Prioritizing Mental Health
Living in this generation as teenagers or early 20 year olds can be difficult. Although mental health is more of a priority now than it was even just 5 years ago, it can be hard to open up about it or accept what you are feeling. As you get older, new experiences happen quicker and can become more challenging as you try to navigate through all the different parts of life. There will be many things that are out of your control but one thing you can at least try to control is your mental health. There are many different techniques to improve your mental health like meditation, talking to a friend, or participating in therapy. I feel it is important to normalize attending therapy. There are so many different beliefs today about mental health and what you can do to help it, but we need to start focusing on what makes us feel better and stop worrying about what other people think.
One of the biggest challenges with bringing awareness to mental health is breaking the stigma that men cannot show emotion. As a man, it is admittedly hard to open up and express emotions but I have realized that having a good support system helps in this aspect. The more people I can openly trust in my close circle, the easier sharing emotions is. I recently listened to a podcast by Brandon Marshall, an ex-NFL player that went into a mental institution during his NFL career. He talks about how he only got access to elite care, because of his career, but most people do not have access to this type of care. He now goes around the country and gives talks about mental health, to make himself relatable to men, and prove as a man it is ok to open up and share, no matter how "tough" you are. Keep up the conversation!
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