Motorcycling and mental health
Life is a wonderful thing. But it’s also a very challenging, highly complex, and constantly changing experience, rarely following a predictable path. It includes multiple emotional peaks and troughs of differing proportions, some of them presenting themselves randomly. It really doesn’t matter who you are. Regardless of culture, gender, race, nationality or bank balance, there’s always a chance of unforeseen circumstances adversely affecting your mental well-being.
When misfortune does occur, there can be varying levels of emotive pressure to deal with. Some people are better equipped than others to cope with these sometimes extremely difficult challenges. The lucky ones can rely on help from friends and family, support organisations, or expert advice. Sadly, others aren’t so fortunate, and either don’t always have, or are unwilling to access such assistance. As a consequence, their mental well-being can suffer, often exacerbating hardship exponentially. In the very worst cases, problems can be perceived as insurmountable, and tragically some people see no chance of a solution, going on to take their own lives.
The stats for the effects of mental ill-health make for very sobering reading. Last year 5224 deaths from suicide were recorded, and over the last 20 years, that annual figure has ranged from 4313 to 5691 during the 2000-2020 period. That’s an absolutely shocking total of 103,070 deaths, averaging 4908 per annum, or 94 per week, and over 13 a day. Over 75 per cent of them were men. It’s also worth noting that people such as family, friends and work colleagues are directly affected by the deaths.
The full effects of Covid-19, lockdown and all the resulting consequences are yet
