The growing number of high profile Australians willing to speak about their experience of depression and mood disorders has helped to more than halve the suicide rate amongst young men in rural Australia, Black Dog Institute executive director Gordon Parker said this week.
Visiting Mudgee on the weekend as part of Grassroots Rugby Festival, Professor Parker said the number of suicides among rural men aged between 18 and 26 years had dropped from 40 in 100,000 to 18 in 100,000 over the last eight years.
Professor Parker said a cause of the falling suicide rate was the destigmatisation of depression and mood disorders such as bi-polar disorder, brought about in part by well-known people speaking openly about their mental health problems.
The Black Dog Institute has teamed with the Silver Foxes, former rugby union Wallabies players, over the last three years to promote awareness of depression and other disorders.
(The Black Dog Institute takes its name from Winston Churchill’s name for his depression).
“John Kirwan was the first rugby union player to talk about his depression 20 years ago,” Professor Parker said.
“Since then we have had sportsmen like Andrew Johns [rugby league] and [former Olympic swimmer] Jon Konrad helping to bring the issue out into the open.
“When you have well-known public figures, whether they are politicians or sportsmen, talking about their mood disorders, it encourages other people to be more confident about seeking help.”
Professor Parker said many people still wrongly believed that seeking help for depression was a sign of weakness.
“But when I stand alongside {Enrique} “Topo”Rodriguez, one of the strongest rugby union players Australia has ever had, no one is going to say he’s a wimp,” Professor Parker said.
Ironically, given the way rural communities work closely together, the stigma around depression in among rural Australians has been hardest to overcome, to the extent that many country people experiencing depression drive many hours to the city for treatment rather than risk being recognised entering a local clinic.
The Black Dog Institute will extend its relationship with the Silver Foxes and other sporting identities with the launch of an “Exercise Your Mood” strategy, promoting the beneficial effect of exercise on mood disorders.
Professor Parker said in the most of cases where athletes experienced depression after the end of their career, depression was brought on not by the change of lifestyle but by the cessation of heavy training schedules which had alleviated their symptoms.
The funds received from last year’s Silver Foxes Charity Rugby match in Griffith helps to buy a vehicle that has helped the Black Dog Institute to buy a vehicle to take its services to rural areas.
This year, the institute’s community programs team will be bringing its Insight School Program to Mudgee High School, where it will run a “Navigating Teenage Depression” education seminar for parents.
Professor Parker said these programs are designed to provide accurate information about mental health issues, dispel the stigma associated with mental illness and young people to seek early help.
BY ROBYN MURRAY
Fairfax Media