The Silent Epidemic: Exploring Men's Mental Health | 10 Tips for You

The Silent Epidemic: Exploring Men's Mental Health | 10 Tips for You

Gentlemen, what are you doing to take care of your mental health? There's actually a silent academic epidemic going on, if I can say the word. the men's mental health. It's at a critical juncture. A study found out that 35 percent of men believe they've had a diagnosable mental health issue and found that actually 77 percent of men have suffered from common mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

So what are you doing about your mental health as a man? By the end of this episode of the Fallible Man podcast, You'll have 10 options to help equip you in your mental health journey. So let's get into it. Here's the million dollar question. How do men like us reach our full potential growing to the men we dream of becoming while taking care of our responsibilities, working, living, being good husbands, fathers, and still take care of ourselves.

Well, that's the big question. And in this podcast, we'll help you with those answers and more. My name is Brent and [00:01:00] welcome to the Foundable Man Podcast. Now, gentlemen, you don't have to do all these things that I'm going to lay out for you today. I don't have all the answers. That's a well documented fact.

And hopefully you probably have something you're already doing. in your life to combat your mental health situation. And I'm not saying that you're all crazy or that everybody has mental health issues. I am saying that men deal with a lot more mental health issues than they're ready to share with the world.

I've had my own mental health struggles over the years. So this is a topic that's near and dear to my heart and something we're really trying to bring into a normal conversation here on the Fallible Man Podcast. Now there are several options besides what we're going to share here today to help you with your mental health.

However, the tools I'm sharing today are tools that I've used in my own life to help me on my mental own mental health journey. As I've gone through it over the years. So I know they actually work and are beneficial because if they worked for me and they work with people I know, then [00:02:00] likely they're going to help you as well.

By the way, my name is Brent and welcome to the fallible man podcast, your home for all things, man, big shout out fallible nation. That's what I like to call our longtime listeners. And the good news is the bar for entry guys is stick around, hang out and enjoy the show. Big welcome to our first time listeners.

Thanks for giving us a chance. There's a lot out there competing for your attention right now. And so really from the bottom of my heart, it means a lot to me that you've given us a chance. Be sure to connect with us at the fallible man on most platforms. I'm particularly active on Instagram. That's the best place to follow me.

I'm also on Facebook. Be sure to reach out to me. Let me know what you thought of the show. I'd love to get your opinion and take on it and find out how we can serve you better. So. Without further ado, let's get into this list.

Now we're going to jump right into it with number one, guys, get [00:03:00] outdoors. Men are connected to nature. Even if you don't realize it, think you are, or feel particularly inclined to outdoor activity. The majority of men find once they start connecting with nature and getting outside. Whether that's walking, hunting, fishing, camping, whatever your thing, I'm not saying you have to become like, you know, bear grills.

All right. But get out and connect with the outdoors. It becomes a refuge for a lot of men as soon as they actually start experiencing it. It's a very, very solid bet. The connecting with outdoors will help you with your mental health. Number two, get fit. Now, exercise is a natural antidepressant. That's a well documented fact.

But you don't have to become Mr. Olympia or you don't have to go and win the CrossFit games. Hell, you don't even have to compete in the CrossFit games. Lord knows I don't. Fine exercises that you don't mind are [00:04:00] better yet that you actually enjoy and get active. Get your diet in check. This is a big step for a lot of men.

A lot of us struggle, especially if dads, I'm pretty sure the dad bod comes from the fact that we just get sick of throwing good food away. And so we clean our kids plates all the time. There's a terrifying connection between your gut and your brain. However, that has massive impact on your mental and emotional health.

More and more research has proven that sugars, food dyes, a lot of processed foods actually have a direct correlation on your outlook and your mental health. And the way you feel, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. So time to get it in check guys. No more excuses. I'm working on it.

I hope you're working on it, but it will make a huge difference in your life. Number three, gentlemen, start walking. I know I'm, I'm throwing lots of exercise. No, this is not part of the get fit. I'm not talking about like [00:05:00] power walking. Maybe you didn't have them. Like my, my grandma was into power walking, even as a little kid, it was hard to keep up with her.

I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about walking, just walk, just every day walking. Okay. And I'm not talking about getting your steps. Okay. We know that getting your steps helps with the whole waistline thing or whatever. Walking has been proven to help mental health. Now we're not talking about the earphone in earphones in jamming out as you train walking.

See, and that's why I'm having problems separating this. I'm not talking about walking for work. I'm not talking about walking for exercise. I'm talking about just getting out and walking, go for a stroll, go with somebody, laugh, talk, enjoy the conversation. Uh, if you follow me on Instagram, you know, I go for walks with my daughter and I love those times because we have great conversations and we laugh and we joke and we talk about serious things.

It's a time for us to connect. [00:06:00] Are we racing? No, we're not going as fast as we could. Could we go faster? Yeah. Do we want to? No, we're enjoying getting out and getting some fresh air. So do what my guest Bodhi Aldridge on the episode earlier this week talked about when we were talking to him, go walk, breathe deeply, listen to the world around, you know, headphones, take in the sunlight, see what there is to be seen.

Maybe go with another person and connect with them as you walk and talk. But just walk. I don't understand all the science behind it. I'm not going to pretend I do, but it's incredible. What a difference it will make on your mental resilience and your mental state. Number four, we're not getting woo woo here guys, but try this out.

Get barefoot studies have proven that getting grounded helps with your outlook. The grass between your bare feet or between your toes and your bare feet is magical [00:07:00] guys. I'm not going to lie. This is something I really enjoy. And if that term grounded sounds a little woo woo, like I said, it's not, it's just a really stupid explanation for connecting with the outdoors without something between right.

Grounded literally just means connecting with the ground without something between your feet and the ground. No socks, no sandals, no soles of your shoes, barefoot. It's just a really stupid way to say hit barefoot. Now I don't understand all the science involved with this either. I am not a doctoral candidate or a PhD, right?

I'm not that guy. I haven't got a lot of science background, but I read a lot of articles. I also know it's been a big boon in my life. I don't know what it is. It is magical. To get barefoot on some grass. Now for me, I live in a place with really crappy lawn and so I have to go like the park because the park has a nice lawn, but [00:08:00] walking barefoot on that thick grass has this uncannily incredible effect on my outlook and my emotional wellbeing.

Now, word of warning, be smart where you go barefoot. Like I said, I go to the park because I don't do it in my yard. Stepping on goat heads, thistles, dry crack talk, ground or dog crap or something else will likely kind of cheat you out of the benefit of going barefoot and trying to connect that way. So be smart about it, but man, find some nice green grass and golf course apart and walk barefoot.

I promise you it will have an incredible effect on your mental wellbeing. Number five, gents, dogs may not be a man's best friend, or they might be depending on your outlook on it. However, They are incredibly good for your mental health. Just the act of petting a dog actually medically scientifically proven lowers your [00:09:00] blood pressure.

They're so healthy to have around that we had a resident canine at the nursing home I worked at when I was younger that just lived at the nursing home because Having him there or her actually it was female their present was healthy for our aging adults It was incredible an animal that truly fully loves you Is always glad to see you no matter what wants your attention thinks you're amazing No matter how big of a bum you are or how you treat the animal Now I'm not advocating for being a bad pet owner.

Take care of the dog. Love the dog. Those big, dumb level mutts that are an absolute pain in the butt sometimes are one of the most incredible investments in your health. It's amazing guys. I don't always want to love on my dog, but my dog always thinks I'm the best person in the world. And there's something [00:10:00] magical about that mentally.

Number six. Invest in your sleep. Now I made no secret of my relationship with companies like MyPillow and GhostBed, and it's because your mind will deteriorate without sleep. We know factually sleep deprivation not only impede your ability to think clearly and increases the likelihood of bad choices, it actually deteriorates your brain cells.

Without sleep, everything else in your life is amplified at such a massive rate rate that The littlest things become hugely problematic. Lack of sleep crushes your mind. I believe in this so much that I sleep on a ghost bed. I have my pillow pillows. I have my body, my pillow, body pillows and sheets. Yes, they are sponsors of this podcast, but the reason I wanted to work with them, the reason that I was willing to work with them is because I can tell you [00:11:00] my audience and listeners in a hundred percent honesty, That they are one of the better investments I've made in my mental and emotional and physical health over the years.

And they have amazing products that I enjoy and I benefit from all the time. And I'm not trying to sell you anything, but investing in my sleep is one of the best things I ever did for myself emotionally, mentally, and physically. Number seven, gentlemen started gratitude practice. Gratitude is an incredible gratitude has this amazing impact on your mental state.

It's a natural stress reducer because focusing on gratitude changes the way you You look to every other aspect of your life. Now I use a free app called gratitude jar. And if you watch the video, I'll put it here so you can see what it actually looks like. It's a simple free. That's important to me. It's simple and it's free and easy to [00:12:00] use bonus.

It has this really cool feature. Like it's literally just a little jar looking animation and you add something and it throws a star in the jar. But it has this cool feature where you can go back to your jar and you can shake your phone and randomly pulls up one of the things that you've entered previously that you're grateful for.

So when you are struggling to find the yay part of life, right? To see the glass half full, you have a list of things that you're grateful for already that you can go back and tap into. And. It kind of helps give you this little lift. Now I'm not affiliated with gratitude jar at all. I love the app because it's simple.

I love it because it's free. I love it because it actually is beneficial for me and I use it on a regular basis, but you can do it a different way. You can write it down on a piece of paper. You can keep a journal if you like to keep a journal. I'm a computer nerd, so I have it on my phone [00:13:00] and my phone is always with me, but start a gratitude practice because when you start to focus on being grateful for the amazing things in your life, the things that aren't so amazing are difficult.

Don't take near as much out of you. It's awesome. Number eight, connect with other men. A strong positive group of healthy men connect with can be all the difference of the world between making it and breaking brotherhood is at the root of men. I've done entire episodes on this multiple times. I did an episode on this with Brett Snodgrass and Jason Lang this season alone and I'll put links to those shows in the show notes cause I'm not going to go deep into that because I had Between the two of them, like three and a half hours of conversation specifically about connecting with other men.

And we can deep dive on that. If that's something you need some help with, because I know I struggle connecting with other men. [00:14:00] So if that's something that you need a little more help with or not quite sure how to approach, I've got those links down in the show notes. Check those out. They're great episodes and you can deep dive on connecting with other men on those episodes.

Number nine, gents, start. A new healthy hobby. I'll resume an old one. You know, for years, one of my favorite TV shows was NCIS. If you aren't an NCIS fan, the main character Gibbs, almost everybody knows him, even if they don't watch the show, uh, iconic character and the actor did it for years and years and years and years.

But the main character was always hand building a boat in his basement. It was his coping mechanism. And it was a fun little gimmick because, you know, you're always trying to figure out how in the hell he's going to get this boat out of his basement that just has a single door stair drop. But that's, you know, appealing to the men in us, right?

How are we [00:15:00] logistically working that out? But for Gibbs, who. investigated horrible crimes all the time. His boat was not only his coping mechanism to keep him sane and clear with all that horror that he lived with, but it also gave him a place to think and something to do and be passionate about and take pride in.

Now, maybe you don't build boats. I know it was a big surprise. I don't build boats. So maybe you don't build boats either, but a shockingly large amount of men have no healthy, happy hobbies at all. Okay. It's funny because we used to have hobbies when we were younger. Like most people had some kind of hobby, but life got busy and we grew up and things got difficult and we had responsibilities and things to do.

And a lot of us just lost them. Well, guys, it's time to find that old friend of a hobby or maybe start a new one because having a healthy hobby. Now, when I [00:16:00] say healthy hobby, I'm not saying spend all your time gaming. That's a big distraction on for men. Uh, a lot of men can't balance that. Some men game just find some men pointing myself here, get lost in it and it's not a good hobby.

I'm not saying gaming and I'm not saying soak up in front of the TV. Please don't sit there and binge Netflix all day long, but find a healthy, active hobby. I promise you it will make an incredible difference in your life to have something that you love to do and to work your way through that over and over and over again.

Number 10, learn to set boundaries. You cannot be everything to everyone, right? You have problems. Everybody has problems. And the problem is that everybody wants a piece of you. The problem. is everybody can't have a piece of you, right? [00:17:00] So lots of problems in this concept. But setting boundaries is one of the most powerful things you can do for your mental state.

The world is full of takers. People who will take until they bleed you dry if you let them. I always feel bad for incredibly generous people. I try and be generous in my life, but I know people who are generous to a fault. And there are always people around them bleeding them for everything they can get.

You need to figure out who and what matters in your life and set a limit on your pool of how much you give to others, right? How much generosity you can afford to give away. without it draining you and set those boundaries. It's Arthur Mark author. That was a horrible way of saying that as author, Mark Manson said in his book, the subtle art are not giving up.

The key to living a good life is not giving a about more things or rather giving a about things that align [00:18:00] with your personal values. Now I'm all about helping other people, guys. I think it's actually an incredible trait and it's something that you should try and do. But you have to know what your healthy limits are because you can only pour out so long before it takes away from everything else in your life.

So set boundaries and that will help your mental state in a massive way. Now, gents, I've got a bonus tip. I only intend to give you 10, but I'm going to give you 11. And the bonus tip is try the mental app. You may have heard me talk about it. If you've listened to episodes in the past, if you haven't, I'm still non affiliated whatsoever with this group.

I did do an entire episode with the founder of mental. Anson Whitmore, and I still use this app daily as part of my mental health regiment. It's the first men's mental health app to exist, like aimed specifically, built specifically for you and me. [00:19:00] They get us. I knew that when the Anson told me the first person he hired was a comedian.

I knew he was locked into this and had it down like he was going the right way. I have been using the mental app

I don't know. I, I'm bad at tracking time for, I don't know, um, nine months, a year, however long it's been. And guys, they've just made it even better as time has gone on. I love what they're doing. It really does help. It is part of my daily mental health routine. It doesn't take a lot out of your day. You can do it as little or as much and there's lots of different features in it, uh, for you to tune in the way that helps you the most.

It's not a one size fits all is like you have to do this part and then this part together. There's different parts of it, all of the things that are help your mental health, but that way you can dial it in for what is most effective for you. So I [00:20:00] recommend getting into the episode with Anson next because Anson could deep dive into mental health.

A lot better than I can and it was a phenomenal show. So check that out. It will be linked down in the description below. Now, gents, as we're landing this plane, remember that taking care of your mental health is important. It's not just important. It's crucial. The tools we've discussed today are practical steps that you can start taking today to enhance your well being.

Whether it's getting outdoors, starting a gratitude practice, or connecting with other men, Each action contributes to your mental resilience. I'm all about actionable takeaways. That's why I want to share these things that I've done in my life. They've been beneficial because any one of them, you can in this show and start right now.

It doesn't take rocks and science. It doesn't take a lot of effort. You can literally start the path on all of them today. So don't forget to click [00:21:00] on the link in the show notes and join our mailing list for exclusive content. Just for signing up, you'll receive our free ebook. Foundations of change is packed with insights to further support your journey.

Let's prioritize our mental health together. I want to make this conversation normal among men where we can talk about this without stigma, to make sure we're taking care of our own mental health and we're taking care of our brothers. Stay strong, stay connected, and remember your wellbeing matters. In the meantime, be better tomorrow because of what you do today.

We'll see you on the next one. This has been the fellow man podcast. You're home for everything man, husband, and father. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a show. Head over to www. TheFallibleMan. com for more content and get your own Fallible Man gear.