RICHMOND, Va. – June is recognized as Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month.
However, Ellery Lundy, founder and president of the Broken Men Foundation in Richmond, believes mental health awareness is not just a one-month occurrence; it is necessary year-round.
The stigma of addressing men’s mental health issues often begins at a young age, according to Lundy.
“Young men are taught not to cry. They're taught not to show their emotion. And a lot of times, that's not the right answer,” he said.
Lundy explained how everyday issues can contribute to the negative mental health of men.
“Any type of stress that your family needs at this particular time, if you don't feel like you can reach that bar [...] that's a hardship for a man, and those things can really affect your mental as far as going into depression, feeling like you're a failure, feeling like you haven't lived up to your expectations,” he said.
Lundy understands the importance of healthy outlets and the consequences that follow if they aren’t accessible.
“If not, it carries over to relationships, okay, then you have a young man putting his hand on a young lady or hitting the wall or getting upset because he does,” he said. “Nobody has ever told him or shown him how to deal with these emotions. So that's very important at the Broken Men Foundation that we teach those social skills.”
The Broken Men Foundation offers mentors to those enrolled in their Broken Men Youth Academy with the aim of offering different perspectives to successfully contribute to their mentees' lives.
“Each and every one of these mentors knows that they have a story to tell, and we know that we cannot leave this earth without sharing that story, because that story that we share could go on to save a kid's life,” Lundy said.
He urged men to lean on the trusted figures in their lives and take this month as an opportunity to take care of themselves, “Facilitating your problems is not something you can always do by yourself,” he said, adding, “Just because you've been broken doesn't mean that you'll stay broken.”
If you have any programs, initiatives, or donations you would like to contribute to the Broken Men Foundation, go to their website, brokenmenfoundation.org.
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