Varied audience learns about the benefits of normalizing men's mental health at LSUS's inaugural MENtality Workshop

Varied audience learns about the benefits of normalizing men's mental health at LSUS's inaugural MENtality Workshop

SHREVEPORT - "Suck it up." "Power through." "Man up."

Just a few of the stereotypical mantras that society lauds as ideals, particularly for men.

But RaShad Bristo, a keynote speaker at Friday's MENtality Workshop: Mental Wealth at LSU Shreveport, said championing those ideals without balance is detrimental to one's health.

"It sounds good, but it comes at the expense of physical and mental health," said Bristo, an author and motivational speaker who became America's first certified police officer with just one arm. "Following just those ideals will lead to losing one's self, losing things like sleep and appetite and eventually overall health.

"It's a vicious cycle because once your health declines, your mental health tanks, and then you feel useless all together."

More than 50 attendees, a mix of men and women, participated in breakout sessions and keynote speeches in LSUS's inaugural MENtality Workshop: Mental Wealth.

Participants shared snippets of their own lives and experiences, from a father who needed to learn to show vulnerability in the face of a young child's cancer diagnosis to a wife who realized she didn't give her husband a constructive space to grieve the death of his son following a drug overdose.

Normalization of men seeking help for mental health permeated the one-day workshop.

Keynote speaker Brandon Jacobson excelled in the U.S. Air Force, climbing the finance ladder to work in The Pentagon.

Jacobson, who said he was a professional in handling intense stress through experiences like working at a Montana nuclear facility, didn't recognize his own signs of anxiety in working with budgets in the billions of dollars.

"I thought I was the king of handling stress, but because I didn't have the muscle memory to deal with anxiety when things weren't in my control, I ended up having periods of 48 to 60 consecutive hours of sleeplessness," Jacobson said. "I did end up seeking help for mental health, and I want to decrease the awkwardness for men to seek that help.

"It should be as normal as men going to the gym to improve their physical health."

Other sessions included a panel discussion around allyship with women leaders, how curiosity and vulnerability can unlock creativity, how men of valor can answer the call, how to build mental wealth with each decision, how to turn bitterness into betterment, and a healing together session.

The inaugural men's mental health workshop stemmed from the success of LSUS's Women in LeadHERship Conference, which will host its third edition on March 20.

"We wanted to focus on men and their roles in the community in this workshop," said Demitrius Brown, vice chancellor for student affairs at LSUS and chairman of the conference committee. "There are a lot of issues that men are encountering nationally, and we also know what's going on in our communities.

"We have huge opportunities, but we have to have intentional, structured conversations and then move to action after doing the processing and the work. This workshop is designed to foster good, healthy interactions to bring different communities together, creating positive energy that can lead to action."