Celebrities lend support to mental health project ‘Imperfectly Perfect’
THEY are some of Australia’s biggest names in entertainment but there is no acting in their latest project. Instead celebrities including Rebecca Gibney, Hugh Sheridan and Nick Bracks are literally the faces of a new project breaking down the stigma of mental illness.
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SHE’S won Logies and hearts with her many television roles but Rebecca Gibney has admitted she has also been haunted by suicidal thoughts.
“I also suffered severe depression in my thirties and contemplated taking my life,” Gibney told The Sunday Telegraph.
It is one of the reasons she is literally one of the faces of a new campaign to raise awareness of mental illness, called Imperfectly Perfect.
Photographer Glenn Marsden was inspired by a mate who took his own life to capture a series of powerful images of Australian celebrities to raise awareness for mental illness and suicide prevention.
I’ve had more suicide deaths in my life than cancer.
Gibney is the most high profile and her story reinforces the message that depression and anxiety can strike anyone, at any time.
“No one knew how I was feeling. On the surface I had the perfect life — great job, wonderful family and friends but inside I was dying,” she said.
Others involved in the project include Gibney’s former Packed To The Rafters co-star Hugh Sheridan and Home and Away actors Lukas Radovich, Lara Cox, Tim Franklin and Patrick O’Connor.
Singer Wes Carr, Romper Stomper actor Julian Maroun, The Morning Show’s Karen Ledbury, reality star and radio host Heather Maltmann, model Nick Bracks and actors Tim Ross and Nick Hardcastle are also involved.
Marsden is planning to next month fly to Los Angeles to shoot a number of big name stars there and working towards hosting an exhibition of his work.
He has set up a Go Fund Me Page — www.gofundme.com/imperfectlyperfectcampaign — to fund the campaign.
Marsden’s awareness campaign has been supported by The Banksia Project to help spread the word.
REBECCA GIBNEY - ACTOR
I also suffered severe depression in my thirties and contemplated taking my life.
No one knew how I was feeling.
On the surface I had the perfect life. Great job, wonderful family and friends but inside I was dying.
Daily panic attacks became hourly panic attacks and pretty soon I was making excuses to friends so I didn’t have to leave my apartment.
Lucky for me a friend suggested I see a psychologist and she literally saved my life.
Two years of therapy and I learned to love myself again and accept that who I am is enough. Please if you ever feel this way there is always someone that will listen. It’s one step at a time but you do matter and you can get through it.
HEATHER MALTMANN - ACTOR/RADIO HOST/REALITY STAR
The worst part was watching my mother become someone I didn’t even know due to her own thoughts and mind taking over.
I would try to connect with her, and be afraid of what would come back. Would she be her? Or would she be her alter ego that was running for her life.
I have had to retrain the way I think so that my life has stability and love.
It started with choosing love and being honest with those around me.
Taking the risk to trust people with the information that I was the product of a woman who had paranoid delusional schizophrenia.
It was used at times to hurt me by people I should not have trusted. Still is to this day. However you have to be completely yourself in order to find the ones you can trust in this world.
I am perfectly imperfect, and when you accept this about yourself and ride that wave.
You can make choices that are based on living in a positive light.
Every moment in life has a positive and negative charge.
It’s about how long you choose to live in the negative that matters.
I hope this new campaign that Glenn has so passionately created, gives you the permission you need to be your most perfectly imperfect self.
He is selflessly doing this for you, and I cannot thank him enough for creating a place for YOU to come forward and connect and share your own imperfections that make you completely perfect.
JULIAN MAROUN - ACTOR ROMPER STOMPER/FIGHTING SEASON
Glenn’s campaign is vital because it sensibly acknowledges the dark, potentially thunderous clouds in an industry renowned for its depiction of clear blue skies and sunny days.
The fact that it felt grassroots by someone who understood the industry and not by a big organisation trying to perpetuate their own brand.
TIM ROSS - ACTOR WONDERLAND/HOME AND AWAY
It saddens me to think that those closest to me might not be as they appear on the outside.
We need to remember that it’s okay to not be okay and I think people would be overwhelmed by the support that friends and family can offer if they just open up and be honest.
It’s extremely satisfying to ask someone if they are alright and in turn, be asked yourself.
I chose to get on board with this project to get people talking and I’ve already had several people genuinely ask me if I’m okay because of it.
Speak up, ask, and listen. Friends can be more powerful, calming, caring, open and supportive than you might think and we have them for a reason.”
LUKAS RADOVICH - ACTOR HOME AND AWAY
I think its important to raise awareness for mental health esp for young boys and men like myself. Especially in terms of anxiety which I’ve definitely dealt with in the past , but you don’t really start getting better until you start asking questions and getting help and I think something like this what glenn is doing is important to start a conversation.
NICK BRACKS - ACTOR/MODEL/MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE
I was super excited to be apart of Glenn’s campaign as it is directly linked to the work I do in mental health advocacy.
I love the authenticity of this campaign, the quality of the images and clear messages that are coming from it. we cannot do enough to educate people about the importance of speaking out about mental health.
HUGH SHERIDAN - ACTOR
Mental Health is the number one cause of death for men in Australia.
It is the number one cause of young adults.
Mental health is the most critical issue facing Australia at the moment and its time we talk about it. Recently, I wrote a TV show that was based around suicide, something that I have dealt with in my life through friends, colleagues and family.
I’ve had more suicide deaths in my life than cancer.
I think its time we deal with mental health head on, we need to talk about our feelings and let our children know its completely ok to have feelings, good and bad, bit that its important to let them out.
Life isn’t always as it seems, we don’t post of social media about the days that we wished we didn’t get out of bed or the days we didn’t feel like it, most people feel the pressure to keep up with everyone’s ‘perfect’ life.
My grandfather told me to never judge anyone unless you walked in their shoes, its great advice that I live by, as its important to know what’s really going on behind someone’s smile, or even their angry demeanour.
The point I’m trying to make is many Australians are suffering and doing so in silence.
As a country, its time to ease the pressure, stop expecting people to be perfect and start talking openly about feelings with people you trust’
NICK HARDCASTLE - ACTOR
I grew up with a parent who is a mental health professional.
I guess I took for granted my understanding of depression and personality disorders and the importance of seeking help when you’re not ok.
Even still, I’ve gone through major transitions in my life where I’ve had to navigate my own suicidal thoughts and I have listened to friends and their struggles and still lost some them. Any way that I can be a part of a movement that encourages discussion about the importance of our mental health and reminds other humans that they are not alone, is a privilege for me. The irony of starting a campaign like this is on Instagram and Facebook is not lost on me.
I believe that social media is a huge contributor to young people’s depression and distorted view of themselves and their own lives and has been used as a vehicle for spreading messages of hate and bullying people, including someone I loved, to suicide.
However I also believe that it is equally a very powerful platform to generate unity, understanding and support. I hope this campaign can help people talk, share, understand and support each other and allow us to avoid more tragic and unnecessary loss.
Thank you for you kindness and courage in doing this important work and for allowing me to be a part of it.
LARA COX - ACTOR
I think it is very important to talk about mental health.
Make it visible. Make it the norm to ask if people are ok.
It seems important to me that we shatter the facade, the idea that life is meant to be perfect. Life can be tough and for some people it feels very far from perfect.
If we allow for more discussion to be had around anxiety, depression and feeling alone we allow for more people to understand that it’s not uncommon.
It’s not something to be ashamed of.
We all need love and we all need to feel like we belong. And we all need a little extra help at some point in our lives.
I remember reading a Life Line statistic that said suicide remains the leading cause of death in Australians aged between 15 and 44! I found that statistic shocking. The leading cause of death!!!? I wondered what we could do to help!? Connect more? Talk about loneliness/sadness more?! Encourage a sense of belonging? But how?
Campaigns like Glenn’s bring about more awareness around how people are really doing, not how they’re doing on social media! It opens the door for truthful conversation.
Real life can be tough. It’s important that we make it ok to talk about that and the options available to help make it better.
People should never be left feeling like there are no options.
KAREN LEDBURY - TV PRESENTER
With the current suicide rate around one in every 40 seconds and an alarming increase in teen suicides its important to understand it is more often than not a silent killer. What Glenn has done is bring some vital awareness through raw and compelling imagery, which I believe will make a huge impact in showing that anyone of us can endure issues and it’s ok to speak out. As a cause very close to my heart and my families ,I think we need to start not only connecting with those we love but also loving and understanding others and being compassionate.
PATRICK O’CONNOR - ACTOR - HOME AND AWAY
A man is someone who should be able to talk about their feelings and feel no shame.
Your mental health is more valuable than any job, relationship or situation that you find yourself in.
Men should be encouraged to take care of it, instead of saying ‘I’m fine and putting one foot infant of the other.
“Its ok to be vunrable.’
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