I like to use the term mental fitness over mental health.
It changes the concept from being a negative one to putting it in a more positive light.
“I’ve had a lot of mental health challenges thrown my way, but mental health wasn’t really talked about a lot when I was growing up.”
I had a sibling with cerebral palsy who died when we were young, and the effects of that had a big toll on the family.
Then I was sent to boarding school, coming from a school of about 5 people in rural Queensland to 1500 people in Brisbane – that was a challenging experience.
When I finished school, I nearly ripped my arm off when I was in a motorbike accent.
At 22, I was involved in a workplace accident where a guy I was working with died after being crushed by an object. I was one of the first responders.
To try and cope after that I threw myself into work and partying – those were the only two things I would do with my days.
“But it burnt me out in the end, and I ended up breaking down crying at the kitchen table one day with my parents because I just couldn’t do it anymore.”
So I went to see someone.
I had to understand what was going on, and the specialist described it to me was like I just hit this point where my cup was filled too high and it was overflowing – I had too much going on and couldn’t cope. That’s why the cracks started to appear.
She explained that everyone works differently, and has different coping mechanisms: some good, some bad.
I had to find my good ones.
The biggest thing I’ve learned through this is I’ve got to have a routine; I eat well, I don’t drink much apart from social occasions with friends, and I exercise a fair bit.
I’m always going on walks or runs with my dogs, working out, or playing social sports. These things are a big contributor to my staying in a positive mind frame.
When your body starts feeling better, it is amazing how that affects your mind. I read a great book called Gut by Giulia Enders, which talks about how your gut is your biggest organism and it affects everything in your body, including your mental state. There’s also a great book called Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, which goes into the importance of sleep and how it affects the way we function.
It’s been a very long-running battle, raised more recently going through family succession, which really threw me off.
“I’m a dad now and have three kids, so that’s one of the biggest drivers for staying mentally fit.”
It’s a lot harder for people living in regional and rural Australia. I had to drive four hours just to see someone, and then drive four hours back home again. That’s a huge put-off for some people.
Taking a whole day or two away from the business is a lot for people out here – we run our own businesses on the farm. So people don’t go, then it greatly affects them not going. It’s another barrier.
But there are some amazing services, like TIACS. People who live remotely can access this service. They’re doing amazing work.
I’ve been doing talks and fundraising for them and have started as a Movember Ambassador.
Primary producers are often big burly fellas that don’t really talk much, so to have them come up to me after one of my talks and say thank you, or message me during Movember to tell me what I’m doing is important is pretty incredible.
“I just want to make an impact and make a difference – to be the person that I needed to look up to when I was in my twenties and struggling.”
TIACS is a free phone and text counselling service offering mental health support to Australia’s blue-collar community.
Call or text Mon-Fri 8am-10pm AEST 0488 846 988
Movember looks at mental health through a male lens, focusing on prevention, early intervention and health promotion.
For more information visit https://au.movember.com/
Photos by Zoe Thomas.
