Tara's personal torment drives mental-health conversations

TV star Tara Pitt has a talent for talking, but the one topic she is particularly interested in is mental health awareness.

NOT AFRAID TO SPEAK UP: Australian Survivor reality TV runner-up Tara Pitt speaks out for R U OK? Day today. Picture: Maddie Manwaring

TARA Pitt has a talent for talking - whether it be entertaining her tribe mates on Channel 10's Australian Survivor, her stint on breakfast radio with 92.7 Mix FM or her new gig as an event MC.

But the one topic Tara is particularly interested in talking about is mental health awareness.

After seeing first-hand the devastating impact mental-health disorders can have on families, Tara has become an advocate for raising awareness and starting conversations about mental health.

Sitting in the corner of a busy Eumundi cafe on a chilly winter morning, Tara is instantly and refreshingly open about her struggles with mental illness, as well as her father Rodney Blair's long battle with mental health and his suicide in 2016.

After her middle child Zai was born prematurely, Tara suffered postpartum depression for many months.

"My husband checked me into a Toowoomba hospital because I didn't want to be his (Zai's) mother any more," she says. "For me to say that aloud is actually quite hard, but ... I just couldn't get that connection with him."

Survivor contestant Tara Pitt is speaking out about her father's suicide last year, as she hopes to raise awareness for Suicide Prevention Week and R U OK? Day. Picture: Patrick Woods

After spending four weeks in a mental-health program and seeing a mindfulness coach, Tara says that opening up and talking, rather than bottling it in, helped her get back to who she is today.

"I'm not afraid to tell people that story and I'm not afraid to say 'You know what, I'm actually having a sad day today' because it helps," she says.

As well as overcoming her own struggle, Tara watched her father battle with mental-health disorders for more than two decades. He had served in the army for 20 years, and spent five months in Somalia in 1993.

After his homecoming, she recalls seeing a noticeable change in him.

The man who returned was not the same as her previously active and energetic dad who would take her to pony club.

"Things started to change with him: he wouldn't get out of bed and then months had passed, and then years had passed and I thought 'This is not like my dad'," Tara says.

The situation escalated in 1997: her father had to leave the army due to mental health, and from 1997 to 2016, he was in and out of hospitals, seeing various doctors and seeking help. In 2015, Tara's parents moved to Gympie and Rodney seemed to be doing well.

But on August 1, 2016, Rodney took his own life.

"I got the phone call from my husband to say 'It's your dad. He's done it this time and he's passed away' and that's when, you know, you feel your whole world had just stopped, because for me, my dad was my hero, and he was my everything and then all of a sudden that was taken away from me," Tara says.

"Looking back now, I always think 'Why did he do it?'. There were days when I hated him for it, but there where days were I thought 'You know what? He's in a better place now and I have to accept it and I have to move on with my life'."

Australian Survivor host Jonathan LaPaglia with finalists Tara Pitt and Jericho Malabonga. Picture: Nigel Wright

Tara applied for reality show Survivor shortly after as a somewhat unconventional method of coping with the aftermath of her father's death, and she survived 55 days on a Samoan island, becoming the season's runner-up.

As proud as she is to have come second in the competition, Tara says she is more proud that she is able to use her "little bit of fame" to spread the word about mental-health awareness and support causes such as R U OK? Day and Mates4Mates: an organisation that offers rehabilitation and support to members of the military and their families.

Last year on R U OK? Day, Tara appeared on the Ten Network's Studio 10 to share her story. But she says for this year's R U OK? Day, on September 13, she is planning on wearing her yellow shirt and attending a Coast event to offer support and a listening ear.

In Australia, more than 45 per cent of people aged 16-85 will experience a mental-health disorder such as depression or anxiety at some point in their life.

Today's R U OK? Day and organisations such as Mates4Mates are invaluable in the fight against breaking down stigmas attached to mental health and starting conversations, but Tara also says it's important to be there for people whenever they need support. "R U OK? Day is just one day of the year, but to me, you should be asking that question every single day," she says.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit www.lifeline.org.au

For more, visit www.ruok.org.au or www.mates4mates.org