Many men are uncomfortable talking about things like periods, premenstrual symptoms and unintended pregnancies, but talking openly can lead to better understanding, health and relationships.

The reason I'm sharing this story today is to make it clear that battling mental illness is not easy. My brain was ill, it was imbalanced. If I didn't get the medical and cognitive help I needed I would still be in that place now. It is not weak to seek help for mental ill health; it's not even strong; it's just smart.

Our conversations about the wider world are often framed with negativity - whether it's about terrorist threats, disasters, corrupt politicians or school bullying. But the world is also full of inspiring stories of hope, progress and generosity - and by choosing to focus on these, we again open up the space for very different conversations. As Alain de Botton said, "the secret to a good conversation is sharing our vulnerabilities and dreams". So let's have more conversations that matter.

Despite feeling rubbish I realised I now had a choice for that day and the rest of my life however long that will be. I could spend my day's miserable, focussing on how bad things may be or take every day as it comes and make the best of each and every one.

I had a piece of fantastic news last week, one of those breakthrough moments that all of us who work in and support the charity sector aim for. On the surface it may not sound that exciting. The news was that NICE, after undertaking an exceptional review, had agreed to update its guidelines for prostate cancer diagnosis and management

As men, we do not need to 'control our emotions' in order to be 'healthy and happy'. Our emotions are not our enemy. We should embrace them. In order to be truly happy and healthy we must first realise that it's okay to not 'be okay'. As humans, we should feel equal in emotion, for emotion has no gender. We should also be comfortable in acknowledging and accepting that emotion is normal. As a man, I should feel free to express my feelings on my own terms, and not in a way that society wants me to. Only when we recognise and dismantle the societal gender constructs that still exist to this day, which inhibit how men express themselves, will we truly be able to effectively tackle the deeply concerning male suicide statistic.

We love the whole of you, not just the positive parts or only when you're smiling. We love you even when you're broken and you need putting together again. More importantly, we love you even when you think you're unloveable.

I'm a man in a fairly patriarchal culture, in a stream of the Christian church that has often overtly pushed the idea of 'strong' masculinity; where male Christians are routinely referred to as 'warriors' and the 'head of the family'; where a mega-church pastor once spoke of not wanting to worship a Jesus that he could beat up.

I trusted him and I believed that he was going to get it together and sell his art on a website he talked about creating. He always said he was waiting on an angel to save him, just like his last girlfriend had (and the other two before that). He must have known he couldn't save himself.

Take a close look at the world of men's fitness today. It is a great space to spy an inside look at what is happing in larger male issues of identity, self-confidence, gender roles and body image.

We've been raised in a culture where the man is supposed to be the provider. The pre-defined gender roles that have existed forever, seem to continue today and as a result we think that we know our place in society. We are to work. We are to build a family and to provide for them. But what happens if we can't do that?

The weekend that my wife's morning sickness kicked in I was absent having gone to Twickenham to watch a rugby international between Australia and Argentina. I have no connection to either country other than having a tolerance for Fosters and corned beef but it was only £20 a ticket.

There is not a day, hour or minute, when I don't wish you back into existence, so I can kiss you and hold you and tell you again and again how things can get better. That being a man is so much more than being physically strong or holding down a job. That if you talked to your friends about what was wrong, they would listen gladly. And that it's okay to cry, in fact, it's damn near essential that men are able to cry because no human being can hold stoic silence in the midst of all that life throws at you. I'm sorry being a man killed you. And I'm just so sorry it is killing so many like you.

The title of this series triggered in me the firmly held belief that any attempt to build a modern man must incorporate building a modern boy. Declaring my interest, I am the mother of a daughter and son, both primary age with less than two years between them. The difference in how they are treated and talked to by the modern world never ceases to astound me.

There's a gender element to suicide - and indeed to mental health. It leads me to ask again why we aren't pouring money into researching why we aren't funding research to explain why more men take their lives than women... Now, as we enter November, it is time to change.

It is a massive privilege to be guest editor of the Huffington Post today as we launch Building Modern Men. Over the next month you're going to hear stories of remarkable people doing remarkable things to change the conversation around mental health and male suicide. I think there are some key issues we desperately need to kickstart a conversation around so we can all work to reduce this horrible statistic. It's a chance to raise awareness of subjects which men don't naturally talk about... Building Modern Men will not only talk about problems facing men, but it will tell the stories of people and communities doing amazing things, overcoming great odds and coming up with solutions to the very real challenges they face.