Mental Health Battle

Preamble:

YHC had some trouble waking up on time recently. Alarm clock was set to 4:45am and I jumped off the bed like a tiger at … 5:15? WTF?

If this was the Gladiator, with their 5:15am start time and my history of missed Qs there, in a few years I would point back to this day as the inspiration and drive for inventing time travel. Here I felt I still had a chance to salvage the situation. 8 minutes later I was out of the door and “only” 5 minutes late for the beatdown.

Warm-O-Rama:

I have no idea, since I wasn’t there. I know they ended with Hillbillies led by FannyPack.

The Thang:

Mosey to the nearby parking lot. As we run around it YHC dropped 4 cones with exercises on each. Gather around in the center.

This workout was taken from the Nation’s Mental Health Battle WOD (small adjustments were made), as this month is Mental Health month.

Round 1 we all did together – run to the first cone and do the first listed exercise (10 Hand Release Merkins), run to the center for 2 Burpees. Run to the second cone and do the first listed exercise (15 Shoulder Taps, alpha), run to the center for 2 Burpees. You get the idea.

During the first round, after we did the Burpees, we read 2 facts about Men’s struggle with mental health. See below.

Rounds 2-4 were done OYO. In each cone we added a new exercise, so first cone was 10 Hand Release Merkins and 10 Clap Merkins (modified to 10 Diamonds during 3rd round). Burpees doubled themselves every round, so 4 Burpees during 2nd round, 8 during the 3rd. We finished after the first cone in the 4th round, some with and some without the 16 Burpees.

Mosey to pick up the cones and back to the flag.

First Cone, 10 each

• Hand Release Merkins
• Add Clap Merkins (modified to Diamonds on 3rd/4th rounds)
• Add Prime Time Merkins (Merkin with 1 leg up in the air)
• Add Mike Tysons

Second Cone, 15 each

• Shoulder Taps, alpha
• Mountain Climbers, alpha
• Peter Parker, alpha
• Zebra Kicks

Third Cone, 20 each

• Monkey Humpers
• Bonnie Blairs (single)
• Side Lunges (single)
• Jump Squats

Fourth Cone, 25 each

• LBCs
• Freddie Mercury, alpha
• Heels to Heaven
• Superman

COT:

It’s easy to see physical disabilities or unfitness, but mental and emotional issues are hidden from us. YHC often struggles to accept family members are dealing with REAL mental health issues and it’s easier to just expect them to willpower through those issues. It doesn’t work like that.

Naked-Man Moleskin:

1. Although men are marginally less likely than women to develop a significant mental illness during their lifetimes, about 1 in 2 men will have a diagnosable disorder at some point in their lifetimes.

2. Men are about 2x less likely than women to seek help if problems do occur.

3. Almost 50% of men feel that they are struggling more than they admit to people in their life.

4. Depression looks significantly different in men than in women… Women tend to present as sad and withdrawn, while men tend to present as irritable and angry.

5. Men are 2-3x more likely to abuse substances in an attempt to manage their mental health, which often leads to other health problems.

6. Suicide rates in men have been steadily increasing over the past 20 years, and at present, men are 4x more likely than women to die by suicide, and this risk increases with age.

7. Therapists that specialize in working with men often use different strategies to make therapy feel more approachable… therapy doesn’t have to look like sitting in an office and crying about your feelings!

8. Therapists have historically done a pretty crappy job of helping men, though things are slowly changing. Men often go to therapy at the urging of a loved one, but men tend to drop out of therapy sooner than women because they find it unhelpful. This is a legitimate problem, and you’re not crazy if you’ve tried therapy before and it wasn’t helpful for you! If you’re thinking about reaching out to a therapist, consider finding one that has specific expertise in working with men. (from Giles, who is a therapist and can offer this opinion form a place of experience).