#4 | Fergus Crawley | My Experience With Depression And Suicide | Why mental health awareness week is not enough.
May 9, 2021
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Fergus Crawley, an advocate for men's mental health and a charity fundraiser, shares his inspiring journey with depression and suicidal thoughts. He emphasizes the importance of sharing personal stories to foster connection and combat stigma. Fergus reflects on his adolescence, the pressures of masculinity, and how getting a puppy transformed his healing process. His impactful narrative underscores the necessity for ongoing conversations about mental health, well beyond just awareness weeks, advocating for deeper understanding and vulnerability.
Fergus Crawley shares his journey through depression, highlighting the detrimental effects of isolation and societal expectations on mental health.
The importance of vulnerability and community connection is emphasized, illustrating how shared experiences can foster support and understanding.
Listeners are encouraged to engage in ongoing mental health conversations year-round, reinforcing that awareness should extend beyond designated weeks.
Deep dives
Personal Journey Through Mental Health
The speaker shares a deeply personal account of their mental health journey, beginning with their experiences as a rugby player and the setbacks caused by concussions. This transition led to a shift away from team sports to individualized fitness, which initially boosted their self-esteem through progress tracking. However, an unhealthy obsession with fitness developed, resulting in a form of an eating disorder called orthorexia nervosa. This chaos introduced a complex relationship between mental health and societal standards of success, which created feelings of isolation and loneliness.
The Impact of Isolation and Conformity
During university, feelings of isolation intensified, compounded by negative self-perceptions and a disconnect from peers. The struggle to make meaningful connections highlighted the importance of community, especially as the speaker faced academic pressures and societal expectations. Their internal dialogue perpetuated a sense of being unique in suffering, which prevented them from seeking help. The belief that admitting vulnerability equated to weakness created a barrier to reaching out, leading to profound loneliness during critical moments.
Crisis and Turning Point
The speaker recounts a critical moment in May 2016, when isolation culminated in a suicide attempt after a week of silence. This life-altering event triggered a reckoning with their mental health struggles, highlighting the exhausting burden of putting on a brave face. The aftermath of the attempt brought about a realization of the need for genuine connection, ultimately fostering a sense of purpose through pet companionship. This pivotal experience revealed the power of shared existence, which aided in gradually rekindling joy and connection to the world.
The Importance of Sharing Experiences
After recovering, the speaker felt the profound liberating impact of discussing their experiences, emphasizing the necessity of vulnerability in understanding mental health. By opening up about their mental health journey, they discovered a network of support previously underestimated, encouraging dialogue around this often-stigmatized topic. The transition from silence to sharing eventually sparked involvement in mental health advocacy, exemplified by a fundraising initiative that connected them to others with similar experiences. This shared understanding fostered a sense of community, breaking down perceived barriers around masculinity and vulnerability.
Call to Action for Continuous Conversations
The speaker challenges listeners to engage in ongoing conversations about mental health beyond designated awareness weeks, highlighting that mental health should be a year-round focus. They stress the importance of checking in on loved ones and being proactive in addressing mental health issues, emphasizing that everyone's experience is unique, yet universal in its essence. By acknowledging collective struggles and fostering an environment of openness, individuals can dismantle the stigma surrounding mental health. Ultimately, the message is clear: sharing stories and supporting one another is crucial in navigating mental health challenges together.
Having first shared his experience publicly in 2016, Fergus has since been on a mission to change the way we view men's mental health, and has raised just shy of £100,000 for charity in doing so.
Recently, Fergus features in the BBC documentary with Roman Kemp: Our Silent Emergency, where he shared his story with the nation as part of an exploration into the crisis that we are facing here in the UK.
This episode explores the context, the detail, and more of the background on Fergus in more depth, and is his most detailed account of his experience available online.
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