A HEARTBROKEN dad hopes that his son’s death can be a lesson to others to open up about mental health.

Steven Goodwin from Pennine Lane, Golborne, died on August 24 just four days after writing a heart breaking Facebook message about men struggling with depression.

The 36-year-old had been struggling with depression for 14 years and was undergoing counselling.

Now his dad, Paul Goodwin is urging people to talk and seek help if they experience depression.

He said: “Steve had depression for 14 years and he was getting help from counsellors, but you only need one of those black days.

“Unless you suffer from it nobody can actually describe what it’s like, but I believe it’s just like a black cloud coming over you.

“So many people I spoke to at the funeral said that Steven was there for them – he brought a number of people back from a dark place but he couldn’t help himself.

“Steven put a post on his Facebook shortly before he died and he basically said that men don’t talk about their feelings and they only talk about football or rugby.

“There is nothing to be ashamed of – this is an illness.

“Around 70 per cent of people who commit suicide are men and 30 per cent are women, because women talk about their feelings and men don’t – they just need to try and get help.”

Paul has also spoken out over a number of websites that document methods of self-harming and suicide.

He added: “The way that Steve committed suicide is new and it’s all over the internet.

“I know that social media is good for some things but for other things it’s bad.

“There are so many people that suffer from this kind of thing and these websites tell you step-by-step what to do – this kind of thing shouldn’t be there to aid these people who suffer from mental health problems and depression.”

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article call the Samaritans for free on 116123.