A local suicide-prevention effort has its sights on a most difficult-to-reach audience, men ages 25 to 54, who are notoriously reluctant to ask for help.

This demographic group accounts for a rising number of suicides in Colorado, which has the sixth-highest suicide rate in the country, said Jarrod Hindman, director of Colorado’s Office of Suicide Prevention.

“It is clear we have to do something to target (them),” Hindman said in a recent press release.

Man Therapy, a new approach to men’s mental health issues, including suicidal thoughts and feelings, launched this week through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the nonprofit Carson J Spencer Foundation and Denver-based advertising agency Cactus.

These partners have attempted “to reshape the conversation, using humor to cut through stigma and tackle issues (such as) divorce, depression and even suicidal thoughts head on, the way a man would do it,” said Sally Spencer-Thomas, CEO and co-founder of the Carson J Spencer Foundation, named for her brother, who lost his life to suicide.

The Man Therapy campaign includes a website, public service ads, videos, social media promotions, posters and other messages. The centerpiece is the website, mantherapy.org, where men and the people who love them can make a virtual appointment with a main character, Dr. Rich Mahogany.

“Man Therapy features our hero, the good Dr. Rich Mahogany. He’s a man who is dedicated to cutting through the denial with fresh approach using his rapier wit, odd sense of humor, no bull and practical advice for men,” said Cactus strategic director Joe Conrad. “There exists an age-old stigma that says mental-health disorders are unmanly signs of weakness. And our main character (Mahogany) is dedicated to smashing that,” Conrad said.

Visitors to the “doctor’s” virtual office will find useful information about mental health, including a guy’s guide to Gentlemental Health. Men can choose to take an 18-question quiz to evaluate their status. They can access a wide range of resources, from do-it-yourself-tips to therapist referrals and links to local support groups and a national suicide crisis line.

The Anchutz Foundation provided the campaign’s seed funding, and promotional partners include Kroenke Sports Charities and their teams, including the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Rapids and Colorado Mammoth.

The Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention reports that suicide is a leading cause of death and injury in Colorado: In 2010, there were 480 motor-vehicle deaths, but 867 suicide deaths.

Electa Draper: 303-954-1276, edraper@denverpost.com or twitter.com/electadraper