Tuesday Oct 08, 2024

Getting Men to Talk with Todd Hopwood

“Men don’t talk about their mental health.”

This is the perception that my guest in this episode, Todd Hopwood, has been fighting to break.

The cultural expectations of men often mean they keep quiet about their wellbeing, a problem in itself that can do far more damage. Todd has been using his position as a leader to advocate for the mental health of his workforce by leading by example.

After posting his mental health score at work one day his colleagues began to open up to him, which led him down a path of supporting people, in particular men, to talk about their own challenges.

We discuss the challenges of showing vulnerability, and the need for trust and communication in relationships. Todd also shares his personal journey of caring for a family member with mental health issues, the barriers he faced in disclosing his struggles, and the transformative power of being open about emotions.

The conversation emphasizes the necessity for radical changes needed to support men to talk more.

“What I wasn’t planning for was that lots of people started talking to me about mental health” – Todd

You'll hear about:

01:35 - Why is mental health important to Todd?

04:41 - Todd on showing vulnerability

08:48 - The impacts of sharing his mental health score at work

17:40 - Networks and leading by example

22:35 - Todd's relationship with mental health growing up

29:40 - Could anyone have supported Todd differently?

33:43 - How partners can support men challenging conditioning

40:52 - The impacts of stress on your responses

44:33 - Should we care for ourselves first before others?