all around the world) then send me a PM and I'll send you details of how you can help. I'll also give everyone who supports me a free trial of my stress management course.
Take care and stay safe.
Dave
Recent Comments
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Hi John
I really appreciate your kind offer.
I have sent you a PM with the link to my Movember page.
Many thanks
Dave
Look at you! You need a big Mexican hat to complete the look 😁. I’ll support you, of course. It’s a fantastic cause. PM me with the details Dave x
Thanks Alex. I really appreciate your support - with everything!
2020 has been a bad year but also one for meeting new friends. I am grateful for that!
It's a very good thing Dave and it brings more awareness of mens cancers.
Unable to grow a moustache, though it might look weird on me if I did. I wish you much luck though Dave with that and the stress management course, in these times anything that can help is much needed..
I have become more aware of how so many things affect mental health and something like the Pandemic makes it so much worse.
Severe anxiety can affect people badly, so much so that they can barely function, awful to see.
I think the extent of the impact on mental health will not be known until next year but I fear that it will be catastrophic. Depression and loneliness are already massively increased and this is probably only the tip of the iceberg.
We need to be more aware of all health problems and escape this tunnel vision on Covid.
Thanks
Dave
I agree. The government scaremongering with numbers does not help. Of course numbers are much higher than the last lockdown we weren't testing then, except people who were in hospital.
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Thanks Dave,
What a motivating list, I will happily join...lol
Seriously, I love Movember... When I lived in Guildford, every November they used to paint a wall white and then a ”Barber” style moustache would be painted on the whole side of a huge listed building, it was such a statement. Was always taken off at the end of Novembef but was a great visual reminder of a cancer that if caught early is treatable... 👀
Hi Cordelia
The wall in Guildford sounds like a great way to support the cause.
You are so right about the importance of catching cancer early and that is what I fear we are missing out on right now.
Thanks
Dave