Rob Aronofsky has been many things in his life — athlete, coach, correctional officer, influencer — but the foundation of Aronofsky’s life has been his strength.Take one look at Aronofsky and you can tell that he is physically strong, but in his current stage in life, he’s focusing on his mental strength.“The past three years have been a very interesting journey in my life,” Aronofsky said.Aronofsky’s life has had a few bumps in the road. He was a correctional officer for over 3.5 years and the mental wear and tear that came with that job caught up to him, leading up to the lowest point in his life at 2 a.m. on Sept. 15, 2019.“In a span of six hours, I went from working in a suicide watch tier to then me being in a psychiatric hospital and being on suicide watch,” Aronofsky added.Having never dealt with anxiety attacks before, it escalated to Aronofsky attempting to take his own life. "I just thought I was going crazy,” Aronofsky said.Aronofsky said being a correctional officer for over 3.5 years took the biggest toll on his mind. “Seeing other inmates attempt suicide and harm themselves really started to change how I saw life,” Aronofsky said.In the years leading up to and during his time as a correctional officer, Aronofsky never talked about his problems or feelings because of the societal pressure of trying to be a "man’s man."“I'm 35 and I grew up thinking that boys and men don't talk about their feelings,” Aronofsky said. “The thought of even saying, 'I need help' or talk about my mental health was not an option.”“That alpha male persona that I was trying to live up to was bull,” Aronofsky said. “I wasn't that person, and I did have feelings."According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates in the United States rose by 4% from 2020 to 2021. During that time for males ages 15 to 24, suicides rose by 8%.The night Aronofsky attempted suicide made him aware that he needed help.“Saying I needed help was the hardest thing I've ever had to do,” Aronofsky said. “But once I did, my life got better in thousands of ways.”Only a few months after hitting his lowest point, COVID-19 forced everyone into quarantine. It was a time when, for a lot of people, staying mentally strong was a tough task. That’s when Aronofsky made a TikTok to try to reach as many people as he could to talk about mental health. Turns out, it was necessary, with Rob now about to eclipse 130,000 followers.“It sounds so silly, so many people were like, 'yes! I feel the exact same way, I'm going through that,” Aronofsky said. “All of the stuff that I went through, those moments make it worth it.”Rob is always willing to share his story, trying to break the alpha male stigma and to help as many people as he can.“Every time I tell someone my story their immediate response is, 'oh, I'm so sorry.' And mine is don't be sorry,” Aronofsky added. “It's genuinely turned me into the person that I am today and now I can help people. So, it's pretty cool.”