By Dean Hybl
Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s gave me countless memories I cherish. Yet one area I wish had been different was how society approached mental health and personal struggles. Back then, women were often expected to step away for “a good cry,” while men were allowed the occasional outburst—sometimes fueled by alcohol, sometimes by stress—without much concern. Children were left to process these behaviors on their own, while being told never to show weakness.
Over the past 40 years, our culture has begun to shift. We talk more openly about mental health, but even today in 2025, stigma remains, and resources are still stretched far too thin. Recognizing this need, Ten at the Top, the SC Department of Public Health Upstate Region, and the SC Office of Rural Health have partnered with more than 100 organizations within the Behavioral Health field to grow the collective capacity of behavioral health services across the Upstate. This work, highlighted during the recent Resilient Upstate Behavioral Health Collaborative rollout, shed light on sobering statistics.
In our region, more than 16% of adults report experiencing poor mental health at least half of every month. Over a quarter have been diagnosed with depression. Suicide—an issue I first encountered in high school when a classmate’s younger brother took his own life—remains devastatingly prevalent. At that time, students were told they should “speak up” when they struggled but offered little guidance or support if they did. The stigma was heavy, especially for men, who were expected to suppress emotion and just “get over it”. It’s no surprise, then, that men continue to die by suicide at far higher rates than women.
The numbers are stark. According to the SC Department of Public Health, the male suicide rate in the Upstate is 28.3 deaths per 100,000—nearly four times the female rate of 7.2. Both figures exceed state and national averages. Even more troubling, suicide is now the second leading cause of death for Upstate residents ages 10 through 34, behind only accidental injuries. It is also disproportionately high among men over 75 and veterans. These deaths are preventable, and we must treat them as such.
Encouragingly, new tools and resources are being developed to change the narrative. At the rollout event, the collaborative unveiled a workplace toolkit to help employers support employees and families, along with stigma-reduction programs to spark courageous conversations. They also introduced the Behavioral Health Professional Pipeline, a hub highlighting 16 different career paths in behavioral health, aimed at inspiring young people to enter this critically important field. DREAMS Workshops are also helping foster Recovery Friendly Workplaces, ensuring both businesses and communities benefit from healthier environments.
My hope is that when people look back on this decade 50 years from now, they’ll see a turning point: the moment when our culture finally began to treat mental health as openly and seriously as physical health. By dismantling stigma, promoting resources, and encouraging honest conversations, we can create an Upstate—and a future—where no one suffers in silence, and where preventable deaths are truly prevented.
(You can check out the Resilient Upstate Resources at: https://tenatthetop.org/resilient-upstate-behavioral-health-initiative/)
Supporting mental health and well-being in the workplace is an important employee retention strategy. Please Join us for one of the Turning Resources Into Actionable Behavioral Health Workplace Practices Workshops. We are limiting each to a maximum of 20 attendees to ensure opportunities for discussion.
October 15 – 9:30-11:30 a.m. – Park 37 Complex (150 Executive Center Dr., Greenville, SC 29615) – Link to Register
November 5 – 9:30-11:30 a.m. – Park 37 Complex (150 Executive Center Dr., Greenville, SC 29615) – Link to Register