Why I Started MAAD

People often ask where the idea for MAAD came from.

The truth is, it wasn’t one moment or one conversation, it was years of lived experience.

Like many people, I’ve been through periods where life felt incredibly dark. Times when my mind was constantly racing, overthinking conversations I’d already had and worrying about situations that hadn’t even happened yet. From the outside, everything looked normal, but internally it was exhausting.

Those experiences shaped the way I think about mental health, they taught me the importance of talking, asking for help and finding healthier ways to manage my thoughts. They also taught me that healing isn’t usually one big breakthrough, it’s lots of small steps that over time, begin to make a difference.

One of those steps was writing, for years I’ve kept journals, using them to get thoughts out of my head and onto paper. What started as a way of quietening an overactive mind became one of the most valuable habits I’ve ever developed. It didn’t make everything disappear, but it helped me understand myself better and gave me a sense of perspective when I needed it most.

MAAD wasn’t created because I had all the answers, it was created because I’ve lived some of the questions.

As I became more comfortable speaking about mental health, I realised how many other men were carrying similar thoughts in silence. Not because they didn’t want to talk, but because they didn’t know how to start.

That’s where MAAD began.

We didn’t create MAAD because we thought a t-shirt could change someone’s life, we created it because clothing has always been a way of expressing who we are. It represents the teams we support, the music we love and the communities we belong to, we wanted to create clothing that could also stand for something more.

Something that quietly says:

Mental health matters.

If wearing a MAAD hoodie starts a conversation between friends, colleagues or even strangers, then it’s already done something meaningful.

MAAD stands for Men Against Anxiety & Depression, but it’s about far more than the words behind the acronym, it’s about challenging stigma, encouraging conversations and helping to create a world where checking in with someone feels normal, not awkward.

Everything we’re building is guided by that mission.

The clothing raises awareness, the content starts conversations and our partnerships help us reach more people. Together, they’re all working towards the same goal: making it easier for people to talk about mental health.

We’re still at the beginning of this journey, and there’s so much more we hope to achieve.

If you’ve found your way here, thank you.

Whether you’ve bought something, shared one of our posts, supported a campaign or simply taken a few minutes to read this, you’re already part of the MAAD community.

Because changing the conversation doesn’t happen through one person.

It happens through all of us.