'Men need to start talking about things more:' Edmontonian sharing story of struggle to help others

Dennis Kreba, author of "Dennis On The Run: A men’s survival guide to lasting change," speaks at the book's launch at Edmonton's Audrey's Books on Nov. 10, 2024. (Brandon Lynch / CTV News Edmonton)

A local author is sharing his experience with alcoholism with the hope of helping other men improve their mental wellness.

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Dennis Kreba, behind the newly published Dennis On The Run: A men’s survival guide to lasting change, says he began drinking more when he began working from home during the height of COVID-19 restrictions.

One night, during a fight, a friend told him he had become too negative and that he needed distance.

"It wasn't my shining moment. It was my lowest-of-the-low moment. And the next morning, I had a pit in my stomach that said, 'We're not OK. This is different. Something's up,'" he told CTV News Edmonton on Sunday at his book's launch party.

Realizing alcohol had "taken over" his life, Kreba decided to take a break from drinking – which has not ended almost four years later.

Alongside sobriety, he has found other healthy coping mechanisms: running, meditation and journaling.

He describes his book as a "roadmap" for other men who are also struggling.

"I think men think that men are the rocks of the family and that they need to be the rock and they need to be infallible and a lot of guys are living with the status quo because they're scared of change," he said.

"This is why so many men get hurt and why men are committing suicide at rates that are uncomfortable and why Movember exists as a cause."

Kreba has paired his book with a journal and an online community, called the Beyond Survival Initiative, for the purpose of having "honest conversations" among men.

"Generally speaking, men need to start talking about things more, they need to have book clubs, they need to invest in each other, they need to belong in online communities and stop just talking frivolously," Kreba said.

According to the Movember organization, a man dies by suicide every minute across the globe.

In Canada, three quarters of suicides are by men.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Brandon Lynch