Hey in the light fam. Welcome to June. The official first month of summer.

It's a month for celebrating our high school graduates. It's a month for

weddings and it's a month for drum row please

Men's Mental Health Month. This month we pay some extra special attention to our fathers our our husbands, our sons, our nephews, our grandsons, and

our good guy friends.

It's so important.

When it comes to mental health, we have to be sure to support the men in our lives and in our communities.

There are so many stereotypes about men and emotion and mental illness that problems can be easily overlooked while a man you love suffers in

silence. I want to give you some numbers. Here in the United States, six million men are affected by depression every year.

Six million.

We miss it sometimes because it's more likely to manifest as fatigue or irritability

rather than sadness the way we might expect it in women.

Another 3 million plus men have anxiety disorders like panic disorder, agoraphobia, or another

phobia. Here's another stereotype breaker. Bipolar disorder is just as common in men as it is in women. And guess what? Men are

diagnosed with eating disorders too. 35% of those with a binge eating disorder are men. Let that sink in because we don't

imagine men as the face of mental illness most of the time. I want us to make sure that we start to pay attention to that

reality and let it sink in. But don't stop there. We're concerned about more than mental illness. We want to support the well-being of

men overall. Remember, therapy isn't for mentally ill people. Therapy is for people. We want men to feel free to go to a

therapist just to talk, to work on stuff, and to work through stuff. I don't want

them hiding behind faith anymore than I want my sisters doing that.

So today I'm sharing a special treat with you.

A few weeks ago I had the honor of sitting down with Pastor Darius Daniels for his new podcast. He is

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