Mental - The first mental health app for men

When I was 19, my uncle, who had been living with us, killed himself. It motivated me to get my PhD in neuroscience. And it motivated me to do research on depression and anxiety at Stanford. During my post-doc, my cousin reached out to me. I didn’t realize it was a call for help and I didn’t get back in time. He killed himself as well. This motivated me to leave academia and start hunting for solutions instead of causes. I became a founding team member of Calm (AI/data). My co-founder was Calm’s founding engineer. We massively scaled Calm but we failed to get through to men. Nobody does though. There are 20k mental health apps. Many have been built for women. General use ones are used 2-3x more by women. I didn’t set out to work on men’s mental health but men are 80% of suicides. If we want to resolve this crisis we must find a way to get through to them. The reality is that men do care about their mental health. But men's culture around mental health is too different from women’s. We need solutions, based on science, that resonate with men. It’s why we need Mental. And why we all need to get mental. Science-based, action oriented tools to control stress, achieve discipline and live with purpose. Developed by me and a PhD clinician (also a professor). Taught by a comedian and a Master Chief Navy SEAL. This is v1 of our app. More protocols and teachers - athletes, celebrities, businessmen, and psychologists -- coming soon. Change your daily routines and change your mind. If you need to go deeper, work with AI versions of legendary men. They have been turned into half therapists, half coaches. Men want a combination. Advice, accountability and a push to action, but also an ability to go deep to help you understand limiting assumptions and patterns that are holding you back. A lot more coming soon. Join our quickly growing community at https://discord.gg/ZwmBUjygD6

Everytime I see AI positively impacting our lives, my hopes for tech-driven future becomes more and more positive. With everything going around in the world, people are getting more prone to stress and depression and my take is that apps like Mental can help solve this growing problem. Congratulations on your launch and I really hope you achieve your objectives to help people fight depression through Mental.

@anson_whitmer The story is heartbreaking, and it's impressive to see your dedication on this journey. As a marketer, I have worked with mental health & wellbeing apps; on average, more than 65% of the users are women. What works for women might not work for men - by nature. We have different hormones in different quantities in our bodies. So, that's a great product to give men room for customized growth! Hope you take the top place!!

Wow, this is an excellent idea! ✨ I am really excited about how this is received, and I hope that many men will start using this app! I will absolutely recommend it to my male friends - I'm sure they'll love it! The world needs more awareness of the struggles that men face, and I want to thank you for creating this app which I hope will help lots of people out there!

Looks great. Big congratulations on the launch team♥️🦄

Nice job Anson. 👏🏻 I think I went to a demo you gave in midtown Reno. Super cool to see it in the wild. 🐯 Congrats on the launch. 🎉

Congratulations on this incredible launch!! The mission is clear and we need more talk and awareness about men's mental health!! Thanks for brining such meaningful products to the market!

This app will change your life. It’s inexpensive, creates real results that are measurable without stringing you along. It’s the best app for lifestyle change and I’ve tried them all; meditation, yoga, stoicism, etc.

This is an amazing app. I've been using it for months and absolutely love the daily deuce plus the cold water shower program. Overall one of the best apps I have ever used.

Absolutely love Mental. I joined less than a month ago and already gifted a subscription to my brother. The advice and training are easy to access and very actionable. Even though I have a therapist in person, the AI therapy and coaching in Mental helps shift my perspective anytime I'm worried or feeling stressed about a challenge.

The problem is real, and this solution is real(ly) good. I've been using it for 3 or 4 months and find that the team's insights into what clicks with men specifically really makes a difference. It's not just all woo-woo love yourself stuff that you get in a lot of generic apps that seem aimed at women, and it's not just being shouted at by David Goggins either. What a unique idea to hire a comedian to deliver insights rather than a regular voice actor! A spoonful of humour really helps the mental medicine go down.

Hey there! Your mental health app for men sounds like a fantastic and much-needed resource. I'm really looking forward to its launch and would love to try it out. Do you have any advice for someone like me who's about to launch their own product in the near future? Also, I'd greatly appreciate your feedback once my product is live. Feel free to click on the "Notify" button to get notified when it's ready. Thanks in advance, and best of luck with your launch!

This sounds fun. I will definitely try. I am always out to better myself 💪

Inspiring story and journey so far, best of luck!

Great product and definitely a much needed one.

Great initiative! Adding more personalized routine suggestions based on user feedback could enhance its effectiveness.

Unique concept! How do the AI versions of legendary men provide mental health support, and what sets your app apart in terms of using comedy, science, and fun protocols for daily routines?

I probably need this

Comment Deleted

Anson, what makes it distinct for Men?