Ride Blue Takes To The Road To Tackle Men’s Mental Health

Hundreds of motorcyclists from across the NSW Central West will hit the road this week for the annual Ride Blue mental health awareness event, supporting the growing number of men living with mental health challenges.

The ninth Ride Blue event aims to increase awareness around mental health in the region while helping connect participants with access to local health services.

One in eight men will experience depression at some stage in their lives, and one in five will experience anxiety. Every day in Australia, nine people take their own lives tragically, seven of them are men, with those in regional areas often facing greater barriers to accessing health care.

“I think this event is a really natural and organic way to let men known there are many options available when it comes

to helping support their mental, and general, health and wellbeing,” Life Pharmacy Group (LPG) Pharmacist, Chris Young, said.

“LPG will be on hand to meet riders at the completion of their journey to Millthorpe, for a chat and a health check, in the hope we can help answer some questions the men may be wanting to ask.”

Riders will set off from Bathurst, Cowra, Dubbo, Orange and Mudgee on 18 October, riding to Millthorpe where Life Pharmacy Group will provide free health checks to riders.

“We’ll be offering checks on cholesterol levels, diabetes, blood pressure as well as mental health screening and any other male specific questions or concerns riders may have,” Chris said.

“As Pharmacists, we’re accessible, you often don’t need an appointment – you can just come in, have a chat and depending on how things are, we can refer on or try our very best to find a solution. In rural areas, it’s exacerbated with a shortage of health professionals, and that’s our whole message – we’re in the community, come and see us.”

Money raised from the event will be donated towards Lifeline Central West Orange to help support volunteers.