LSKD Premiers Men’s Mental Health Documentary Featuring Khan Porter, Matt Dlugos
The latest in their series highlighting athletes and their stories and as part of an ongoing project to bring awareness to mental health, specifically for men, LSKD released a new documentary featuring CrossFit athletes Khan Porter and Matt Dlugos entitled “Don’t Wait” on July 17.
The details: The four men featured in the film–all LSKD athletes–describe their personal experiences with mental health and one common thread emerged: they each had trouble expressing their challenges.
- Along with Porter and Dlugos, former professional rugby player Jordan Kahu and gymnast Health Thorpe also shared their perspectives.
- The men discussed isolation and how lost they had felt in the past, and what the journey was like to get to where they are now.
What LSKD is saying: LSKD’s Visual Production Lead, Elliott Sauvage, aimed to create a safe, open environment for people to explore mental health. Sauvage said that as someone who has struggled with mental health before, he was glad to have ambassadors like Porter, Dlugos, Kahu, and Thorpe representing the brand and sharing their experiences.
- “The one thing we want to give people here is the understanding that it’s okay to be vulnerable with others and speak up,” Sauvage said. “If this campaign inspires even just one person to speak up, then it’s a mission success for us.”
Porter: “You’re not just thinking the worst, you’re feeling it.”
- Both Porter and Dlugos opened up about their specific experiences, including Porter’s struggle with anxiety, never feeling like enough, and his eating disorder. What got both of them through it, eventually, was being upfront and asking for help.
- “I think there’s a lot that needs to happen around how we have conversations around mental health, but we need to have those conversations,” Porter said. “We need to have those conversations that allow people to find someplace to speak up sooner.”
- Dlugos said that a lot of why he felt stifled from expressing his feelings was because of his gender. He said that because he was expected to be “manly” and not have any emotions, it hindered his mental health.
- Dlugos: “As men, we should have each other’s back and I don’t know why we don’t. I don’t know why so many men are equipped to say, ‘Man up, you shouldn’t feel that way, it’s silly that you’re feeling emotional,’ like, everybody is feeling emotional whether you want to accept it or not. everybody feels these emotions.”
You can watch the full documentary.
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