Cork farmer Harold Kingston gave a truly sad but really inspiring interview to Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show two weeks ago.

Harold spoke candidly of how he reached rock bottom during the height of the fodder crisis last year.

The stress and trauma of dealing with the fodder shortage while trying to keep animals healthy wore him down and he made a cry for help.

Harold is not somebody who is afraid to speak his mind or look after himself as he often finds himself caught in the crossfire of online discussions particularly in relation to environmental matters.

He is a former IFA environment committee chair, but as I watched his incredibly emotional interview with Ryan, I thought that Harold was definitely speaking on behalf of thousands of farmers who probably are not as open as he is about the mental fatigue which left him helpless. And hopefully for those farmers and indeed the rest of us watching who have had a brush with a mental breakdown, but not the energy to seek refuge, he proved that when you hit the wall, you can bounce back up again.

I have no scientific evidence as to why but there are figures which show that suicide is more prevalent among young men. But I often wonder if young men are not fully equipped to deal with rejection

It is those of us who don’t seek help or make a cry for help like he did that need the reassurance that it can happen to anybody. We need to talk to our children, in particular our teenage sons, about being open and honest and being able to deal with the challenges of life.

I have no scientific evidence as to why but there are figures which show that suicide is more prevalent among young men.

But I often wonder if young men are not fully equipped to deal with rejection. I heard one sad story recently of a young man who took his own life following the breakdown of a relationship.

Just how many young men fall into a depressive state if they like a girl who doesn’t reciprocate but remain afraid to express the loss to anybody? That can lead to all sorts of complications and in some cases, unreasonable overreaction. Of course it works both ways, but is it fair to assume that young women are more likely to deal with a broken heart better than young men?

So we need to equip our young men with the reassurance that losing out on love or not finding a partner at a young age is not an insurmountable crisis

There are many reasons and causes of mental illness, but losing out in love as a young man can be very challenging and will make them feel that it is like the end of the world.

So we need to equip our young men with the reassurance that losing out on love or not finding a partner at a young age is not an insurmountable crisis. And we haven’t even touched on the issue of young gay men coming to terms with their sexuality, although you would like to think that we live in an era now where coming out as a teenage boy or girl is not as scary as it once was in this country. But who is to know in differing family circumstances.

All we know is that life is full of challenges and as I always believe, no matter who you meet they have a problem.

Nobody is perfect. Once we all realise that, it can help us understand that we are all vulnerable to falling down like Harold Kingston but that there are more remedies than ever for it. Well done Harold for being so open. I am sure it helped many people watching who wonder why they feel like they do.

Controversy

Last year hardened soccer folk took great pleasure in talking down to the GAA regarding the Liam Miller testimonial in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Seems they’d have been better served in making sure their own house was in order first.