Episode Notes

Ryan's six-word story: “Regular person struggles through difficult times.”

Listen in to hear more of Ryan's story!

“One of the biggest things about learning experiences is that they come at the expense of someone else, because that’s how we truly learn. As a man that’s also really important to understand.”

This week, Mikaela speaks with Ryan Forsyth, an award-winning mental health speaker, advocate, fundraiser, an Unsinkable Community Champion, and Founder of The Gentle-Man’s Club. Ryan is passionate about helping men open up about their mental health struggles and helps educate men on the harms of toxic masculinity and the patriarchy.

In this episode, we reflect on exploring mental health as we grow up, unlearning, understanding diverse aspects of mental health (for everyone), healthy masculinity, tough conversations, when to use your voice (and when not to), and how accountability and caring for your mental health coexist. Here are a few tidbits of our conversation:

• Gratitude, privilege, and pain coexist—no one is immune to mental health struggle.
• What we see on TV isn’t always representative of our experience—we can easily self-stigmatize.
• Education & communication go hand-in-hand.
• We must be mindful of the difference between labels & language for experiences.
• When reflecting on our past, consider how the ways we’ve been hurt and ways we’ve hurt others are intertwined. We can both hold ourselves accountable and have compassion for the moments that we may not have had the same info, thoughts, empathy, compassion, and knowledge that we do now.
• You can’t have a conversation about men’s mental health without including women & nonbinary people! Men’s mental health affects the whole world. We’re at a junction where men are being asked to both be accountable and better themselves, which can sometimes clash. Men have a responsibility to heal internally, externally, and communities. Being held accountable isn’t always personal—it’s an opportunity for incredible good.
• Mental health allows us to walk into the necessary difficult conversations.
• With mental illness, you’re not always the best version of yourself—you don’t show up the way you want to, you’re MIA, or you don’t have the capacity to maintain the relationship because you can’t maintain the relationship with yourself. We have to recognize the grace and care that our people have granted us through this.

Connect with Ryan here!

• gentlemansclubcanada.com
• @bigrigredryan01 on Instagram

Disclaimer: This Podcast, along with Resolvve’s & Unsinkable’s mental health learning, educational content, and storytelling is not therapy and is not a replacement for therapy. Please seek professional help if needed.

Go to www.resolvve.ca or weareunsinkable.com to get the support you need. Mikaela offers 1:1 peer support here.

Follow Resolvve on Twitter (@Resolvve_Inc), Instagram (@resolvvementalhealth), and YouTube (@resolvvementalhealth).

Follow Unsinkable on Instagram (@unsinkableyouth), TikTok (@unsinkableyouth), and YouTube (@unsinkable).

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