Mullets For Mental Health

Please join me in making a difference. I'm raising money in aid of BLACK DOG INSTITUTE and every donation will help. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

Black Dog Institute runs a yearly ‘Mullets for mental health’ fundraiser, however I’d like to stretch my mullet out for a little longer and grow it till the end of April 2025. April 2025 is the next official Mullets for Mental Health month for Black Dog Institute.

In doing so I hope to use this time to bring awareness to mental health being crucial in our community and being ok to talk about it.

Having gone through my own struggles over the last 15 years on and off, I know what it is to need help from time to time.

I have had to rely on several services to get me to where I am and I’m always going to be working on myself. Without these services and without the willingness to call upon them, I honestly don’t know where I would be.

If I can help one person through this process then that to me is worth more than anything.

It is okay to not be okay. It is okay to seek help if you need it. It is okay to talk to someone. It is not weak to speak.

More about my struggles with mental health. My first understanding and acceptance that I was suffering from some sort of issue was back in 2010 when my partner at the time told me (in a nice way) that I was sad and that I needed help.

I didn’t personally realise it, but after the break down of that relationship and me certainly not being my best self for some time afterwards, I came to the conclusion I needed help. I turned to a doctor who threw antidepressant’s and Valium at me like tic tacs. I started using the medication in the assumption it was going to make me better. It didn’t.

I tried/wanted to take my life 3 times over the course of 2010/2011. A lot of it due to my self inflicted situation but I don’t believe this medication helped me during this time.

I ended up getting counselling through Centrelink with a counsellor by the name of Bernie. Those sessions were eye opening and her words kept me going for years and still resonate to this day.

Fast forward to more recent times. My son was born in July 2022. During these early months I made the massive change from a job I knew very well to a job I was willing to chance it all on to grasp at being closer to home and my baby boy so I could watch him grow.

This was something very important to me (still is) and I didn’t want to miss a thing.

The work I did was very tolling on my body. Day in and out I was bruised and broken. I loved the work and I loved knowing I could be with my son before and after work.

This job came with many uncertainties. Lack of work lined up, rain days, injuries. You name it, the stress loomed.

I picked up extra shifts occasionally with the old job to be able to buffer my way through my current job. Just in case.

Throw in being a new parent, the economic pressures, relationship dynamics changing within our family and more and well… I reached my boiling point again.

I had a day. I’d broken my finger at work and was walking to my car. I was speaking to my mum as I was worried that I was going to lose pay due to this injury. She told me to cry. It threw me off my thoughts I let it out. I didn’t know I needed to but I had so much pent up in me from just trying to be a dad, husband and provider.

Fast forward about another year and I’ve been through more counselling and have started taking some medication that seems to be working so far. I feel less anxious and stressed and I’m now feeling a little more like I’m going with the flow. Hopefully this continues but I know my daemons could come knocking from time to time. That being said I’m more educated to notice the signs and more willing to go through the methods of help to get where I need to be.

More information about BLACK DOG INSTITUTE: The Black Dog Institute are working to reduce the incidence of mental illness and the stigma around it and actively reduce suicide rates. Your donation will help us develop research and tools for a mentally healthier world.