[ M E N TA L
total of 6,507 suicides were regis-
tered by coroners in the UK – 11.2
per 100,000 people – in 2018, up
11.8% on the previous year. While
the exact reasons for this are un-
known, the statistics are alarming.
As a forty-year-old man, I cannot
help but look with even more
alarm at the statistics for my
peers. Overall, men accounted for
three-quarters of UK deaths by
suicide in 2018 and the highest
suicide rates were seen among
those aged 40 to 49 for both males
and females.
The passing last year of Joe Her-
aty prompted much soul searching
for many of us in financial services.
Whilst the industry is perceived to
be high flying and affluent, it does
not mean stress is not suffered by
many of us. We need to help each
other. In my role as a manager of
a team, I feel the stress but more
importantly a desire to help my
colleagues personally as well as
professionally.
I am a strong advocate of men-
toring and coaching and am proud
to have mentored a colleague this
year. We all have both something
to give and things to learn. It is also
why I am pleased that, as an indus-
try, we are looking into the impact
of reducing market hours. The day
is long in our industry, with many
in trading sitting down at a desk
way before 7am and having to wait
until after 5pm to check that there
aren’t any after-market primary or
"It's fine to fall down, but we have to keep
standing up and develop that resistance."
H E A LT H ]
secondary placings, with no breaks
between.
In an era of quarterly earnings
and therefore, arguably, constant
pressure for results, as well as
structural issues, we can debate
whether changing the market
hours would actually help but it
has to be considered.
We live in an interesting time
with social media influence grow-
ing all the time. It feels like many
of those people spend too much
time trying to get attention when
they could arguably spend more
worthwhile time paying attention.
What is actually going on around
you? Take time to really ask people
how they are and don’t be afraid to
say when you personally are strug-
gling. We need to help each other.
I thought long and hard about
releasing this after writing it. Ul-
timately, my wife and I decided to
release the article but remain anon-
ymous. The rationale for that is
simple but disappointing. We sense
that there will be some who look at
me differently as a result and, sadly,
not in a positive way. We also felt it
may even hinder my future career
development. At the same time, I
know that many reading this will
guess who the author is. I’m happy
with that but will forever deny any
knowledge!
I am proud to say that I suffered
with mental health issues, but I
accept it’s disappointing that I have
felt I had to remain anonymous. I
really see this as one small step that
hopefully prompts us all to think
hard. Having opened up and taken
time to fully assess everything, I
have grown as a person as a result.
I am equally proud to say that my
wife and I are back together and
stronger than ever. It is a strength
and not a weakness to have suf-
fered.
Fall down seven times, stand up
eight.
Issue 62 // TheTradeNews.com // 17