The Elephant in the Boardroom: Men’s Mental Health

From an early age, boys are told to be strong. Whatever you do, don’t show emotion! Crying is a weakness! There are a lot of obstacles to men feeling able to talk about hard things. Many of these dynamics get translated into how men lead in the workplace and in the male loneliness epidemic.

Last week, Mind Share Partners’ Bernie Wong hosted a roundtable with distinguished men to discuss the stigma of mental health, positive developments in younger men, and their own personal stories. The guests included:

• David Pritchard, former Colleague Wellbeing Manager at Hyatt Hotels

• Brandon Saho, Founder and host of The Mental Game Podcast 

• Dr. Allen Lipscomb, Clinician and professor of Social Work at the California State University Northridge

The video roundtable is below – it’s worth a watch. Here is a bit of what each guest said about his own personal story. The quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

David Pritchard:

“I unfortunately saw my mom go through it and later in her life unfortunately suffer from a lot of heart issues and things like that. But she took care of us and she did it with a very strong exterior. She didn't let anyone see that below all of that she was struggling and really battling stress and anxiety to take care of her family. So through that it really became a passion of mine to put the light on this.”

Allen Lipscomb:

“My relationship with mental health started very young when I was a teenager around 14-years old just having my own experience with racialized trauma. At that time there wasn't a name for it and so how it manifested and how it stayed with me was through depression, anxiety, and grief.”

Brandon Saho:

“It started for me at 14 as a freshman in high school. I had my first suicidal thought after a football game getting made fun of. I was in the first generation of cell phones in 2007 and a picture got sent around at a game and that kind of changed my life forever. I didn't really understand what that bullying would do to me and what those feelings of being alone would make me feel like… just that feeling of having to keep it down because men, if you show your emotions or you show your feelings, you're weak. But vulnerability is a strength.” 

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About Mind Share Partners

Mind Share Partners is a nonprofit that is changing the culture of workplace mental health so that both employees and organizations can thrive.

We help employers create mentally healthy workplaces through consulting and training and are building a national movement to change the landscape around work. Challenges like anxiety, burnout, and depression are not just an individual employee’s responsibility. They’re a collective responsibility. That’s why our time-tested approach hinges on changing company culture

driven by values of fairness and inclusion.

We believe in the force of work to transform the mental health and well being—for all workers.