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This year is the 70th that Mental Health Awareness Month has taken place in the United States.

It’s a monthlong effort to shine a light on mental health to educate and raise awareness, as well as break down some of the stigmas that come with mental health disorders. A month is great, and across the U.S. is great. But it’s an effort that that should happen the world over, all the time.

Mauro Ranallo may be the most well-known combat sports broadcaster in history. Without question, he’s part of combat sports’ broadcasting Mt. Rushmore. He’s also spent his life battling mental illness.

Later this month, a new documentary will debut on Showtime that looks at how Ranallo has tried to balance his battles with bipolar disorder along with his broadcasting career, which currently includes Bellator, WWE’s NXT brand and big-ticket boxing matches for Showtime Sports, including Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather.

“Bipolar Rock ‘N Roller” debuts May 25 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime. Today, Ranallo joined the crew on MMAjunkie Radio to talk about the documentary, as well as his constant battle with his disorder.

For Ranallo, the name of the game is as simple as being there to listen to someone struggling.

“How many millions of people who suffer with what I do never get the goddamned chance and because of it have to kill themselves – because someone wouldn’t listen,” Ranallo said on today’s show. “All I want is to be heard. Just listen. You can save a life. You don’t have to spend a cent. You don’t have to spend a cent – but we need money, we need resources from the government and the medical (industry).

“… Why can’t we talk about mental health, which impacts all of us? I cannot believe that still, even today, I have family: ‘When is he going to be OK? Does he look for attention like this all the time? Doesn’t get enough attention being on TV?’ You think I do this for attention? Wow. I put myself out there because I want to save a life because I’ve lost too many.”

Bipolar disorder is believed to impact upwards of 6 million adults in America alone. And without question, it can be a hard thing to talk about for people who aren’t affected by it, simply because they don’t understand it.

And that may be part and parcel to Ranallo’s point: Not fully understanding something shouldn’t equate to not being there to listen, or to dismissing someone’s struggles, or to not taking them as seriously as we take other diseases.

In the video above, listen to Ranallo in just a portion of a very important and very emotional appearance on today’s MMAjunkie Radio. You can check out his full segment on the show below. And by all means, set your DVR for “Bipolar Rock ‘N Roller” on May 25 on Showtime.

Beyond that, one sentence from Ranallo could go a long way for all of us:

“Let’s all do more to help each other, guys.”

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly seriously, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Dan Tom. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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