What began as a hobby is now a meaningful and successful campaign. John Timm, ‘21, started the No Man Sits Alone campaign to inspire those struggling with their mental health and to lessen the stigma surrounding it. Timm builds foldable Adirondack chairs and donates a portion of the proceeds to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

On Timm’s last day of college, he had his first panic attack, and it unfortunately was not the last. After struggling with anxiety and depression for months, Timm mustered up the courage to talk to his parents about his struggles. He subsequently checked himself into a mental health facility where he would spend the next 11 nights.

“I met a lot of people [at the treatment facility] with very similar things to me going on,” Timm said. “I kind of realized that this is obviously a huge issue. I just developed this mindset of wanting to do something about it, which helped me recover.”

When Timm left the hospital, he decided to build a foldable Adirondack chair — something he said he always wanted to do. For Timm, building Adirondack chairs also became a metaphor of sorts, meaning that anyone who sat in one of these chairs would never be sitting alone. From there, he decided to transfer his newfound hobby into an impactful mission and thus No Man Sits Alone was born.

No Man Sits Alone’s mission statement reads, “When you’re sitting in that chair and life just feels like it’s getting tough, just remember that you’re not sitting in that chair alone. You may be alone in your backyard, but you are not alone in your battles.” The mission can apply to any individual, but Timm focuses on mental health care and awareness for men, specifically. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, men in the United States are nearly four times more likely to die by suicide than women. Timm discussed the cultural notion that men have to be strong no matter what.

“As a guy you know we kind of have this, it’s a stupid perception we have, no guy wants to have any flaws,” Timm said. “No weaknesses, nothing can dent the armor.”

This expectation for men is why Timm started No Man Sits Alone — to bring an end to the idea that struggling with mental health equates to being weak. Moreover, he said that someone can be successful, social and outgoing, and may still struggle with their mental health.

“You can still do all this stuff like, you can still play sports, you still work out, you can still build cool stuff in a workshop and still be open about needing help, which is not the end of the world,” Timm said. “It’s just simply embracing yourself and your needs at a certain point in time, in your life.”

Though the No Man Sits Alone movement hopes to grow, Timm said he enjoys how personal the mission is and wants to keep it that way. Presently, Timm devotes his time to speaking engagements, selling apparel and building Adirondack chairs, which are available here. He said he initially thought that No Man Sits Alone could become a nonprofit, but Timm said he is just happy to donate and share his story.

“But it’s not something I see being a huge national movement anytime soon,” Timm said. “I’d rather there be 1,000 individuals all over the [United States] impacting little communities rather than just one person impacting millions of lives.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, please reach out for help. The University Counseling Center can be reached at (607) 777-2772, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at (800) 273-8255.