To the outside world, Traci Robertson's son Brodan Aylott had everything to live for.

He had a beautiful girlfriend and lots of loving friends and family. At 21 he was running a successful bricklaying business, and by the time he was 22 he had bought his own home.

But beneath the surface, Brodan was struggling and it was a secret he kept from everyone close to him.

The 24-year-old was in debt, and was owed more than $100,000 by a Sydney builder for a big job.

Brodan was being hounded by debt collectors and the banks and was struggling to keep up with his bills.

When he broke his collarbone, he kept working in a desperate attempt to pay his staff.

But eventually, it all became too much and on Mother's Day this year, Brodan took his own life.

"I think it was such a large amount and so much money he was owing to his workers and debts that he just felt there was no way out," his mother Traci told A Current Affair.

"His partner would say to him, what's wrong, she could feel something was wrong, and he would say I don't want to talk about it, leave it alone.

"He didn't want to be seen as a failure, he wanted people to be proud of him."

Ms Robertson believes a big reason her son her didn't ask for help is because of the culture that exists within the Australian construction industry.

She wants to raise awareness of mental health among tradies and get them talking about their problems.

"Men don't like to show their emotions anyway and therefore if they're struggling, they'd rather not share the problems and issues that are happening in their lives," she said.

"It's just such a big issue at the moment and it's going to get worse."

CONFRONTING STATISTICS

In Australia, suicide rates among construction workers are twice as high compared to any other industry.

Statistics also show there are considerably higher rates of drug and alcohol use.

"They are shocking, there's no two ways about it," says Chris Lockwood from suicide prevention charity Mates in Construction.

"Any suicide is not good enough but clearly we've got an issue in this industry and as an industry we are taking that seriously."

It's no secret working as a tradesman can be tough – the hours are long, the work physical, there's often poor job security and financial pressures.

And Mr Lockwood says one of the biggest reasons for the alarmingly high statistics is that these pressures can result in higher drug and alcohol use and relationship breakdowns.

"You can see where you can spiral a bit where it's not even necessarily around a mental illness per se, it's the circumstances that we all face in day to day life and they just get too much at times," he said.

Mates in Construction was set up 10 years ago to try to tackle the issues.

The organisation holds workshops everyday across Australia to try to get men talking about mental health, as well as helping them better identify if their mates might be struggling.

"A large part of our program has been aimed at making it okay to talk about these things, letting everyone know that for all of us we all have issues at different times and it's normal," he said.

"It's about working with the workers on site, getting everyone to keep an eye out, to take responsibility for each other."

HELP ON THE GROUND

Rhett Foreman hadn't slept for more than 100 days when he tried to take his own life in 2001.

At the time, he was working on a major construction project in Brisbane and was doing long hours in a high-stress environment.

He was in a constant state of anxiety but didn't know how to ask for help.

"It felt like I had lit cigarettes going up and down my forearms, my stomach was churning all the time," he told A Current Affair.

"It's like quicksand, you don't realise how bad it is until you're sinking down and you're struggling to move and you sink lower in and before you know it you feel like there's no way out."

After trying to take his own life, Rhett was admitted to a mental health unit and eventually received the help he needed.

He went back to work and has since become heavily involved with Mates in Construction as a spokesperson and mentor.

"What I think would really help is if there was some general awareness training regarding suicide awareness (that) was mandated in our industry," he said.

"The biggest thing that will help lower these statistics are people having the tools to help themselves and those around them."

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.