With male suicide rates at alarming levels, an innovative website aims to offer help, writes Iva Pocock.
A self-help website for men coping with mental distress grew from one Dublin man's experience of suffering depression and of losing a close family member to suicide.
He wanted to create a "portal to the outside world" where men could express themselves.
Using the pen name Barry Golightly, initially he worked on www.theblackdog.net in his own time, but since last summer he has been supported one day a week by his employer, the computer department at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
"We are supporting the initiative because we're a health care organisation and suicide is a major health care issue," says Tony Kenny, the department's project manager.
The website's name is taken from an old metaphor for mental distress and depression.
"Winston Churchill and Samuel Johnson, who both suffered from depression, talked about being 'followed by the black dog'," explains Barry, "and the haunting, frightening aspect of the black dog is also part of many old folk tales."
But there is nothing mythical about the statistics for suicide in Ireland today.
Department of Health figures now show that since 1997, more men in their 20s have taken their own lives than died in road accidents.
Before the last general election theblackdog.net sent a questionnaire to all political parties which included questions about their policies on suicide prevention, men's health and their targets for psychiatric beds.
Only the Labour party responded.
"I have a lot more faith in people than politicians to keep an eye out for each other," says Barry, who is committed to creating "online community".
While theblackdog.net does not provide a helpline it is linked to organisations such as Aware, Schizophrenia Ireland, the Samaritans and the Wellman clinic.
It is a "place for people to visit, to take their time, exchange views and advice, get angry or get information which might be useful".
The site is simple in design to ensure quick downloads and, despite the serious nature of its topic, browsing its pages is guaranteed to bring a few smiles to your face.
Canine references abound. The contents page appears under "take a sniff around", regular updates can be found in "newshound" while "home boy" needs no explanation.
There are no banner ads to distract you but, as Barry points out, visitors can make a donation to "a dog's friend".
Last month, theblackdog.net had approximately 40,000 hits.
One of the most popular pages is the Bloke's Corner, which includes a forum designed by Turlough O'Shea where users can express themselves either anonymously or, if they are happy for others to contact them, by registering online.
Current discussion topics include quitting nicotine, Western women and facing up to suicide.
Barry explains that the blackdog.net library "publishes articles and excerpts from books that we believe can be useful to people who feel sad, depressed, angry, lonely, remorseful, alone or generally awful".
The other most popular section of the site is the "cave", where a burning candle flickers in the dark.
"Life has got so intense for so many people. It's nice to have somewhere online to take time for yourself to relax," adds Barry.