It's May 1st, the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month.

And I have good news. We're winning.

High five. It's Depression Mode. I'm John Moe. I'm glad you're here.

Today we're going to talk about why and how we are winning.

And we'll talk about mental health in the context of mental health awareness month.

We're going to lean on that word awareness.

You know, it's the one month that we have to be aware of mental health.

As of June 1st, boom, back to complete oblivious ignorance. But for this one month,

we'll pay attention. No, I'm kidding. But the thing is, I often forget that Mental Health

Awareness Month is coming, to be honest, because I make this program all year round. And you've

probably listened to the show before in a month that is not May.

We, you and me, we're aware of mental health.

It's like if someone had gravity awareness month.

Yeah, no, we know about gravity.

But Mental Health Awareness Month, M-H-A-M-M-M-M-M-

is a good time to reflect on the idea of awareness, no matter how many hours

you sit at your computer in your house, typing out scripts for your podcast about mental

health. And I think awareness has come a long way, and I do think we're winning. And I especially

think that when I recall how my awareness began.

I was in seventh grade and 12 years old and a student at Sacagawea junior high,

and something was terribly wrong.

As far as I could tell, my classmates all seemed like they were doing fine,

...