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Cam Cooney, who works as a meditation teacher, has chosen to do 60 hours because 60 men take their own life every hour around the world. Last March, his cousin Seamus Marron, 36, was one of those men.

The 27-year-old, from Glasgow, said: “The death was unexpected, and it shook obviously my life and the whole family in many ways.

“I looked up to Seamus as a role model and when we used to work on building sites together in Adelaide, South Australia, we would have open conversations about football and general life, and we also had personal conversations about things we struggled with.

“He was a very placid, calm-natured and just compassionate person and so after his death, Movember was personal for me.”

Last Movember Mr Cooney walked 600km as part of a 20-strong team.

But he decided to do a meditation challenge this year, starting today and continuing until Friday, because he says meditating helps him deal with his emotions.

For the challenge, he will be wearing a blindfold which he says “represents the darkness you feel when you are struggling with your mental health”.

“You feel like there’s no kind of light in your life at all.”

He hopes that his challenge will break down the stigma associated with male mental health and “spark conversations”.

“I think that there is still a lot of stigma around actually talking about your mental health, especially for males, and kind of maybe admitting that you may be struggling,” he added.

“I want to help spark conversations – someone might just post something on social media, which can start a conversation which could possibly save someone’s life.

“It’s a ripple effect I always say – one comment, one conversation may not seem like much to you, but someone on the other side of that screen is maybe reading that and that maybe resonates with them and may change their decision about a particular moment in their life.”

Mr Cooney said that as a young teenager he used to drink and take drugs to suppress how he was feeling. 

But he discovered meditation as a way of coping when he broke his back after falling from a ladder while working on a building site when he was 19.

He found it difficult returning to work following the recovery period and was faced with taking antidepressants or “finding something else” following a doctor’s appointment, which led to him taking part in meditation sessions.

After moving to Bournemouth he became a meditation teacher in 2019.

His cousin Seamus was one of the main male figures in his family who supported his change in career.

Mr Cooney added: “He was probably the only one in my family who was interested and wanted to do it himself, but because he was in Australia and I was in the UK I couldn’t teach him – but we had the conversation many times and when he took his own life, there was obviously regret within myself that I did not teach him.

“And I have taught hundreds of people around the world who have come to me in such states with their mental health and through teaching them meditation, they have completely shifted their lives in a positive way.”

• The Samaritans can be reached round the clock, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you need a response immediately, it is best to call them on the phone. You can reach them by calling 116 123, by emailing [email protected] or by visiting www.samaritans.org.

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