It was a grim but familiar picture last week, when the Office for National Statistics released its annual figures for the rate of suicides across Britain.

In 2018, findings revealed, a total of 6,507 suicides were registered by coroners in the UK. It was the highest level for more than 15 years, and an 11.8 per cent increase on the previous year. There were all-time highs registered for young people and young females, too, but according to statisticians the general rise was driven by men, who took their lives at a rate of 17.2 per 100,000. The 2017 figure was 15.5, the lowest since 1981.

Pundits can, and will, debate the broad reasons why such a tragic spike has occurred after what seemed like progress, but a groundbreaking new Channel 5 documentary, Suicidal: In Our Own Words, timed to coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day today, attempts to get to the heart of why suicide is still the leading cause of death among 20-49 year old men by asking not just experts, but the people perhaps best-placed to answer that question: men who know exactly what it feels like.

The six men featured in the documentary have 20 suicide attempts between them, and talk with startling honesty about what they’ve experienced and what led to them feeling they have no other option but to try and end their lives.