Movember advocate Charlie Jia talks top mental health first aid tips

A community advocate who lost his own father at age 13 said blokes just need to “be brave enough to ask” their mates if they’re struggling, sharing his top tips for helping men deal with mental health issues.

A community advocate who lost his own father at age 13 said blokes just need to “be brave enough to ask” their mates if they’re struggling, sharing his top tips for helping men deal with mental health issues.

A mens mental health advocate said it can just take a “brave” question to confront serious issues before they escalate into poor health or suicide, after a new report showed rising statistics.

Proud Yindinji (Cairns) and Badugal (Torres Straits) man Charlie Jia said he had seen a variety of issues wreck the health of men around him, including his father who he lost at age 13.

Now an experienced community liaison and mental health advocate, to raise awareness for Movember he shared critical advice for when men suddenly find themselves in crisis because of health issues they kept to themselves.

“If you see them struggling, be brave enough to go and ask the question: ‘Are you thinking of killing yourself?’

“Because all of a sudden the secret’s out.

Yindinji (North Queensland) and Badugal (Torres Straits) man Charlie Jia is an advocate for Movember and an expert in mental health first aid. Photo: Zoe Devenport

“Aussie men are tough ... we’re told to ‘man up’”, Mr Jia said, saying he had known men who hid even cancer diagnoses from family and friends.

As the The Real Face of Men’s Health report shows more than half of Australian men delay health check ups, Mr Jia said being open but direct could help men open up despite pervasive stigma with even doctors expecting meant to ‘tough it out’.

Two in five (37%) men living in Australia die prematurely, before they are 75 years old.

Whilst premature death rates in Mackay men sit 0.2 per cent below the Australian average, the leading causes of premature death – heart disease, suicide and liver disease – are, for the most part, preventable.

Mr Jia has worked with Movember for several years and even starred in the 2019 photo campaign, and formerly was a community liaison for Mackay’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service.