A COUNCILLOR has paid tribute to his family after revealing he battled suicidal thoughts.

Michael Cullen said “he might not be here” without help from his family as he spoke out to raise awareness of men’s mental health issues.

Michael struggled for around a year-and-a-half before family members managed to get him to open up about his problems.

Breaking his comfort zone and starting his path to recover, he is backing Brothers in Arms, Scotland’s only men’s mental health charity.

This Saturday he is holding a 12-mile walk from Kirkintilloch to Yoker along the Forth and Clyde Canal to raise funds for the charity.

Michael, 36, former staff of Citizens Advice, said: “I’ve had a mental health journey that wasn’t great, and by the end of 2015, I was in a very low place.

“And while to be honest, while I wasn’t quite there, there were notions of taking my own life.

“It was very difficult, but it wasn’t until my mum and dad identified something was wrong and forced me to open up and talk about things.”

From then on, the Knightswood resident was able to speak up more about the struggles he was facing and start the road to recovery.

West of Scotland men often bottle their problems up and believe it would be unmanly to speak about them openly, Michael said.

The councillor believes it is one of the reasons suicide is the most prevalent cause of death for under 45s men.

“Brothers in Arms have coined it ‘toxic masculinity’ which is that men should just get up and get on with it, which is actually damaging,” Michael added.

He is appealing to more men to open up about their problems after 522 males took their own lives last year in Scotland, compared to 158 females.

Dan Proverbs founded Brothers in Arms started in 2016 with a sole focus of reaching out to men suffering mental health problems in silence.

Recently, the charity launched a smartphone app ‘Brothers feel stress free’ downloadable from its website.

Michael said: “It goes onto your phone, so you can access it anytime and has things about channelling positive thoughts, meditation and looking at other avenues of support available.

“It’s the start of someone’s mental health journey, and while it is not the be all and end all, it allows men to start seeking help on their own terms, discreetly if they need.”

Michael will be walking the 12-miles from Kirkintilloch’s marina along the Forth and Clyde Canal path to Yoker on Saturday and has so far raised £500.