I struggled through divorce and family estrangement .. and survived. And I am creating a space for dialog that I'd love for you to consider joining: Visible Man.

27 points1 commentsubmitted by visibleman_org to r/malementalhealth

I'm 46 and when I was in my mid-30s, I recall Googling "Average life expectancy of a white male in the US" to brace myself for how much longer I had to tolerate my life. I silently gutted through my days - going to work to get a paycheck to provide for others, while not nourishing or valuing myself. I considered suicide; but I never attempted. I went through the gut-wrenching process of divorce; simultaneous with a family estrangement that left me feeling unimportant, like I exist just to help others, and invisible.

I'm well now. I haven't had a drink in a long time. I'm happily divorced. My kids are healthy and well. And I created Visible Man to be a community for men to help each other, connect, and to provide access to experts in mental health. To feel visible and seen.

We're on social media; and we have guest speakers that the server can interact with and we capture the dialog a turn it into a podcast. Our main chat space is Discord which lets us text/voice/video chat. 99% of our chat is text-based, which is anonymous - and many guys like that. (Although many like myself are open about our identity there, too). I'm new to Discord so if you've not heard of it, you're not alone.

Our past guest speakers have addressed sexual abuse, divorce, addiction and substance abuse, black mental health, and relationships. Our upcoming guests include:

  • May 5, 2021 @ 7pm ET - Jacob Moore, suicide loss survivor, founder of NoStigmas and 5 Bridges Wellness, and Suicide Prevention speaker
  • June 2, 2021 @ 7pm ET - Erin Thurston, LCSW - Topic: Healing from Abuse in Relationships
  • June 9, 2021 @ 7pm ET - Jamison Green, Author Becoming a Visible Man - on his journey as a transgender man and masculinity
  • June 23, 2021 @ 7pm ET - Suicide Loss Survivors, Panel Discussion: Karen Heisig from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), and others will speak about their experience of losing loved ones to suicide.

Discord server