Former Pittwater MP John Brogden sheds a light on suicide in his new book
Warning: This article mentions suicide. For help, contact Lifeline on 13 1114; text 0477 131 141 or chat at lifeline.org.au
It was hope bound up in a flood of faxes, cards and letters from well-wishers that pulled former Pittwater MP and then state Liberal leader John Brogden through a dark period in his life.
He was 36, the youngest person to lead a major political party, when he ’behaved badly and said offensive things at an event,’ and resigned as state opposition leader as a result. Soon after, he attempted to take his own life. John was found, taken to hospital and spent time in a clinic. On his return home, he found that ‘everything had changed for me.’
“I was one step away from getting exactly what I wanted, which was premier, and I wanted to do that for as long as I could remember,” John says. “So I had to reorient myself to ‘now what do I do?’ And the extraordinary thing that gave me hope in the weeks and months that followed my suicide attempt was that my wife, Lucy, and I received faxes, emails, letters, gifts and cards from 10,000 people – the majority of whom we’d never met.
“And they were extraordinary messages that basically shared great love and respect with me,” he recalls. “And just this overwhelming message that, ‘Look, you made a mistake, you paid a high price, life moves on.’
“I felt enormous support and felt I could move on,” he says. “So that was incredibly hopeful.”
At the time, John went public about his mental health. “I decided that I had a profile, that this had happened to me, and that I wanted to use my profile to promote the cause of suicide prevention.”
In the 19 years since, John, who lives in Bilgola, has dedicated his life to this cause. He chaired Lifeline Australia for 10 years, and is now an honourary member of Lifeline International.
It was this experience which brought him to write his new book, Profiles in Hope, in which he interviewed 15 Australians who share their deeply personal journeys of ‘suicidality, attempted suicide and survival’. They include some famous names like Freshwater’s Layne Beachley, Ian Thorpe and James Packer. As well as other inspirational people like teenager Matthew Caruana, who tried to take his life at 16, survived with a spinal cord injury, and found new hope and purpose in life.
“There was a very instant connection with most of the people in the book because I’ve been there,” John, 55, says. “We didn’t feel the need to tip-toe around the issue, we were able to talk about it straight away.”
When asked if the experience of interviewing for the book was triggering, John says: “It was probably the reverse, because it gave me an opportunity to get out there and show that there are people who have different experiences in life, who come from very different walks of life, but can end up in a similar place.
“If anything, it was very hopeful.”
John’s advice for those who find someone in distress? “You don’t have to be a heart specialist to stop in the street and help somebody who’s having a heart attack. At the very least, you ring Triple 0 and you stay with them,” he says. “You don’t have to be a psychologist or psychiatrist to help somebody who’s in a very difficult situation with their mental health. So be direct with them. All of our research shows that tiptoeing around it actually won’t cut through. People will give you an excuse or find a way to end the conversation. So we do have to be direct with people and ask them the incredibly difficult questions: ‘Are you suicidal?’ ‘Do you want to kill yourself?’ ‘Do you want to hurt yourself?’ Breaking through that way is incredibly important.”
“The really big message is there’s no shame in having a mental illness,” John says. “The greatest shame is suffering in silence.”
Royalties from the sale of Profiles in Hope go to Lifeline.
