There is never an easy time to share your deepest, darkest thoughts, particularly when they might be things you find hard to admit to yourself.
Some people may never be up to sharing theirs and that is okay.
You certainly can’t force someone to be ready (nor should you), which is why it took me so long to dig deep into my trauma.
Nine Australians die by suicide each day. Seven of those are men, two women. Additionally, a person attempts to take their life every eight minutes.
We are well past crisis point as we mark another Men’s Mental Health Month this June.
I’ve always felt that if I can articulate something that others may struggle with, I have a duty to do so.
They call it role modelling vulnerability – if I am able to be vulnerable, raw and open, hopefully it helps others feel safe to do the same.
For years, as an entertainment journalist, interviewing everyone from Taylor Swift to Madonna and Beyonce, peers, friends and colleagues suggested I wrote a pithy celebrity tell-all.
While I love what I do, that was never going to be my style.
Issues around mental health, sexuality, diversity and inclusion are what drive me personally, and increasingly in my work with my Mental As Anyone podcast and the Gotcha4Life mental health charity.

Just as we’ve reclaimed words like queer, maybe even bogan, I’m proud to be ‘mental’ as I believe none of us are special in this space.
Call me a freak, crazy, a loony too. Sticks and stones and all that but honestly, I see my mental scars as a shield.
Each morning, as I get ready, I envisage myself putting on these words like metaphoric armor as I set out to live another day with a million and one thoughts scrambling through my brain and the worst of imposter syndrome. That is my normal.
We are all battling our own demons. I am not special. I simply have a platform to share my craziness, my neurospicy attributes if you will, and I do that in the hope of making it easier for the people who can’t voice theirs.
We have come a long way but the fact is, the stigma of speaking up, of admitting you’re struggling is still very real, particularly for blokes. Some still think you’re weak or less than and treat you with kid gloves. I’ve experienced that since first being diagnosed with depression as a teenager.
Now, I was never going to write a book if it wasn’t warts and all, which is why I go deep in my first ever book, a memoir-meets-self-help titled Mental As Anyone: A Toolkit for Surviving and Thriving on the Chaotic Rollercoaster of Life.
There’s sex and sexuality, abuse, addiction, suicide attempts, all based on my lived experience in the trenches.
But I didn’t want to dump a steaming pile of trauma on the page. That’s why Dr Jodie Lowinger, of Sydney’s The Anxiety Clinic, came on board and we counter the darkness with a toolkit for those going through the fire or those trying to help and understand their loved ones.
I hit what I’d consider rock bottom in my mid 30s. Rock bottom was not wanting to live anymore, although I did end up in hospital after trying to take my life in my early 20s as well.
Years of therapy and a lot of medication led me to the point of being ready to tell my story.
A doctor recently told me it was a miracle I was able to function to the capacity I do given the demons looming in my head.
I never saw it as a choice. I chose life but even now, pushing through the fog in my mind, there are times that that is a challenge. Admitting that helps.
Mental As Anyone is in stores from June 25 through Wiley. Pre-order here now.