Men's Mental Health Awareness Starts With Emotional Support for Men Men need emotional support too, and September is a good month to say so out loud. It's Suicide Prevention Month, and I wanted this episode of The Robyn Graham Show to raise real men's mental health awareness. Why Emotional Support for Men Matters Right Now The stakes are not abstract. Men die by suicide at close to four times the rate of women in the United States, according to the CDC. That gap has held steady for years, and it's a major reason men's mental health awareness needs to grow past a single month on the calendar. Suicide Prevention Month gave us a natural reason to talk, but we should be having this conversation year-round. Meet Jordan Dexter-Holmes: The Man Behind How Men Cry Jordan built his platform from an unlikely starting point: hip hop and poetry. His work has since grown into spoken word performance, men's retreats, group coaching, and an album called Drowning In The Open. He described his background as a trauma-informed coach, and he told me that background, in addition to his own struggles with mental health, shapes everything he does with the men he works with. What struck me most was his honesty about his own history. Jordan didn't come to this work as an outside expert observing men's mental health from a distance. He came to it from the inside, carrying his own scars first. Drowning in the Open: Jordan's Own Story In Jordan's words, his motivation is deeply personal. "The biggest motivation that I have for me is that I know and understand all too well deep struggles with mental health, suicidal thoughts, and experiences of really being underwater firsthand personally," he told me. He described battling depression and substance struggles throughout his childhood and into adulthood. How Men Cry: The Initiative Explained Why Men Bottle Up Their Pain The Poem That Stopped Me: "Watch It Before It Boils Over" What Real Emotional Support for Men Looks Like I asked Jordan a direct question. Based on everything he has seen, what actually helps men move out of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? His answer was simple, and it wasn't about fixing anything. It came down to real emotional support for men, not advice or solutions. Forgiveness, Kindness, and the Path Forward Read the full show notes and access all links. Where to Find Jordan Dexter-Holmes Jordan's most recent album, Drowning In The Open, is available on all streaming platforms. It features his late mentor, the celebrated poet Dr. Nikki Giovanni, and the project has been submitted for Grammy consideration. You can find Jordan online at dextrspits.com. If there's a man in your life who needs to hear this conversation, I encourage you to share it with him. Men need emotional support too, and men's mental health awareness improves one honest conversation at a time. Sharing this episode is a strong place to start. Book a discovery call with Robyn. Book Robyn to speak.

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