Taking part in leg 6 of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has provided me with the opportunity to raise funds and awareness for The Black Dog Institute in memory of my brother Ben, who struggled with depression in the last year of his life and died from an accidental overdose at the age of 43.
Sadly one in five Australians aged 14 to 17 have significant mental health concerns and young adults aged 18 to 24 have the highest prevalence of mental disorders of any age group. Youth suicide has become the third most common cause of death in the 18 to 24 age group.
I would imagine many of you will be affected by someone close to you who has suffered from some kind of mood disorder and will understand the importance of supporting programs which provide better detection, treatment and management of these mood disorders .
The Black Dog Institute www.blackdoginstitute.org.au is best described as an educational, research and clinical facility. From launching their own Apple iphone app: – a live pedometer which encourages users to undertake regular healthy exercise as a way of enhancing their mood; to teaching resilience strategies in schools, the Institute’s many varied programs aim to dispel the stigma associated with mental illness, encourage early detection and assist in the battle to minimise the potentially devastating consequences of mental illness on individuals, families & communities.
Since 2005 the Black Dog Institute has conducted annual writing competitions, encouraging people, their family and carers and those looking back on their experiences to tell the intimate stories that provide a rare insight into their ‘black dog’ world. The lessons learnt are things that can only be taught by people who have gone through a journey – their stories more powerful than anything you could glean from a textbook.
Taken from Rover a depression support newsletter, Mark Vernon describes what depression feels like to him;
When I did falter I have lost my friends
they have fallen by the wayside
of me at least
and left me friendless at last and without peace
There is a war inside my head
the friendships I thought were alive
are dead.
Like a wreck of a ship upon a shore of weathered rock
has friends to hoist the sails no more
for they deserted in rough weather and won’t be back.
When I was a boat
I was only half afloat
Perhaps I carried too many crew
And just never knew why I was so low in the water
In any case they’ve gone now
they left me when I did and still do falter.”
In my brother Ben’s case, it was very hard to tell from the outside how bad he was feeling, how low he was in the water.He died just before Christmas in 2003 a few hours before his daughter’s 18th birthday party which he had planned meticulously and wouldn’t have missed for the world.
Ben was the perfect host and loved a party when he was well.
But he never got to go to the party nor see his two children grow up, share their joys and their triumphs, guide them through not just the good times but also the bad.
As mothers we wear so many different hats.
By wearing my Black Dog hat for those 6 weeks I hope to raise a hull of a load of money for the Black Dog’s new Youth Programme in memory of Ben.
