Andy Bishop

Who are you?

So my name's Andy, and who am I? Who am I right here? Right now, I'm a little bit anxious. I'm a little bit, I'm going to say emotional because I am a storyteller. I tell stories that other people maybe don't tell stories about my experience, and I listen to other people tell me their stories because I love people. I love my family, my partner, my stepchildren, my puppy dogs. I love walking in nature. I love anything to do with people. I love people so much until I don't, and then I really don't like 'em. No in between. I'm a bit of an upy downy kind of guy. Upy and Downy is my pet name for bipolar. I've got diagnosis of bipolar disorder. I've been diagnosed with clinical depression. I've been diagnosed with anxiety. I've tried to kill myself on a number of occasions, but that's not who I am. Who I am right here, right now is me. Just me.

What are the challenges around mental health in the construction industry?

So the construction industry is really, really a male dominated industry, and if you look at the challenges around mental health within male society, then that transfers into the construction industry. It's no secret that three quarters of all suicides are carried out by men. And if we've got the biggest employer of men, then yeah, we're going to have a big, big issue with suicide within the industry. It's a male dominated macho culture where any weakness is pounced upon. Any signs of not fitting in. With the LAD culture, especially with the guys, with the boots on the ground on site, it gets pounced upon and it causes people to suffer in silence.

What can I do to break down stigma in the construction industry?

The first thing to do when to break stigma within the industry is to be honest. The first thing you've got to do is be honest with yourself and recognise that you're not an island, that you can't get through things on your own. The industry faces problems with the industry. There's problems with materials, with logistics, with personnel, with planning, with everything. There's problems and there's a solution to every single one of those problems, and it all starts the same way with a conversation. By talking about these problems, we get to the right level of support. We might need to add people to teams, and we do it in the industry on a daily basis. We need to start doing it with ourselves though. We need to start talking with other people because I guarantee that if you are going through a problem right now, there's somebody on your team that has either been through it, was going through the same one, and by sharing it, that stigma loses its power and all of a sudden you start getting better.

What's the difference between Health & Safety and mental health?

How can we help support people with wellbeing in construction?