In a world where masculinity is only just becoming unbound from its age-long restrictions on vulnerability, there is still a lack of compassion toward men’s needs as it regards mental health and creating safe spaces for those struggling silently.

Statistics to show the complexity of mental health issues faced by men globally remains skewed as so few come forward to seek help. According to healthline.com in 2019, in just the United States men died by suicide at a rate 3.7 times greater than that of women. This number did not dip during the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, tracking the impact that isolation had on men became even harder to follow and the above statistic covers only one demographic.

One upside of this period did occur. The fire for there to be more dialogue on men’s mental health blazed across the internet with more calls for men worldwide to be properly supported. With his mind set on giving back, Anil Singh Rana has spent the past 14 years encouraging fellow business owners to learn, grow and reach out as needed for help, especially where men’s mental health is concerned.

Giving Back

Just who is Anil Singh Rana? 

Anil Singh Rana is the FRICS Founder of CPD Ltd Mauritius, an Award-Winning Graduate Building Surveyor,  Mentor and Social Entrepreneur and has excelled in the construction industry over the past 20 years. As founder of CPD Ltd, Anil provides CPD talks and workshops for the construction and building environment industry and in April 2020, started a “Giving Back” educational YouTube Channel for the industry. 

Defining Success

How would you define being successful if you have accomplished the things the world recognizes as being successful? To Anil to be successful one needs to be passionate, happy, hardworking, consistent and curious in doing what they do best and ultimately “Give Back” the knowledge, experience and wisdom acquired over the years to others for the betterment and wellbeing of the industry they are in. In his own words “I am lucky to be in an industry that I love, care and passionate about and the amazing people that are part of it, to me this is success!” – Anil Singh Rana.

Men’s Mental Health In The Construction Industry

Through his “Giving Back’ webinars, Anil Singh Rana has used and continues to use the opportunity to have discussions about the impact of men’s mental health, particularly for those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and to help colleagues locally and internationally to check in through an ongoing programme of awareness and assistance in the construction industry. The benefits from the improved mental well-being of the workforce, better productivity, enhanced health and safety and a happy environment show results in positive project outcomes and therefore happy stakeholders.

“Mental Health is something close to my heart having been through it numerous times. The biggest challenge facing men today is undoubtedly the mental health phenomenon. Getting men to open up about mental health continues to be the biggest challenge in the construction industry. As a result, we can be unaware of the impact that we have on people and when others express dissatisfaction or become uncooperative. The outcomes can be defensiveness, uneasiness and aggression resulting in an unsafe and toxic working environment.” – Anil Sing Rana. 

Passion, Consistency and Giving Back

With all that he has experienced and accomplished, one of the quotes that Anil lives by to this day was given by his late mother; “share relentlessly what I have experienced and give back passionately what I have learned”.