A HEARTBROKEN Sedgley dad who made two desperate suicide attempts after losing his son is encouraging fellow depression and anxiety sufferers to talk about their problems.

Joe Speed has struggled with his mental health since being tormented by bullies at secondary school but things came to a head when his wife Kelly gave birth to their stillborn son Noah in October 2014.

"It really affected me and broke me," the 27-year-old said. "My wife was going through the exact same thing and I needed to be strong for her so I held my feelings deep down.

"We found out she was pregnant again in March 2015 and after what happened I had a lot of anxiety and the thought of Kelly going to hospital for check ups made me sick.

"Luckily, everything went well and our daughter Grace was born in October 2015 but she made me realise how much I miss Noah."

A bereft Joe said things soon got "really dark" as his grieving not only affected his relationship with his daughter but led to him secretly self-harming.

He continued: "My daughter had done nothing wrong, that's what broke my heart, she was perfect and all she did was love me. It hurt me that I could feel like that, I wanted to kill myself, I wanted to be punished for the way I felt about my daughter and I wanted to see my son."

Joe made his first suicide attempt in December last year but fortunately, his wife found him just in time and persuaded him to seek help.

Although he was put on medication and returned to work, things took another turn for the worse in March.

"I wanted Mother's Day to be really special for Kelly so I had tea ready and spent a lot of money on some flowers, but when they arrived they were dreadful, all stems. Even though it wasn't my fault. I couldn't help but think it was, I thought I was useless and it was time for me to die so Kelly could move on and find someone who could buy her flowers."

He made another attempt to take his life but was once again saved by his wife, who encouraged him to seek additional support.

Joe, who works as a sales rep in the hospitality industry, said: "My dosage was doubled and work set up some counselling for me so I could open up. It really helped to talk about Noah and now I'm learning to cope and if I'm feeling down, I know I need to talk."

Joe has also found that painting war game miniatures has helped him to relax and is now in the process of setting up One in Six Gaming, aimed at people with mental health issues.

The group will give people the chance to chat about their problems while painting models and playing games.

Joe said: "I wanted to create a group for people with depression and anxiety, where they can come along and see that there is always someone to speak to.

"I don't want people doing the same as myself and bottle it up and think that the only way out is suicide.

"I want to break the stigma of mental health, especially in men. The name of the group was chosen as a six sided dice is a staple in any game and also one in six people will have some sort of mental illness in their lifetime."

A venue for the group, which Joe hopes will meet once a fortnight from the end of October, is being finalised but anyone interested in joining, should email oneinsixgaming@gmail.com