The mental health movement in the fire service is louder than ever. Maybe it’s time we stop talking inside the circle and start reaching beyond it
If I’m being honest, I’m not sure we’re reaching the people who need to hear us most.
In the fire service, we’ve built a powerful wave of mental-health advocacy – podcasts, pages, and personalities all pushing the same message: talk, share, get help. That’s progress. But lately, I’ve started to wonder if we’re all talking in the same room.
Social media makes it easy to feel like we’re making an impact. Algorithms feed us what we already believe, so our feeds become a mirror – a comforting echo chamber of “likes,” agreement, and shared language. It feels good. It feels busy. But sometimes I wonder: are we actually reaching the hesitant firefighter – the ones who still roll their eyes when they hear “mental health?” Or are we just preaching to the choir?
Probably a good time for full disclosure here: I run and host one of those shows. I know firsthand that the space is far more crowded now than it was three years ago when I started. That’s not a bad thing; in fact, I celebrate it. The more voices we have, the more awareness we build. Still, I can’t help but ask: who are we really talking to?
The Algorithm and the Echo
The algorithm is a powerful thing. It learns what you click, watch, and support, and then shapes your entire experience around it. In digital terms, that’s called a filter bubble. Everything you see online is filtered to match your preferences – your comfort zone.
An echo chamber takes that one step further. It’s not just the algorithm doing the work; it’s the community you build around it. When all your interactions and conversations come from people who share your same beliefs, you start hearing the same voices bounce back at you – again and again.
In the firefighter mental-health world, that echo is loud. Our feeds are filled with similar stories, familiar names, and parallel messages. That’s not bad – but it does mean our audience is often the same small group of people who already believe in what we’re saying.
Talking in Circles
Many firefighter mental-health podcasts are, in a sense, inbred and interconnected. I don’t say that as an insult, it’s just the natural result of a growing movement. Most of these shows are born from existing ones: a guest gets inspired, launches a new platform, and starts the same cycle again. Before long, it’s the same voices rotating through the same circuits.
Here’s what that looks like: I guest on your show, you guest on mine, then we both appear on the next one, and so on.
It’s a pattern that sounds something like this: A + B, B + A, A + C, C + B = Homogeneity.
The end result? We keep building stronger relationships with each other but not necessarily with the firefighters who still think “mental health” means weakness.
Breaking the Bubble
If our mission is truly awareness and impact, we’ve got to find a way to reach beyond the people already bought in. The ones listening every week already care. The ones who don’t? They’re the ones we need most.
I want to reach the “salty” firefighters who think they’ve seen it all. I want to reach the “dinosaurs” who’ve led crews for decades without ever hearing words like “resilience” or “recovery.” And I want to reach the people outside the fire service entirely – the civilians, the policymakers, the ones who don’t see what this job really takes from us.
That’s how the real shift happens, when the people outside the firehouse start understanding what’s going on inside.
Where to Start
We can start by having more cross-conversation. Reach out to the shows that talk tactics, not trauma. Bring mental-health dialogue into the circles that normally avoid it. Even better, find a podcast or person who disagrees with you and start the conversation anyway. You might not change their mind, but you might change the mind of someone in their audience.
Bring leaders into the discussion. Find that veteran officer who’s respected and stubborn in equal measure. Talk. Listen. Challenge gently. Even if it’s uncomfortable, those are the exchanges that sow the seeds of cultural change.
And don’t forget the public. Civilians don’t always want to see behind the curtain, but they need to understand what’s really going on – the sleep deprivation, the cancer rates, the brain injuries, the moral injuries. When they understand why firefighters struggle, they’ll understand why we need change.
Invite your politicians into the firehouse. Let them see what this job really looks like. Don’t just complain, bring solutions. Leave them with ideas they can act on.
The Voices That Break Through
A friend I trust – someone who doesn’t always agree with me – pointed out this isn’t just a fire service issue. It’s everywhere. And he’s right. Still, there are people out there breaking through the noise.
Leaders like Gen. Stanley McChrystal, whose podcast No Turning Back and writings challenge people to think deeper, not louder. Or James Geering from Behind the Shield, who invites disagreement, invites discomfort, and invites growth. Those are examples of people bridging gaps, and we need more of that spirit in our world.
The Real Challenge
First responder mental-health podcasts are a good thing, a necessary thing. But if we’re only talking to the same audience, our message stops at the station wall.
If we really want to change the culture, we need to step outside the comfort zone. That means:
- Initiate conversations beyond our bubble
- Get into uncomfortable or unfamiliar spaces
- Listen to people who disagree
- Stay open to being challenged
- And most importantly: resist the temptation to simply be an echo
The mission isn’t just to talk about mental health, it’s to reach those who still won’t.
Brendan Stackpole is a retired firefighter from Virginia. He is the creator and host of the podcast The Things We All Carry
