Courage and conviction are two powerful attributes that play a pivotal role in the journey of healing for men struggling with mental health. When I reflect on my own life, it still blows my mind that I had the courage and conviction to do something as drastic as taking a weapon to a place I associated with deep pain—yet I couldn’t find that same courage to talk honestly about what was really going on inside me. If I could go back, I wouldn’t have kept it all bottled up for forty years. I would’ve spoken up and saved myself a lot of unnecessary suffering.

Mental health struggles can leave deep psychological scars that manifest in countless ways across a man’s life. But in the process of overcoming those struggles, courage and conviction emerge as not just helpful but essential tools for reclaiming your voice, identity, and self-worth. Courage is often misunderstood as being fearless. But it’s not. Courage is about facing fear, pain, and uncertainty head-on. For many men, mental health issues bring on a storm of doubt—doubt in our value, doubt in our strength, doubt in our ability to move forward. Real courage is about admitting that fear exists but refusing to let it run the show. That first honest acknowledgment is the beginning of real healing.

Society often teaches men to be stoic and silent, to “man up” and hide our emotions. That conditioning creates isolation. It makes it harder to ask for help, harder to show vulnerability. But it takes massive courage to break that mold—to be real, to say “I’m not okay,” and to open up. Speaking out doesn’t just help you—it helps others. It breaks the silence that so many men are stuck in. When I finally started talking about my mental health struggles, I realised I wasn’t alone. In fact, I found out there were a lot more men like me than I ever imagined. We just weren’t saying it out loud. Courage allows men to face the pain of the past—not to relive it, but to own it. To take control of the narrative. To move from being trapped by our pain to standing tall in spite of it. That’s power. That’s transformation.