Men die by suicide at alarming rates. This hashtag tells men ‘it’s okay to talk’ about their emotions. (washingtonpost.com)

There’s a new social media campaign for mental illness and this one is directed at men.

While more women are diagnosed with mental health conditions, men die by suicide at a rate of nearly four times that of women. It is the seventh leading cause of death for American males while it’s the 14th for females, according to the Center for Disease Control.

One of the reasons for this “gender paradox of suicidal behavior” is that men are less likely to seek help for psychological issues for fear of looking weak. Long-held gender roles allow for women to discuss their emotions, but require men to be stoic.

A British rugby player, Luke Ambler, is challenging those stereotypes by encouraging men to tweet selfies making the universal gesture for “okay” with their fingers and the hashtag #ITSOKAYTOTALK.

The athlete’s brother-in-law died by suicide four months ago, and his family had no indication of how badly he was struggling. Ambler has said that he wished his brother-in-law knew that it was okay to talk about how he was feeling.

To read more of Colby Itkowitz' article, please click here.