"Our deaths by suicide rate is not coming down because we have too many poor people. They don’t have enough money, they can’t feed themselves, they don’t have any hope because they don’t know what’s coming down the road. " Sean McCann, trauma psychotherapist

In part three of The Ferret investigates…the health gap – a three-part special podcast from The Ferret media co-op and Greater Govanhill magazine – we turn our attention to the mental wellbeing of young and middle aged men, another issue driving health inequalities in Scotland.

In Scotland, men in the most deprived areas of Scotland have a life expectancy of almost 14 years less than those in the most affluent areas. Of the 753 people that completed suicide in 2021, three quarters were men.

In this episode we hear from James, a joiner from Glasgow, about his struggles with his mental health and Bill Hill of the Lighthouse charity tells us about the way the construction industry, which is currently losing two workers to suicide every day, has been forced to mobilise to save lives.

We also visit San Francisco's Harm Reduction Therapy Center and find out how offering people struggling with substance use therapy on the street is dismantling the myth that some are hard to reach.

In the studio our hosts are joined by Linda Birnie of Mikey’s Line which offers suicide prevention and a helpline across the Highlands and was set-up following the tragic death of two friends, Martin Shaw and Michael Williamson.

Other guests include Graeme Callander of We Are With You, a charity which works with people struggling with their mental health, or alcohol or substance use and psychotherapist Sean McCann, who also works for Strathclyde University

You can find all three episodes of The Ferret investigates...the health gap on The Ferret or wherever you get your podcasts.

Credits:

Hosts: Karin Goodwin, of The Ferret and Samar Jamal, of Greater Govanhill magazine

Interviews: Karin Goodwin

Production: Halina Rifai and Karin Goodwin

Episode editing and sound: Halina Rifai

Music: Loris S. Sarid



Package about the Harm Reduction Therapy Center

Reporting, sound recording and writing: Karin Goodwin

Editing and sound design: Flora Zajicek