#175: Movember
Hey - here's my latest newsletter. Find more of my writing in the links at the end.
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This month I’ve lobbed off my beard and I’ll be growing a moustache in solidarity with the other “Mo Bros”, also raising awareness for men’s health.
(Photos below, I look 12)
I'm taking part in Movember with the Sanctus Team.
Men’s health remains a particular aspect of mental health that I find awkward to talk openly about.
I’ve found it very easy over the last 5 years talking about mental health and challenging us all to talk about our mental health more openly, in the workplace and beyond.
When I hone in on mental health in men I become less comfortable articulating myself and I seem to get less of a response too.
Singling out men does feel more pointed than I might usually be.
Yet to not acknowledge the uniquenesses around mental health for men is really missing out on a lot of context and if we don’t talk specifically about men, then we’re ignoring some of the glaring facts about men’s mental health.
Particularly the fact that globally one man dies every minute by suicide.
How can’t we talk specifically about that?
The typical masculine approach to mental health, the “it’ll be fine” or “don’t be a girl” narrative often applies to men’s approach to physical health too, where the consequences are just as dangerous.
Movember initially began as a charity focusing on prostate and testicular cancer, breaking down the taboo for men to check their genitals for lumps and not be afraid to go to the doctor to get something checked.
The generational approach to men’s health often described as toxic masculinity is going to take a while to change, there are centuries of legacy norms for how men should be, passed down from great grandfathers who went off to war, that’s just one of the narratives around men we often don’t consider.
I want us to change the narrative around men and masculinity in my lifetime. I don’t want to keep hearing the same old lines about how men don’t talk about how men are stubborn and won’t change. I don’t want the word most associated with masculinity to be toxic. It feels apt to be writing and thinking about this as we remember those that died in World War 1 and 2, mostly men at war. There are more links to the Poppy appeal and Movember, than we might initially think.
Being a man in the UK does come with some negative stereotypes attached, yet let’s not forget the friendship, camaraderie, laughter and love we all experience as men, with other men too.
One moustache, one conversation at a time, let’s change the conversation for men around health and mental health.
Here's more info on Movember and how I'm getting involved:
Sanctus reasons for Movember
Sanctus Movember donation page
Where Movember use their funds raised.
Cheers,
James x
Before (30) After (16)
What I'm writing
We talk about money all the time in startups, but do we actually talk about it? I wrote about the Money Taboo and how conversations about money are good for Startups. I wrote it with Sifted.
The Great Awakening. Many people are waking up to the impact of work on their mental health and making career changes as a result, people are talking about the great resignation and talent wars, to me this is all about mental health. I wore this one with Mind.
What I'm reading
I' just finished On Writing; A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. 4/5 would recommend for any Writer.
I'm reading Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
My book - 'Mental Health at Work'
You can order my book 'Mental Health at Work' from Amazon, Bookshop.org, Foyles and Waterstones
Personal Website with writing and other bits -
https://jamesroutledge.co/
Sanctus OnlIne Gym with daily journaling classes - https://sanctus.community/welcome
Sanctus website with more about Coaching in the workplace -
https://sanctus.io/
Who am I?
I'm the Founder of a Mental Health mission called Sanctus and I'm the Author of a Book; "Mental Health at Work" that's published by Penguin.
I write this newsletter about mental health, startups and my life, my journey and 8,000 people like it enough to still be here. I try to respond to everyone who emails me, it just takes me a while.