June is Men’s Mental Health Month, and an opportunity to have more honest conversations about emotional well-being, isolation, grief, and the struggles many people carry but don’t express.
For Jack, volunteering at the North Texas Suicide and Crisis Center came after years of witnessing both survival and devastating loss up close.
A few years ago, four people close to him, including his best friend, reached a breaking point. They were carrying such intense emotional pain that ending their lives felt, to them, like the only path forward.
Two survived.
Two did not.
That reality changed the way Jack understood mental health, grief, and the importance of support during a suicidal crisis.
The Difference Between Surviving and Losing Someone
What stayed with Jack most was not only the tragedy of losing two people he cared deeply about, but also seeing what became possible for the two who survived.
Today, those two friends are doing well. Their lives are not perfect, but they found ways to move forward after receiving support. They changed environments, built new relationships, followed different career paths, and slowly rebuilt parts of their lives that once felt impossible to imagine.
“They are thriving,” Jack shared.
The contrast between those outcomes became impossible for him to ignore.
The two friends who died lost more than their lives. They lost the opportunity to heal, to reconnect with people who loved them, to discover what life could have looked like beyond their crisis, and to become versions of themselves they never had the chance to meet.
That realization stayed with him.
“I am not OK with this,” he said.
Grief, Anger, and a New Sense of Purpose
After losing his friends, Jack moved through grief in many forms. Sadness, confusion, guilt, shame, and anger all surfaced in different ways.
Like many people navigating suicide loss, he learned grief does not move in a straight line.
Yet within that grief, something else began to grow: a sense of motivation.
Jack became deeply driven to find some meaning in what happened. Not to erase the pain or explain it away, but to turn some part of that loss into support for other people who may be struggling silently.
The difference between the friends who survived and the friends who died stayed with him. He saw what happened when people received support during a suicidal crisis. He also saw the heartbreak left behind when help did not arrive in time.
That suicide story eventually led him to volunteer on the phone lines at the crisis hotline in Texas.
Why Volunteering Matters
Every person who reaches out during a suicidal crisis carries a different story.
Every call is different. Every caller carries a different story of fear, loss, or burden. But the purpose of the crisis hotline remains the same: listen with care, respond without judgment, and help the person take the next safe step.
Jack understands that reality deeply because he has seen both sides of it, and that perspective shapes the way he shows up for callers.
“I believe with everything I have that a better life can be found for people on the other side of a suicidal crisis, if they get the help they need,” he shared.
For Jack, volunteering is not about fixing someone’s life in one phone call. It is about helping someone hold on long enough to reach the next step.
Mental Health Support for Men
In addition to volunteering at the North Texas Suicide and Crisis Center, Jack also facilitates men’s groups and leads workshops focused on men’s mental health.
Those conversations matter to him because many people, especially men, struggle alone for long periods of time before reaching out.
Men’s mental health conversations give them permission to name what hurts. They create room for honesty, connection, and support before a crisis deepens.
Suicide Awareness Begins with Honest Conversations
Suicide awareness transcends a month on the calendar. The ongoing work of paying attention, asking direct questions, listening without judgment, and reminding people that help exists is ongoing.
Jack’s suicide story carries grief, but it also carries hope. His friends who survived are proof that life after crisis is possible. Their lives continued forward. They are here, growing and changing, because support reached them when they needed it.
A suicidal crisis can feel permanent while someone is inside it. With support, safety, and time, the story can change.
If you or someone you care about is struggling, the crisis hotline in Texas through the Suicide and Crisis Center of North Texas is available 24/7 at (214) 828-1000.
You do not have to know exactly what to say. You do not need to have everything figured out before reaching out.
A conversation can be the first step toward safety, support, and the possibility of a different tomorrow.
Call 214-824-1000 anytime, 24/7.