Gus Worland is on a mission to change perceptions about what it means to be a ‘man’.

It was the day of my mate Inchy’s wedding. I was best man and had organised a quick nine holes with a group of blokes before the service. It was a great morning with wonderful company, the perfect lead up to the big celebration ahead.

Then my phone rang. I didn’t know it at the time but that call would change everything.

I answered. It was my mate Andy calling from Australia. I said “G'Day”.

“Angus is dead” was the reply. At first I didn’t understand what he was saying. The words made no sense to me. He repeated it. “Angus is dead”.

I sunk to my knees and cried like never before. I was inconsolable. I didn’t even ask how it happened. In fact I couldn’t speak for hours.

It was later when I was told that he had taken his own life. The most charismatic, charming, funny, successful man in my life, a guy who was financially stable, good looking and healthy as an ox had killed himself and I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand why.

Triple M Grill Team captain Gus Worland wants us to pay more attention to the mental health of Aussie men.Source:Supplied

What the hell? He was the last person, the very last person, I thought would do such a thing.

I flew home the next day and paid my respects to Angus’s wife, my cousin. The scene at their house was too sad to comprehend.

Angus had been a huge part of my life from a very young age. As a boy he had taken me under his wing. Early in his career he was the athletics master at Trinity Prep so we had bonded over our mutual love of sport. I even did work experience with him in Year 10.

Later in life he had seen enough potential to give me a big break and hire me as a salesman at Toshiba, a job that changed my career and bought financial stability to my family. He was, in many ways, my life coach, always there with a wise word or an insightful piece of advice to help me through any personal or career travails.

What shocked and confused me after his death was that I had often talked to him about how I was travelling but, clearly, he hadn’t talked to me. I had thought he was my friend but, actually, he was my mate.

Only after his death did I realise there’s a very big difference between the two.

Friendship is the type of relationship that is all in. Nothing is barred and everything is discussed. Friendships, among men, are rarer than you think in this country.

Mateship is great, and I love my mates, but certain topics are off limits. They’re either too embarrassing or the bloke has learned through his interaction with the older blokes in his life, to be stoic and keep his problems to himself, suck it up and get on with it. Unfortunately we can only “get on with it” for so long before something breaks.

Clearly something broke in Angus. He talked to me about certain things but, quite obviously in retrospect, not the important things. Was it because I hadn’t asked the right questions, or recognised signs that he was distressed? I beat myself up about it for a long time, wondering if there was something I could have done.

And it changed my life. It set me on a journey to understand why so many Aussie men are taking their own lives. I was staggered to learn that it is the number one way for a young Aussie male to die. How can that be in 2016?

If it was happening through any other means you would imagine the country would be up in arms, that there would be a Royal Commission and then a specific action plan to stop it. But suicide is rarely talked about and when it is it is in hushed and cryptic terms.

Well that has to stop Australia. It has to stop now.

Australian radio and television personality Gus Worland is on a mission to change our minds about what it means to be an Aussie man. His three part series Man Up premieres on Tuesday October 11 at 8.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.

If you or anyone you know needs help or support contact Lifeline on 131114, or Beyond Blue on 1300224636.