The suicide prevention conference at the Octagon Center in Sheffield attracts thousands from across the UK

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, The relay of hopehosted its preview conference in Sheffield’s Octagon Center today, featuring talks from renowned mental health advocates from around the world.

The charity, co-founded by Mike McCarthy, aims to raise awareness, share facts, debunk myths about suicide and develop the language and discourse surrounding it.

Mr McCarthy started the charity after losing his son Ross, 31, to suicide in 2021 and shared his aims to stamp out the expression “suicide” – stating that it is obsolete and connotes when it was once illegal to take your life.

He said: “Ross was many things, but he it was not a criminal.”

The day-long conference hosted the likes of Professor Rory O’Connor, president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, as well as mental health campaigner Alastair Campbell and Shawmind and the Online Gamers Association.

The conference proved to be a huge success, gaining both local and wider media attention across the UK.

According to Mr McCarthy, “6,000 people in the UK take their own lives every year and it is the biggest killer of men under 50 and women under 35”.

With suicide awareness now so prevalent in online media, some participants spoke about whether they believe social media benefits people struggling with mental health, or if it is detrimental to them.

Ellie MacDonald, a suicide prevention advocate and staff member at the conference, said: “I don’t think social media is helping. You have to look a certain way; you have to portray your life looking amazing, and it certainly doesn’t help to see other people’s lives looking great.”

She added: “The government must stop penalizing people who may be struggling with mental health. We don’t want to see people’s titles “admission” to depression. You never would “Recognize” to a broken leg so why would you “Recognize” anxiety or depression?”

Mr McCarthy shared the same sentiment with Ellie, saying: “We’re not suggesting there’s any guilt for physical illness, so why is there guilt around mental illness?”