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Physical and mental health issues may cause suffering and interfere with life functioning.

Bowling for Soup founding member Jaret Reddick has struggled with both.

Reddick emphasizes communication as a key aspect of coping with physical and mental health issues.

Bowling for Soup is considered by many to be one of the best pop punk bands of all time. Their 2004 hit song “Almost” is an upbeat, playful homage to unfulfilled teenage dreams. Over the past 20 years, singer-songwriter and founding band member Jaret Reddick has become a prominent mental health advocate, sharing his struggle with both ulcerative colitis and depression. Reddick founded the non-profit organization Punk Rock Saves Lives and recently appeared in the movie Heavy Healing, which focuses on how music helps people cope with health issues. And in talking to Reddick, I began to hear the song "Almost" as a tribute to people who struggle to achieve their life goals as they cope with their health issues.

Reddick shared his evolution of the meaning of "Almost." "We all have these … big aspirations ... but we lose our footing along the way," Reddick told me. "I feel like that song … sort of deepened for me over time … these dreams that we sort of never get to."

Reddick described how his ulcerative colitis would disrupt his life, including interfering with his participation as a contestant on the game show The Floor. "I was on tour ... I had an ulcerative........

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