High profile men are sharing their feelings of vulnerability through a new mental health conversation series and for some, it is the first time they are speaking publicly about their challenges.
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Mental health communicator David Pearce has launched Hear For Each Other through his organisation On The Low Down.
It is part of his work to increase awareness and conversations about mental health and connections between community and mental health resources.
Mr Pearce is broadcasting his conversations with well-known business, sport, politics and health figures through the new video and podcast series.
Ballarat's Steve Moneghetti and Steve Bracks are already featured on the series and chats with John Fitzgibbon and Daniel Moloney are due to be released in coming months.
I was rocked. He had hardly shared that with anybody. People want to talk about this stuff, they want to share and want to set a good example.
- David Pearce, On The Low Down
Mr Pearce said the conversations were authentic, a bit of a reality check, that conveyed real emotions.
He said he believed the main takeaway for listeners would be insight.
"Greg Combet (former politician and chair of Industry Super Australia) talks about how he had just broken up with his wife, he was a politician, the ALP was falling apart and was riddled with division with the Rudd and Gillard camps," Mr Pearce said.
"He was stressed as, in and out of hotels and not sleeping properly. He talks about how he got through that.
"That is a really transferable situation. It doesn't matter who you are or what is going on. They are the sort of insights these guys drop on us. They are just regular people."
Mr Pearce said listening to other people could be so powerful and he wanted to create a space for this online during the coronavirus pandemic.
He ran online connection sessions last year as a space for people to share and listen to each other.
Mr Pearce said he hoped Hear For Each Other would become another safe online space.
"Greg Combet opened up to me about his mental health challenges as a federal MP," he said.
"I said to him 'I never would have expected somebody like you would go through something like that. I am sure you have shared that with a lot of other people before' and he said 'I haven't actually'.
"I was rocked. He had hardly shared that with anybody. People want to talk about this stuff, they want to share and want to set a good example."
Mr Pearce said Ballarat long-distance runner Steve Moneghetti opened up about his feelings of shame during their conversation.
"He talks about the suicide of his father-in-law and how he wasn't in the country and wasn't there for his wife and he was running a marathon," he said.
"He felt so much shame and he carried that. He didn't talk about it with his wife for 20 years.
"Now he has been talking to his wife about it and he is talking about how much better it was to do that and how he wished he did it earlier.
"To share that, that is serious humility and strength.
"It feels like we are really starting to strike a bit of a chord with the community."
Short snippet videos share general tips: former Victorian premier Steve Bracks talks about working from home and switching off and Mr Moneghetti discusses self reliance versus collaboration.
"I am a control freak, anal, focused, let's have a conversation and do it my way. As a marathon runner, self reliance is almost an essential trait," Mr Moneghetti said.
"The older I have gotten, the more I have relied on people around me and I have involved people around me to make a decision."
To switch off when working from home, Mr Bracks said having a routine was important.
"Having a time when you stop and you do other things is really important because if you let everything run, it's going to run you, there's no question," he said.
"You won't have any headspace for anything else."
RELATED COVERAGE: Men who seek support report improved well-being in second lockdown
City of Ballarat mayor Daniel Moloney shared his advice on 'coming out' after he publicly revealed he was bi-sexual last year.
"I felt like I was breathing three quarter breaths for 44 years of my life. Whereas now I'm good," he said in a video snippet of Hear For Each Other released on the Ballarat Community Health Facebook page.
Mr Pearce is hosting an online On The Low Down event in partnership with Ballarat Community Health called After Dark, getting to the brighter side of mental health challenges, on September 9.
It will feature a panel conversation with Cr Moloney, Ballarat Radio general manager John Fitzgibbon and Mr Moneghetti.
You can submit questions in the lead up by commenting on Ballarat Community Health's After Dark Facebook posts.
Register at onthelowdown.com.au.
You can listen to Hear for Each Other on Youtube or any podcasting service.
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Rochelle Kirkham
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
