Former H & A star reveals battle with depression that sparked new documentary

Ben Steel was a Home And Away hearthrob back in the day but everything spiralled years later. He details in a new TV documentary how he came back from the brink of suicide. WARNING: Some readers may find this story distressing.

• Sex, drugs and my battle with depression: Jonathon Moran

Directing a documentary about mental health saved former Home And Away actor Ben Steel’s life.

So troubled was the actor over recent years that he considered taking his own life.

“I was on the brink of suicide,” Steel told Confidential. “I was at the point where I wanted to kill myself. I felt like things within my professional and personal life weren’t where I wanted them to be.”

Former Home And Away actor Ben Steel, who has made a documentary that deals with depression in the entertainment industry. Picture: Richard Dobson

The actor’s revelation is even more sobering following the news that fellow former Home And Away actor Ben Unwin died in August.

Steel has spent the past three years working on The Show Must Go On, which will screen on the ABC at 9.30pm on Tuesday, highlighting that statistics show suicide attempts in the entertainment industry are double the national average.

It features interviews with prominent entertainers including Sam Neill, Michala Banas, David McAllister and Shane Jacobson.

“This documentary definitely saved my life,” Steel said.

“It is through doing this that I realised I wasn’t alone and that there was a way out. Through talking to people, getting support and counselling, I ultimately got the help that I needed and could see a different way out.

Actor Ben Unwin, who died in August.

Steel in his Home And Away days.

“Now when I have a bad day, and we all have bad days, I have enough skills developed within myself that I can move through that really quickly.”

The 43-year-old played Jude Lawson on Home And Away for three years from 2000 and it was two years ago that he experienced his darkest times with depression.

Steel was careful with his words on Unwin, to be respectful of the late actor and his family.

“The Home And Away experience, we both went through that,” he said. “I was on the path to go down that way and I guess my story is an alternative version.”

More generally, Steel remains grateful for his time on the TV soap, which remains hugely popular today.

“It was such an amazing part of my life,” he said. “If I hadn’t had my rise and fall from Home And Away and the subsequent struggles with that and mental health and depression and my recovery from that, I wouldn’t be where I am today, so it is all a gift and I think you really have to look at it that way.”

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Originally published as Former H & A star reveals battle with depression that sparked new documentary