I had the honor of being a part of a Men’s Mental Health Social Interest Group over on The Good Men Project. As a weekly columnist there already, I jumped at the opportunity to help promote awareness and inspire others on such a large-scale.
Men and Women from all walks of life joined together in weekly conference calls to discuss how we could best promote awareness and encourage everyone to speak up, speak out, and ask for help. To not be ashamed of the trauma we suffered, and to not be ashamed that we live with depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, DID, bipolar, or any mental illness.
Our desire is to show that the challenges we face each day may be difficult but they are not insurmountable. We are parents, fathers, sons, brothers, bloggers, lawyers, actors, advocates, and anything else we choose to be. We are not defined by any type of mental health stigma. And you are not either!
Throughout the course of the first ever Men’s Mental Health SIG, we decided to make a video public service announcement. After many productive round table type discussions, 8 of the men in the group decided to participate in the video and share a short clip about who we are, what we suffer from, and to say that we got help. Others who did not participate in video helped greatly with providing ideas, support, and a never ending amount of encouragement.
We all decided on a theme, which truly fits the message being shared – We Are Not Weak, Just Human. #NotWeakJustHuman
I was truly honored to be part of this movement, and grateful to have met so many amazing people from across the globe who share the same passion of awareness and spreading the message of hope and validation.
Each person involved is committed to sharing this message with as many as possible. I hope you will take the time to watch the video, and share it so it reaches everyone who needs to it. Use the hashtag #NotWeakJustHuman and let’s inspire as many as possible to speak up and get help.
Thank you again to Mike Kasdan and Lisa Hickey at Good Men Project for helping to put this group together. I look forward to future social interest groups surround mental health awareness.
-Matt
This is super! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Matt, excellent video. I’ll share on my blog.
Amazing courage to speak up & out about what you’re going through, especially for a few good men! Thank you for being willing. Keep going. Don’t give up! Keep sharing because you never know who might need to hear your message of hope! I’ve been there but am not broken anymore. http://www.listentothecry.org