I am taking part in my first Movember and it’s not pretty – meaning the facial hair. You can check out my progress by hitting that link. While the mustache is not up to standards, folks have donated over $700 so far and it’s only Movember 2nd.
I chose mental health and suicide prevention because I have struggled with depression my entire life. When I saw that Calvin Ridley had bravely elected to step away from football to take care of his mental health I was glad. I thought about Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka and how they had helped normalize prioritizing mental health over sport. And I thought about all the other athletes who have suffered in silence under the guise of sucking it up, playing through the pain, even though that pain was not physical.
Sports culture, especially football, constantly praises toughness, so displaying the vulnerability to admit problems with your mental health is laudable. But one of the reasons Movember exists is to help people that don’t have the means to step away from work and focus on their mental health. It’s wonderful that Osaka, Biles, and Ridley all have those means, and have earned them through achieving greatness in their respective sports, but depression and suicide afflict the wealthy and the less fortunate, and can be even more deadly when combined with food and shelter insecurity, homelessness, or just the simple stress of living paycheck to paycheck.
The Movember movement seeks to raise awareness of men’s mental health issues, and encourage men to seek help when they need it, which requires admitting they need help. Reducing the stigma of depression and suicidal ideation is crucial. It isn’t easy, but the more it gets talked about the easier it becomes for millions of men to deal with their issues as Ridley has.
Movember is also investing in research-based interventions to help improve mental health and reduce suicides. Encouraging physical fitness and community-based intervention programs can go a long way to beating depression by making it more manageable and providing treatment and interventions that work.
The money you and others donate (if you can, if not please share this so it can reach more people) will go towards these important steps that if implemented widely can not only normalize admitting being depressed and needing help, but actually fund programs that can save lives.
Huge thanks to everyone that has donated to any campaign supporting mental health, and to those that both inspire and encourage others to admit having a problem and seek help.