Spotlight: Essay on Men’s Mental Health

As part of his journalism program at Concordia University, Santiago Jimenez wrote this feature story essay, exploring Men’s Mental Health and the work of RISE Clinic’s Founder, Robert Wise.

Robert Wise, the owner of Rise: Anxiety and Depression Clinic, lived a life of mental health scares for many years. He now works on breaking the stigma surrounding men’s mental health through his West Island clinic and his social media page, trying to find the hearts of those in need when they need it most.

Wise is a mental health instructor at McGill University and the founder of Rise: Anxiety and Depression Clinic, a West Island clinic targeted to help people going through mental health issues as well as addiction. The Montreal clinic was founded for a very personal reason. He believes that through his experiences struggling with mental health, he can connect with his clients on a deeper level. His story is one of hardships that guided him to success and he plans to keep spreading his knowledge of mental fortitude to those in need.

According to the Canadian Center for Suicide Prevention, there were 1102 total suicides in Quebec in 2022, and out of a population of a hundred thousand men, the suicide rate was 19.4. That’s a difference of 13.3 from the women who had a rate of 6.1. Dr. Dan Bilsker, a clinical psychologist out of the University of British Columbia, attributes this difference in suicide rates to the lack of research made towards how men cope with mental health issues, as well as the lack of resources dedicated to men’s mental health.

Wise was born and raised in Montreal and developed obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in 1996 at the age of 16. In the 90s, knowledge regarding mental health was very limited and wasn’t something that was ever talked about within society.

“As a young male in the 1990s, we don’t know these are mental health issues. But I did know that it was something psychological because my mind would tell me to do things and if I didn’t listen to what my mind was telling me, there would be really bad consequences. In my case, the consequence would be getting cancer.” He was showing clear signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which was later confirmed through an official diagnosis.

“As a young male in the 90s, none of my friends had (OCD) or they never mentioned any struggle with mental health. I started to feel very isolated. Mental health, especially as a young male felt very isolated.” According to a study conducted by the Canadian Psychiatric Association, men are far more likely to adopt unhealthy coping strategies than women. The study attributes these coping mechanisms to adhering to stereotyped features of masculinity, such as ignoring and hiding one’s emotions, escapism through the use of intoxicating substances like drugs and alcohol, and valuing self-reliance over professional care.

In 1996, 16-year-old Wise had a moment that forever changed his life. His thoughts started to become far darker than they used to, telling him to do things that would heavily harm him and even possibly kill him. One of the ways his OCD presented itself was by separating the calendar days with an “even day” or “odd day” tag. One school day was on an “odd” day, meaning that everything had to be in an odd number. If the table had eight items on it, one had to go. But this time, his intrusive thoughts reminded him that he had two eyes and that he had to follow the “odd day” rule. The intrusive thoughts were telling him that one had to go.

“I remember that day I went to the school’s guidance counsellor and asked her if she could take me to the hospital. I was so afraid of what I would do to myself,” said Wise. He was then taken to the hospital and stayed at the Allan Memorial for three months under observation. He left after a few more months of being an outpatient. It took him up until he was 24 for him to start making significant progress in his mental health.

“One day, I was working at Loblaws (now Provigo) in the photo department. My intrusive thoughts were telling me that if I didn’t register all of these envelopes by twelve o’clock, I would get fired. And I remember telling myself “There’s no way I’ll get all of these done by 12.” The thoughts then told me I would get cancer if I didn’t. I decided once and for all not to give in and said, “Then I get cancer”. I took back control from my OCD.” This thought is a perfect example of Wise’s goals in opening his clinic, helping others take back control of their mind.

Before Wise opened his clinic in 2018. He previously worked a lot in marketing and consulting, yet still hadn’t noticed his passion for mental health. It wasn’t until he went to work on a fundraiser hosted by a doctor that he realized that helping others was his passion. He then worked on this passion project now named: Rise, Anxiety and Depression Clinic. Despite not being a licensed therapist, he received a Personal and Professional Coaching Certification (PPCC) in 2015 from Concordia University. Wise wanted as much help as he could get, so he hired licensed therapists as well as social workers to work under the clinic’s banner.

The clinic can now be found in Westmount, Toronto and Ottawa, with many people attributing their growth to Wise’s clinic. 18-year-old Matthew Gamboa is a is one of those people who have had the chance to be around Wise through his consultation sessions.

“Robert is very direct; he says things how they really are without any sugar-coating. Saying those things the way he does made it far easier for me to understand myself, as well as trust my judgment more,” said Gamboa. “He makes me feel like I have the power inside of myself to change my way of thinking, or way of doing things. Through his help, I feel far more independent.”

Wise recalls instances of some of his clients mentioning how they wanted their husbands or boyfriends to get professional help, but a vast majority of these men have denied the help. In the Rise Clinic, an estimated 40% of clients who show up per week are men. Wise does however say that of his clients, only 60% of those men end up coming back for more than one session. This difference in commitment to getting help doesn’t seem as big compared to the number of suicides by men compared to women. This lack of commitment to getting help from men starts to become more concerning when one considers that men, according to William Affleck, PhD Candidate of McGill University in the Department of Psychiatry, have significantly higher rates of “neurodevelopmental” disorders, which include disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).