I'm a successful businessman who hid my mental health struggles. Not anymore.
For years, I battled severe depression and anxiety. From the outside, everything looked fine — successful career, loving family — but inside, I was unraveling. At my lowest point, I questioned whether life was worth living.
Now, I share my story so others know they're not alone. I want people — especially those who seem like they've 'got it all together' —to know it's okay to not be okay.
There is strength in vulnerability, and healing begins with conversation.
These days, I travel the country speaking about mental wellness — how small, honest actions can lead to real healing. A check-in, a conversation, a shared story — these moments can save a life.
I've learned that the most important relationship we have isn't with clients, colleagues, or communities — it's with ourselves. And when we take care of our mental health, everything else begins to align.
This Mental Health Awareness Month, and every month, let's keep talking. Let's keep listening. And let's remind each other that hope is real.
Beyond his advocacy work, Bob Jacobs has spent over 15 years working with Churchill Mortgage, where he serves as Director of Affiliate Business and is a Partner in Champion Title Ventures. He is also the author of Rack 'Em Up and Win: Tips to Building Successful Business Relationships and serves on multiple industry and community boards.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mental Health Awareness Month is a time to talk and listen | Opinion
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Time Magazine
08-08-2025
- Time Magazine
The Connection Between Spirituality and Mental Health
Today, there are between 10,000 and 20,000 mental health apps. In the U.S. alone, there are 1.2 million mental health providers. And Mental Health Awareness Month began 75 years ago. It's safe to say we've never been more aware of mental health. And yet, some fear that as awareness of mental health has gone up, the state of our mental health has gone down. A 2023 study found that one out of every two people in the world will develop a mental health disorder in their lifetime. The situation with young people is even worse. 'The youth mental health crisis is very real,' Dr. Harold Koplewicz, founding President and Medical Director of the Child Mind Institute, tells me. 'The most common disorders of childhood and adolescence are not infectious diseases but mental health disorders. Every 30 seconds a child or adolescent with suicidal ideation or an attempt comes to an ER.' There are many reasons why these are particularly challenging times: Natural disasters are intensifying, chronic diseases continue to climb, and AI is driving fear and anxiety about all aspects of life. People are afraid they will lose their jobs to AI, that their kids will be negatively impacted by AI, and that AI's constantly accelerating development will evolve beyond human control. But beyond the circumstances of the times we're living in lies a more complicated existential crisis. As the French priest and philosopher Teilhard de Chardin once said, 'we are spiritual beings having a human experience.' When we give up on the spiritual part of human nature, we also give up on a supportive framework which can help us handle the anxieties of this historic moment of disruption. Many answer this need for spirituality through organized religion, but as Columbia psychology professor Lisa Miller explains, there are many ways for people to embrace their spirituality. 'The moments of intense spiritual awareness were biologically identical whether or not they were explicitly religious, physiologically the same whether the experience occurred in a house of worship or on a forest hike in the 'cathedral of nature,'' she writes. 'Every single one of us has a spiritual part of the brain that we can engage anywhere, at any time.' The exact practices we engage in that lead to spiritual states of mystery, awe, grace, and wonder doesn't matter. What does matter is that we don't amputate them from our lives. The famed psychologist Abraham Maslow placed self-actualization at the top of his hierarchy of needs—above physiological needs, safety, and belonging. But in the last years of his life, he realized that self-actualization did not fully encompass what it means to be human and added 'transcendence' to the top of the pyramid. As Maslow put it, 'The spiritual life is part of the human essence. It is a defining characteristic of human nature, without which human nature is not fully human.' It's this drive for spirituality that takes us beyond self-centeredness and allows us to resist despair and meaninglessness. This ability to find meaning in our struggles has helped humans navigate times of stress, turmoil, and crisis throughout history—and it is now validated by the latest science. 'When it comes to finding ways to help people deal with issues surrounding birth and death, morality and meaning, grief and loss, it would be strange if thousands of years of religious thought didn't have something to offer,' writes David DeSteno, author of How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion. Spirituality can help us not just weather times of crisis but even emerge stronger than before. A 2024 study on frontline healthcare workers in Poland during the pandemic found that higher levels of spirituality were connected to positive psychological change as the result of struggling with life challenges, known as post-traumatic growth. According to Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist at Thomas Jefferson University, the focused attention which occurs during spiritual practices like meditation and prayer can increase frontal lobe function, which governs executive control, and down-regulates the limbic system, which is linked to fear and the fight-or-flight response. 'When it comes to broader aspects of health, the improvements in brain function associated with spiritual practices that lead to reduced stress and anxiety ultimately can lead to benefits in physical health as well,' Newberg says. 'The practice of religion, as opposed to its theological underpinnings, offers an impressive, time-tested array of psychological technologies that augment our biology,' writes DeSteno. 'To ignore that body of knowledge is to slow the progress of science itself and limit its potential benefit to humanity.' He describes religion first as working similar to how a a vaccine works, 'boosting the body's and the mind's resilience so that they can better confront whatever health challenges come their way.' And second, he uses the metaphor of medicine, healing the body and mind when sickness does hit. He cites a Mayo Clinic review of hundreds of studies in which a clear pattern emerged: 'people who regularly took part in religious activities were objectively healthier.' Even more evidence has been provided by Miller through her work on MRI scans. 'The high-spiritual brain was healthier and more robust than the low-spiritual brain,' she writes. 'For spiritually aware people across faith traditions, the brain appeared able to protect itself from the long-standing neurological structures of depression.' In what Miller calls our 'achieving awareness,' we're focused on organizing our lives, thinking about what we want and how to get it. This is how we build careers and get things done. But a life solely defined by achieving is an unballenced life. In our spiritual or 'awakened awareness,' our perception expands. We see ourselves not just as individual achievers but as connected to others. We seek and experience meaning and purpose. This is really the distinction between Maslow's self-actualization and self-transcendence. In today's culture, many see therapy as the only answer to the mental and emotional struggles of modern life. As psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Boardman writes: 'I am not anti-therapy. I am anti-therapy culture. I believe therapy works best when it is targeted and purposeful.' She is echoed by Dr. Richard Friedman, a psychiatrist at Weill Cornell Medicine, who wrote that 'excessive self-focus… can increase your anxiety, especially when it substitutes for tangible actions.' Excessive self-focus is exactly the sort of thing that can be mitigated in spiritual experiences connecting to something larger than ourselves. The everyday behaviors Boardman cites that improve our mental well-being include practicing spirituality, spending time in nature, volunteering, and helping others. A spiritual element, and an emphasis on helping others, have proven essential to the success of Alcoholics Anonymous. In co-founder Bill Wilson's book, Alcoholics Anonymous, published in 1939, he wrote that 'deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there.' Today, many people are hungry for a sense of spirituality. While religious affiliation has been dropping for decades, the spiritual impulse hasn't. A recent U.S. Gallup poll found that 82% consider themselves religious, spiritual, or both. People have had valid reasons for leaving organized religion, but when we reject our innate predisposition for spirituality along with that, we deny ourselves the full, expansive possibilities of our humanity—as well as the tools to navigate the labyrinths of our lives.


Business Wire
12-06-2025
- Business Wire
BetterHelp Joins Forces with Three WNBA Powerhouse Teams as Official Mental Health Partner
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BetterHelp, the world's largest online therapy platform, today announced multi-year partnerships with the WNBA's 2024 Champion New York Liberty, Las Vegas Aces and Dallas Wings. Tipped off during Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the partnerships align BetterHelp with all three teams on mental health initiatives, and aim to drive critical conversations around the importance of mental wellness, especially among athletes. "The extraordinary rise of women's basketball is more than a sports story. This is a cultural movement reaching millions of passionate fans," said Sara Brooks, Chief Growth Officer at BetterHelp. "But with that spotlight comes pressure, and for elite athletes, peak performance isn't just physical – it's mental. Getting your head in the game means having the support to stay strong, focused, and resilient. BetterHelp's mission to champion mental well-being aligns perfectly with these teams' commitment to supporting their players on and off the court. Whether you're a professional athlete or someone navigating everyday challenges, we're here to remind you: everyone is better with help." The multi-year partnerships will come to life across various channels, including: Connecting teams with licensed therapists through BetterHelp's online platform In-arena experiences designed to promote mental health awareness Digital content series with athletes and coaches featuring raw mental health stories from the locker room to fuel honest and impactful dialogue In-person community events to engage both fans and the local communities to raise awareness around mental health in women's sports Educational tools and resources to empower the next generation of women athletes with mental health skills BetterHelp's official partnerships with the WNBA's New York Liberty, Las Vegas Aces, and Dallas Wings double down on BetterHelp's commitment to breaking down the barriers to mental health care for athletes. During March Madness, BetterHelp solidified its commitment to drive change among this community through its Stop the Madness campaign, which addressed online hate and provided free mental health resources for student-athletes, amplifying wellness conversations and connecting more people with professional support. This announcement represents another powerful step for BetterHelp over the past month to eradicate barriers to mental wellness across the globe: Released its first-ever State of Stigma survey, gathering insights from over 16,000 people across 23 countries to better understand the fears, beliefs, and cultural narratives that continue to hold people back from seeking help. The findings aim to break down barriers to care and ensure people worldwide receive the support they deserve. Expanded its commitment to increasing therapy access through impactful non-profit key partnerships with Six Shout UK, and Be Strong. These collaborations deliver free therapy to underserved communities, frontline mental health workers, and Gen Z students navigating today's challenges. In May, BetterHelp collectively donated over 2,700 months of free therapy. Tapped into the power of storytelling to normalize therapy and reduce stigma. Efforts included an integrated partnership with Peacock's Emerging Artist Series, 'People Like Me,' and the launch of BetterHelp's own podcast, Mind if We Talk?, which debuted with a candid conversation on overcoming imposter syndrome. For more information on these partnerships or to learn more about how to access professional, affordable, and tailored therapy, visit About BetterHelp: BetterHelp was founded in 2013 to remove the traditional barriers to therapy and make mental health care more accessible to everyone. Today, it's the world's largest online therapy service – providing professional, affordable, and tailored therapy in a convenient online format. BetterHelp's network of 30,000 licensed therapists has helped millions of people worldwide take ownership of their mental health and work towards their personal goals. As the unmet need for mental health services persists, BetterHelp is committed to expanding access to therapy globally.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Construction Leaders, Elected Officials, and Airport Partners Unite to Highlight Mental Health at Sacramento International Airport
SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 28, leaders from the construction industry, government, and Sacramento International Airport came together for AGC of California's Mental Health Media Day, an event aimed at elevating mental health as a core pillar of jobsite safety and worker well-being. Hosted on the site of the airport's future Terminal B parking garage and pedestrian bridge, nearly 100 construction workers paused their efforts on the jobsite and shifted their attention to mental health. The event featured remarks from local dignitaries, construction leaders, and mental health advocates, who spoke candidly about the mental health challenges facing the construction industry and the benefits of addressing those challenges head-on. "Your mental health is just as important as your physical health," said Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07). "When we care for ourselves and for one another, we build a stronger, safer, more resilient industry, and society." "As a County, we take our behavioral health responsibilities seriously," said Sacramento County Supervisor Rosario Rodriguez. "But it's not just about services and hotlines. It's about bringing mental health into the everyday, into partnerships, jobsite practices, and conversations like this." AGC of California members across the state have held safety stand-downs focused on mental health throughout May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month. The stand-downs are an opportunity for employers to have conversations not just about mental health, but also resources available and the value each company has for their employees and workers. "At Balfour Beatty, we often talk about building with purpose," said Kyle Frandsen, Vice President of Balfour Beatty. "And while we're proud of the structures we leave behind, it's the impact on people that truly defines our work. That's why today matters. Because behind every hardhat is a human story." Sharing more about the real-world impacts of mental health on the jobsite was Stephen Dummit, President of Tradewinds Leadership, a professional training and development firm. A former electrical contractor turned coach and facilitator, Dummit reinforced the need to make mental health and resilience as essential as physical safety, highlighting on-the-job tools for those in attendance. "May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but this movement can't stop in June," said Allison Otto, CEO of Otto Construction. "This is a year-round commitment. So, let's use today as a spark to build a future where mental health is treated with the same urgency as physical safety." Mental Health Media Day is part of AGC of California's ongoing initiative to help the construction industry create supportive work environments by providing tools, training, and access to mental health resources. By spotlighting these resources during Mental Health Awareness Month, the association aims to engage its members and their employees in critical conversations that impact safety. "Taking care of our teams goes far beyond hard hats and safety harnesses," said Peter Tateishi, CEO of AGC of California. "It's about ensuring every person feels supported, valued, and equipped to do their best work." AGC of California's Mental Health Initiative continues to engage contractors and jobsite leaders in proactive efforts to build a culture of care. Resources and tools are available at About the Associated General Contractors of California Since 1920, the Associated General Contractors of California (AGC of California) has worked alongside members to provide advocacy, education, career development, and networking opportunities to experienced and next generation construction and contracting professionals. AGC of California advocates for contractors with state and local governments, while helping members connect with industry leaders through services, innovative programs, and events. Learn more at MEDIA CONTACT | Teresa Kentkentt@ | 916.833.8751 View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Associated General Contractors of California Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data