Tonight I've learnt of the death of two close friends from my school days. One died of natural causes whilst the other took his own life a couple of days later.
Both turned 50 in July.
And I would admit that over the past year the only thing that has effectively stopped me from ending it has been that I couldn't inflict that sort of burden on my young daughter's shoulders. Saying that, I often think about how dying in my sleep or by other natural causes would be the best solution.
I also turned 50 a couple of weeks ago.
On top of this I remember seeing a post on here recently from a male poster implying that by 50 he will have had enough if he hadn't been successful in finding a partner by that age.
Is 50 therefore becoming the watershed moment in men's lives where the evaluation of their past life and future opportunities puts them at the greatest risk of succumbing to poor mental health?