Dan Price shares his story of surviving two suicide attempts and finding his voice
THREE and a half years ago, Dan Price almost took his own life.. Now he speaks for a community-based charity that aims to break the stigma of mental health.
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THREE and a half years ago, Dan Price almost took his own life. He was deeply depressed, was drinking heavily and had started using drugs to numb the pain.
Yet on the surface, everything seemed to be going pretty well for him.
Price was married with a house and car and worked in a well-paying corporate job. He had always been a high achiever, both as an athlete and academically.
But when things started to unravel and his marriage broke down, he was at a loss of how to cope on his own.
“I hid it so well that no one knew. I had high functioning or smiling depression, as they call it.
“The stigma kept me quiet, the shame, the guilt, the fact that I thought people would think I was a failure especially being a high performing young bloke and adult,” he said.
After surviving two suicide attempts, Price still didn’t feel comfortable to open up to friends and family straight away. It took him more than six months before he felt ready to share his story.
“There was still a lot of shame there and it was challenging coming through what I went through and then still not talking about it, not knowing how people would react or not knowing if my friends would turn their back on me”, he said.
“When I shared it publicly, the support not only from people who loved me but from people around the world was absolutely incredible.
“A lot of people reading my story were going through the same thing”.
Price’s story is one of 10 personal memoirs featured in Jas Rawlinson’s book Reasons to Live One More Day, Every Day.
Ten inspirational Australians have come together to share their stories of triumph over depression and suicide.
Along with Dan Price, other people featured include hip-hop artist L-FRESH the Lion, Cairns photographer Graeme Brint and social entrepreneur Nicole Gibson. It also includes Rawlinson’s story and experience with depression.
“I’d been reading a lot of articles about youth suicide and in particular that suicide of Australian men was on the rise and I really wanted to create something that was unique and a bit different to what was out there at the time,” said Ms Rawlinson.
“Helplines can work really well for some people but for others they don’t and I saw storytelling as a very powerful tool.”
Sharing experiences and opening up about mental health struggles is also a key focal point of a new national suicide prevention campaign.
The Federal Government has allocated $1.2 million to this campaign, led by SANE Australia in collaboration with other leading mental health organisations.
“We’re looking to specifically target Australians who might be contemplating suicide,” said Jack Heath, CEO of SANE.
“The idea is to share the stories of real Australians who have attempted suicide or been highly suicidal and try and connect those at risk with support.”
SANE will be working with Lifeline, Orygen, Beyondblue, Reachout, Headspace, the Black Dog Institute and Suicide Prevention Australia.
“We want to directly confront this notion of people feeling that they’re a burden and communicate the message the world is always better off with you,” said Heath.
The campaign will share stories of people who have contemplated suicide through a series of videos, linking them to a website with resources.
“We expect these real stories will resonate strongly with vulnerable viewers as they’re coming first hand from someone who has walked their path and understands what they’re feeling,” said Heath.
Similarly, Rawlinson’s book, also focuses on the idea of shared experiences and the benefits of opening up and talking about mental health.
“I want to put something out there specifically to help people to build their resilience and to draw inspiration from other people’s stories.
“I’m hoping that if someone is struggling and they see that book, it might just give them that prompt to address the way they’re feeling,” said Rawlinson.
For Dan Price, he is now at his happiest. He says he had no choice but to throw himself into recovery after almost losing his life.
He immediately checked into a mental health rehabilitation program in 2014. He now has a healthy balanced lifestyle and regularly speaks publicly about his struggles.
“I think people were just really glad to see a ‘normal bloke’ stand up and say ‘this is what I’ve gone through, this is my journey and I’m not the only one’.”
He is also an ambassador for Livin, a community-based charity that aims to break the stigma of mental health. The grassroots organisation focuses on suicide prevention and uses the hashtag “it ain’t weak to speak”.
“Lived experience is a big push for Livin. The hashtag ‘it ain’t weak to speak’ is all about speaking up, whether that’s to a loved one, someone close to you or a psychologist,” said Price.
Similarly, SANE wants to share these kinds of stories in new and innovative ways to prevent suicide.
“What we’re trying to do here is show that other people have been in the exactly same situation feeling that they’re a burden but they’ve also found a way to work through this,” said Heath.
The SANE campaign is in the research and evaluation phase and will be launched in the first half of 2019 and trialled in three locations nationally.
Y ou can meet Jas Rawlinson and get a copy of her book at her upcoming book signing at Chermside Dymocks in Brisbane on July 21, or online at jasrawlinson.com.