Better Mental Health? Just my thoughts

World Mental Health Day - October 10

Sometimes our greatest challenges are inside our own heads. It's actually easier than you might think to sort those thoughts out. Having a system or a confidant is the beginning.

One of the greatest steps I took after my shooting, 25 years ago in the days when men DID NOT discuss mental health and speaking to a psych was frowned upon as weak, was that I demanded to see a psychologist or psychiatrist asap.

My work at the time was a sniper, diver and counter-terrorist operative with the Police Special Task and Rescue (STAR) Group. We were perceived to be the toughest of the tough men. We only got called in when things were too big or too hard for everyone else to manage. It was perceived that we were selected for STAR Group because we were mentally stable and mentally tough and could handle anything.

At the time, I didn't think I 'needed' to speak to the psych for the reasons everyone else thought. I merely wanted to have a discussion with someone who knew more than me about what I might be about to experience (anxieties, nightmares, flashbacks, PTSD etc) than I did. The psych's would be able to give me an insight into what I might experience, the signs that it's starting and, most importantly, how I might proactively manage it in the early stages so as to prevent it becoming 'full blown'.

I was relaxed and looking forward to having 'a chat'.

Many people thought I would be in therapy for decades after the shooting. After all, I was hit with 14 bullets, I was lying on the ground for 3 hours, I did feel my blood pooling on the ground next to me, I did feel my body getting weaker and weaker and in the end, I had so little blood left that I saw The White Light. So people thought that therapy would last for decades.

My therapy was one 3 hour appt with Psychiatrist Dr Sandy McPharlane and at the end, he said, "I don't need to see you again". We then obviously discussed the reasoning behind that too.

Don't ever think that I have never experienced anxiety or depression. I did and I was taken 'offline' in STAR Group (away from stress and away from being in charge of a firearm). I was proactive in my management of the depression and within 1 month, I was cleared back to full duties, I was back in STAR Group, I was fully operational and going back to all the high-risk incidents.

Part of this success was the discussion with the psychiatrist but also discussion with close friends and colleagues that I knew were supportive.

What we discussed in that 3-hour meeting and what did after my depression has become the basis for my philosophy and model of Human Durability.

Human Durability is about going beyond resilience to sustaining optimum performance. It's about building the confidence and courage to believe in your capacity to achieve success in whatever we choose to.

When I talk to people from stage, run a Human Durability workshop or run 1 on 1 mentoring/coaching - I discuss what we need to do to look after ourselves physically, mentally and most importantly emotionally to manage the greatest challenges in our lives.

Sometimes the greatest challenges are inside our own heads. We just need to have the confidence in ourselves that we either have a system to manage them or the confidence to ask someone else to help us.

I would love to speak or run a workshop at your work, conference or seminar.

There are 2 public Human Durability workshops on November 14 or November 21 at Adelaide Skydeck with Victoria Fox

this is the link if you would like to join us

https://going-from-resilience-to-human-durability.eventbrite.com