Editorial: Don’t suffer in silence

BEHIND the glitz and glamour of celebrity are real people just like us. And fame and fortune are no inoculation against the hard knocks that life can deliver. Gold Logie winner Grant Denyer reveals the big secret he kept from all but those closes to him.

BEHIND the glitz and glamour of celebrity are real people just like us. And fame and fortune are no inoculation against the hard knocks that life can deliver.

While on Sunday night the television world gathered to celebrate the Logie Awards, on Monday the star of the night, Grant Denyer, raised the curtain on his own struggles. Speaking exclusively to The Daily Telegraph, the Gold Logie winner revealed a secret that he had kept from all but those closest to him for years: his fight to the top was made all the more poignant by his battle with depression and prescription pill dependence that, as he put it, had destroyed his will to live.

Grant Denyer has opened up on his personal battles. Picture: Nigel Hallett

As Denyer reveals, 10 years ago the supercar driver turned TV presenter was left with a broken back after an accident while jumping a monster truck at Dapto Showground. It left him forced to lie on his back for six months, heavily medicated to easy the crippling pain.

But while his body healed, his mind remained in dark places: he fell into deep depression and, as he puts it, “a whole whirlwind of emotions that meant I was at my lowest”.

A monster truck accident 10 years ago forced him out of his career as a Supercars driver. Picture: Channel 7

Nor is Denyer the only celebrity to have revealed their private battles. Jessica Marais, who won the Most Popular Actress Logie, herself withdrew from the ceremony for health ­reasons.

While of course we are glad that Grant Denyer has won his battles and wish Jessica Marais, who has struggled with mental health issues in the past, all the best for her recovery, there is a silver lining in these dark clouds. Because while once those who suffered would have to suffer in silence, today people — even celebrities — feel that it is all right to speak out about their troubles.

Denyer has turned his life around. On Sunday night at the Logies, he scored Most Popular Presenter and won the Gold Logie. Picture: Nigel Hallett

This is a positive development for society. It means that for those who do suffer — and according to BeyondBlue, it’s estimated that 45 per cent of people will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime — there is a powerful reminder that they are not alone. Which is important when, as Denyer puts it, those who are suffering are often very good at hiding what they are going through. Likewise, when high profile people are frank about their own struggles, it reminds everyone that there is more to celebrity than just the well-turned-out public persona.

They’re not our bags, baby

THINK you’re saving the planet? Not so fast. This week Australians have had to cope with changes to the way they get their groceries home from the big two supermarkets — but done so in the hope that their actions might somehow be helping the planet.

Silvana Del Vento believes supermarkets are profiting from shoppers purchasing plastic bags. Picture: Justin Lloyd

But it turns out that for all the talk of Australia’s plastic bag addiction, we are hardly the main culprits fouling the planet. Instead, 90 per cent of global plastic waste that enters the ocean comes from 10 river systems — eight in Asia and two in Africa. It may be the thought that counts, but action from others would be better.

Not getting to know you

FOR a country that is getting ever more crowded and ever more engaged on so-called social media, Australians are growing ever further apart.

New data shows that on everything from friendships to neighbourliness, the fact that we are living ever closer to one another and following each other on Facebook is doing nothing to keep us from being lonely.

More people are saying they have no close friends. Picture: Supplied

In fact, all this may be doing just the opposite. The figures show that from 1984 to last year, the number of people who said they had no close friends they could visit jumped from seven per cent to 17 per cent. Across the board, men fare worse. They report fewer close friends than women and are more likely to have no close friends outside their primary relationship.

Communities are suffering as well, with fewer of us feeling that we could turn to a neighbour for help. And it is affecting everything from mental health to social cohesion.

The solutions could wind up being simple, though. Introduce yourself to a neighbour. Meet for coffee instead of an online chat. And remember, the real world trumps the virtual one.

Originally published as Editorial: Don’t suffer in silence