Professor Green has urged men not to be ashamed of crying, following the screening of his documentary Suicide and Me.
Shortly after the programme aired, Green, whose real name is Stephen Manderson tweeted his opposition to the phrase ‘reduced to tears’, telling his users: “Don’t think less of yourself for crying.”
In the hour-long programme which aired on BBC Three, the 31-year-old investigated why figures of suicide for men under 45 are disproportionately higher. He also took a personal journey, uncovering events which led to his father, Peter, killing himself at the age of 43 when Green was 24.
Speaking to his maternal grandmother, who raised Green after his mother and father left when he was young, Green cried. He told his grandmother he was “entitled to cry” while looking at photographs of his late father.
The rapper appeared on Newsnight shortly after the documentary aired, where he became visibly emotional. Speaking to Evan Davis he said he hopes his documentary can end the current “stigma” surrounding suicide.
Discussing why evidence suggests suicide affects men more than women, Green said there is still a “pressure on men to be the archetypal men, to be hard… we still carry a lot of bravado” and that there is a false belief for men who “think that if you do allow yourself to be vulnerable in any way that you’re less of a man”.
Green concluded at the end of his documentary the most important lesson he learned is “to share emotions, not supress them”.
Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK. Almost 80 per cent of people who take their lives in the UK each year are male, according to the documentary.
Anyone needing confidential support can call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90.
