1 in 10 new dads face serious depression or anxiety around the time their baby arrives. That’s not a small number, and yet we barely talk about it. International Fathers’ Mental Health Day was this past Monday (22 June), just after Father’s Day here. The theme? ‘Strong Foundations: Dads Matter from Day One.’ It’s a reminder that mental health struggles don’t wait for us to “be ready.” They hit early and hard, and that’s okay. Wolverhampton City Council and other groups used the day to push support like peer groups, the DadPad app, and family hubs. Because asking for help isn’t a sign you’re weak — it’s exactly the kind of strength this gig demands. We all know fatherhood is a mix of love, pressure, and the constant grind. Some days you’re flying, other days you’re just trying to keep your head above water. Talking about the rough patches doesn’t make you less of a dad — it makes you human. If you want to check out what support’s out there or get a feel for what other blokes are doing, this is a solid place to start: https://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/news/supporting-dads-international-fathers-mental-health-day What’s your go-to when the pressure’s on? Talking it out, a quiet moment, or something else?

Brothers — I need your honest feedback on something. The podcast has changed. The StrongDad Show is now Between the Noise. Here's why. The StrongDad Show was built around education — guest interviews, structured content, information. And that stuff has its place. But I realised the community itself is where that knowledge lives. You don't need me to teach you. You need somewhere to breathe. So the whole purpose of the podcast has shifted. No more structured lessons. No more guest formats. Just 10–15 minutes, every day, where we slow down together. Where we name the things most dads feel but rarely say out loud — the exhaustion, the weight, the guilt, the quiet pride, the dreams we're still carrying. A space to step away from the noise of the world, sit with your own thoughts for a moment, and come back to your family a little more grounded. That's Between the Noise. The first episode is live now. I'd love you to listen, tell me honestly what you think, and if it resonates — share it with a dad who needs it. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5L1RhNHtXRXuxKfSClSOft?si=EPgx-f4PRnWFy8iI8VF2Tg You're the best!

9 out of 10 dads said fatherhood makes them deeply happy. The researchers literally said "we didn't see that one coming." Think about that for a second. The people studying us were surprised that we love being dads. A new global report from Equimundo interviewed over 5,000 fathers across multiple countries — read it here — and found that the more hands-on care we do as fathers, the more stress we carry and the more meaning we find. Both things. At the same time. That's not a contradiction. That's just what it actually feels like to be a present dad. What hit me hardest though — three in four dads said they're losing sleep over money. And that financial pressure was connected to every single other wellbeing measure in the study. It's not just stress. It's a weight that bleeds into everything. We talk a lot in here about showing up for our kids. But showing up is harder when you're lying awake at 2am doing mental maths. So let's be honest with each other: When you think about your role as a dad right now — what's the thing that gives you the most meaning, and what's the thing keeping you up at night? Drop it below. No judgement in here.

Today is International Fathers’ Mental Health Day — and if you’ve never heard of it, that’s kind of the whole point. It was founded back in 2016 by Welsh advocate Mark Williams and US psychologist Dr Daniel Singley, specifically because paternal mental health is one of the most overlooked areas in the whole conversation around new parenthood. A detailed evidence review just published by Constellation Training (worth a read: https://blog.constellationtraining.co.uk/fathers-mental-health-pressure-nobody-asks-about/) lays it out clearly — around 1 in 10 dads experiences depression during pregnancy or in that first year. If the mum is also struggling, that figure jumps to somewhere between 25 and 50%. And yet most services are still built entirely around mothers, leaving dads feeling like bystanders in their own family’s story. Meanwhile, male suicide in England and Wales hit its highest rate since 2000 last year. 17.6 per 100,000 men. That’s not a statistic to scroll past. The biggest barrier to getting help? We tell ourselves it’s not for us. That we should just get on with it. A lot of us were trained — by life, by service, by culture — to absorb pressure and not show it. But carrying it alone isn’t strength. It just looks like it from the outside. So — honest question for the group. When things have been heavy, what’s actually helped you? Not what should help. What actually did.

Saw a stat this week that stopped me in my tracks. 75% of fathers feel isolated. 44% feel burned out. And new dads are 30% more likely to struggle with their mental health than men without kids. That’s not a small number. That’s most of us at some point. It’s Men’s Health Week this week and the theme is about breaking down the barriers that stop men talking about their health — going to the pharmacist, booking an appointment, just telling someone. Small stuff that most of us put off for months. I think a lot of us carry more than we let on. The pressure to hold it together, to keep showing up, to not be the one who’s struggling. And it gets heavy. So — how are you actually doing this week? Not the “yeah fine” answer. The real one. Drop it in the comments. No judgement here.