MAN, or mouse?

By Manly Man

Are you a MAN, or mouse? Man up, stop being a fafa, toughen up, you’ll be all good dox. Common sayings that I hear when I turn to “the boys” for advice. Depression and suicide within the Māori and Pasifika men have risen tremendously since records began 13 years ago. The conversation of men struggling with depression or having suicidal thoughts, comes with a feeling of taboo or tapu around it. In an article by Newsroom we see the struggle for Pacific men to reach out for help “in Pacific communities, there is still substantial tapu around mental health and hesitancy to seek help from mainstream community mental health services”. It’s as if we are not allowed to talk about it as men, it’s as if as soon as the topic of suicide or depression comes up, an aroma of weakness is spilled.

It’s hard to harden Up : Suicide amongst Samoan men

By Belle Peterson

I have crossed paths with many Samoan adolescent women who have been open to discussing their experiences of suicide attempts and having ideas of taking their life, but when speaking to Samoan men they offered a different perspective that has made me come to the realization that while we are from the same culture, their personal experiences based off their gender is much more complex.

Suicide and framing of Pasifika youth: What is it?

By No name guy

**Warning sensitive matter

With the on-going suicide within the Pasifika community, I thought it is important that I openly talk about this subject as the statistics for Pasifika suicide continues to rise. it remains an extremely “tapu” (sensitive) topic for Pasifika people but we must continue to shine light on this on-going issue. Pasifika suicide prevention is an issue that is close to my heart. Many of my Pasifika brothers have taken their own lives.