Passion & Purpose: Summer 2024
Three-year grant funds baseball-themed summit, new ad campaign
On April 27, Burrell Behavioral Health welcomed men from across Greene County to Hammons Field for the Men’s Mental Health League: Suicide Prevention Summit. Here they learned about local organizations and campaigns fighting the good fight and heard from a couple speakers on their own mental health challenges. The event was funded through the Advancing Mental Wellness Grant Program, a three-year, multi-partner project focused on mental wellness. At the end of the three years, $600,000 will have been disbursed to Burrell and Healthy Living Alliance of the Ozarks.
The summit highlighted a key goal of the Advancing Mental Wellness Grant Program and the resulting partnership of Burrell and HLA: getting folks more comfortable talking about their mental well-being.
In Springfield, this is an increasingly urgent issue for men in particular. In the United States, 80% of individuals that die by suicide are men, and in Greene County, the suicide mortality rate among men aged 45 and older is even higher. Given that social isolation and stigma around men voicing their emotional challenges are at least partly to blame for this reality, HLA’s campaign “Hey man, you good?” hopes to expedite potentially uncomfortable, but necessary, conversations between men about their mental health by demonstrating the conversations can be sparked by a simple question.
Two speakers at the event shared their battles with pressure and the impact it had on their mental health. Drew Robinson is the mental health advocate for the San Francisco Giants, a position he’s held since recovering from a suicide attempt in April 2020. Prior to that, Robinson was a utility player who saw big-league action with the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers.
At the summit, he recounted how performance pressure, in combination with a recent breakup and the turmoil of quarantine, pushed him into a place where he felt that ending his life was the only solution.
Former big-leaguer Drew Robinson shares his story with Matt Lemmon, then with Burrell Behavioral Health, during the Suicide Prevention Summit on April 27 at Hammons Field in Springfield.
“It was kind of like there was this other, unattainable version of me peeking in at all times, saying no matter how good I’d done, I could’ve done better — this constant voice of ‘not good enough, not good enough,’” Robinson said. Following his attempt, Robinson said it was opening himself up to loved ones that allowed for healing and helped break the stigma of masculine vulnerability.
“You gotta be open and honest, and know that there are people in your life ready to receive that.”
Ethan Bryan is a local author whose most recent book, “A Year of Playing Catch,” chronicles his rediscovery of how a game of catch can make one feel present and connected to others. This awakening has led him to pursue a project he calls Catch365 — a campaign to encourage folks to reconnect with friends and family, or even make connections with strangers, through games of catch.
“Play is essential to being human,” Bryan reminded attendees. “The opposite of play is not work; the opposite of play is depression.”
Events like these are key to the vision of the Advancing Mental Wellness Program, now beginning its second year. Nia Howard, Burrell’s program and engagement leader for the Be Well Initiatives, recounted strategizing for a healthier community focus on mental health.
“At the outset of this program,” Howard said, “we easily identified three groups that have a higher rate of suicide completion: men, age 45 and up; the LGBTQ+ community; and our last group is what we call the ‘Aged Population,’ ages 75 and up.” Burrell’s goal is to host events addressing each of these groups, and the Men’s Mental Health League is the first of them.
Each of these groups faces unique barriers to the health care they need. For the men’s group, Howard said “It’s an issue of permission, so often. What we hoped from the Men’s Summit was that it would give permission, for men, to have an opinion, have feelings, be able to share them, in a safe space.”
Ultimately, she said, it’s really about community and having a network of support. Events like the summit are useful tools in breaking down the barriers that prevent open discussions about mental health, and with them we can see a future where mental wellness is prioritized and supported for all.
By Matthew Stewart · This essay is featured in the summer 2024 edition of Passion & Purpose: The CFO Magazine.
