In this Five Minute Friday episode, host Lewis AI interviews Bill Phillips, editor‑in‑chief of Men’s Health, highlighting Phillips’s digital success and authorship of the Better Man Project. The conversation centers on the stigma men face when dealing with mental health issues like depression and sexual health concerns such as erectile dysfunction. Phillips stresses that these conditions are medical, treatable, and not signs of personal failure, urging men to seek professional help without shame. He shares a visit to Johns Hopkins’ Men’s Vitality Center, noting how the terminology reframes sexual health to reduce embarrassment. The discussion also touches on the link between happiness and longevity, citing research that happier people live about seven years longer. Phillips uses a personal anecdote about his teenage daughter to illustrate the importance of open communication. The episode concludes with a promotional plug for a free "Millionaire Morning" book offering mindset tips.
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This is Five Minute Friday. This episode is with the one and only Bill Phillips, and I'm very excited to introduce you guys to Bill. He is the editor in chief for Men's Health, which is the world's largest men's magazine. And during his time as the brand's online editor, Phillips quadrupled traffic from 2.5 million to a record 10 million monthly uniques. The site has been nominated for three digital national magazine awards under his leadership. And he is also the author of the Better Man Project.
Depression is not a problem that's going to fix itself. It's not something you're going to talk yourself out of, you know, and there's a difference between sort of, you know, if you're clinically depressed and you have suicidal thoughts, I mean, that's, you know, versus the bad day, kind of, you know, quote unquote, depression. I mean, obviously those are different things. But you do need to talk to somebody. Obviously the medications for depression are very, very good. And they do work. They absolutely do work. And there's no shame in asking for help. And I think that's, That's really ultimately with guys, with Ben, and I think you and I both could probably attest to it. There's something about ourselves that, oh, we're too embarrassed to share with others. It holds us back. We don't want to seek help. We don't want to tell our spouse about it or our significant other. So we hide layers of ourselves from everyone. It's important to know that this doesn't mean you're broken. If you are depressed or have low self-esteem, it doesn't mean you're broken. If you have erectile dysfunction, which is another one guys are afraid of, it doesn't mean you're broken. These are medical issues that can be treated and can be fixed. You can't just will them away. You can't just pretend they don't exist. There's no shame in asking for help. I was at a doctor, I was at Johns Hopkins about a year ago and I love that facility, such a great institution. And, you know, I got to meet with a bunch of different doctors. I was in the liver center, the pancreatic center, radiology and a few others. But I met this guy, this doctor who runs what they call the Men's Vitality Center at Johns Hopkins. And I was asking him, men's vitality. Like, what's that mean? He's like, it's sexual health. It is the place people come to when they're worried about the quality of their erections or, you know, whether they're pleasing their partner or, and he's like, we call it men's vitality because it's not, men are afraid of that. They're not afraid to say to their spouse, yeah, I have an appointment over at the men's vitality center because it's positive. It's like, oh, you're gonna be more vital. Fantastic. He doesn't want that, right? Right, right. so it's like even, even, you know, the medical institutions are kind of coming around to, like, coaxing men to come on in. Okay, you know, but the thing he said to me is, and, you know, he's like, there's nothing you can tell me about, you know, how your body's working that I haven't heard before. And men just have to get over that fear, you know, just like, you know, I have, you know, my, my older daughter is, is gonna be a teenager this year. She's in middle school, and there are those days when you know, she comes home, gets off the bus, and she wants to sit in her room. And I know something's not right. And I know it's something probably that happened at school, and she doesn't want to talk about it. And I always say to her, it's like, there's, we've lived through this. We've been through this, too. Like, honey, like, we, there's nothing you can say that is going to be something we can't relate to. And as a guy going to see your doctor, there's nothing you can say that he hasn't dealt with before. Yeah. And hasn't heard before. And you don't have to feel ashamed about it. Yeah. Do not have to feel ashamed to it, whether, you know, and especially, like, something like depression, which is, you know, really takes, you know, not just the joy out of life, but it can also kill you, even if you don't, you know, some people obviously decide to, to take their own lives, but it'll, it'll kill you in other ways, too. I mean, you know, the research around you know, happy people. I think happy people, generally happy people live on average seven years longer than generally unhappy people. And, you know, that's just, that's just, you know, brain chemistry at work there. And, and, and that can be switched with, with the right treatments.
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