“Hey man, how are you?” Partners reflect on the first year of a men’s mental health campaign in Greene County

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – KY3 continues to take a serious look at the problem of suicide in our society.

We found the suicide rate in the Springfield area to be 60 percent higher than the national average. Men make up 80 percent of suicides in this area.

That’s why the Springfield-Greene County Health Department and its partners have come together for a campaign called “Hey man, how are you?” which focuses on men and their mental health needs.

“There are ebbs and flows in life,” said Adam Schwartz, an Air Force Special Warfare veteran who served multiple tours in Iraq.

There are things that upset you, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and killing yourself is not the way to go.

Schwartz started the Two Black Ravens Foundation to help veterans cope with their mental health issues through art.

“We teach art to wounded, injured and sick service members and help them deal with their trauma,” Schwartz said.

Suicide prevention is a cause close to his heart.

He knew several men in the service who killed themselves, including one in a portable toilet in Iraq.

The man ignored him as he entered, and Schwartz asked how he was doing.

Schwartz didn’t think anything of it until he was about 100 yards away from the building.

“And unfortunately, the gun went off, and he killed himself in that stable. I was the last guy to talk to him,” Schwartz explained.

Males make up 80 percent of suicides in the Springfield area.

It’s one of the reasons the Healthy Living Alliance of the Ozarks announced “Hey man, how are you?” September 2023 campaign.

The project encourages men to talk about mental health issues and reduce the stigma that often accompanies them.

“In southwest Missouri or the Ozarks, we have that culture of brutal isolation where you pull yourself up by the bootstraps, and you have to take care of it,” said Chris Davis, Vice President of Youth Prevention and Support. for Community Engagement. of the Ozarks

Jon Mooney, assistant director of health at the Springfield-Greene County Health Department explained: “Many times men suffer in silence about their mental health rather than reaching out and talking to someone about it. right.

“Hey man, how are you?” the videos show men doing things like playing basketball and playing cards. They end with a message from a community leader.

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department is one of the groups supporting the campaign.

“Often, men are sometimes reluctant to talk about their mental health, and often, they don’t realize that they may be dealing with a mental health problem. They may think it’s stress. emotions, things like that weigh on them,” Mooney said.

Mooney said they conducted a series of focus groups with men to come up with some of the messages.

He said it’s about normalizing conversations about mental health.

“And from my experience, the more I talk to friends, family, the more natural it becomes,” Mooney said.

“We do this as guys with other guys,” Davis said. “We have friends. We play games, we talk, we do things. We have that friendship. We don’t just ask those questions.”

Davis’ organization, the Community Partnership of the Ozarks, is another group that helped plan the campaign.

“When someone is diagnosed with cancer, they get casseroles, right? We surround them. When someone is diagnosed with depression, we don’t give casseroles. We need to get to the point where we have casseroles for everyone,” Davis said.

Another year in “Hey man, how are you?” campaign, Davis said they are seeing more groups and businesses interested in mental health training, where they learn to recognize the signs of mental health problems and how to address them.

The campaign directs people to the website mentalhealth417.com

There have been over 15,200 visitors since the website launched in May 2023.

Mooney said the more you get the word out, the more people will talk about mental health and suicide and learn about resources that can help.

“Ultimately, we want to see people who commit suicide come down from our community. That is the end game with this, but we understand there are many steps on the way to get there,” Mooney said.

Moving on to the second year of “Hey man, how are you?” Davis and Mooney said their organizations will partner with additional groups and businesses to raise awareness of the campaign and the mental health resources available in the Springfield area.

Schwartz said he’s glad Greene County is trying to reach men with the campaign but said there’s more to be done.

“Just talking about it is not enough. There has to be something more than that, and I think that’s where art comes in. It’s the oldest form of communication and I think that’s why it’s so good,” he said.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or know someone who is, call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline on 988.

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