With special guest:
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John Brogden AM
… in conversation with Bill Kable
Even talking about suicide would have been frowned upon a few years ago. Mental illness is still not attractive but we need to do it.
How can we ignore a situation where 63,000 people attempt suicide every year in Australia? In 2022 there were 1200 road deaths in Australia. The rare shark deaths lead the news cycle for days and yet 3300 people die by suicide every year in Australia. On average 9 Australians die every day and three out of four of these people dying are male. The highest proportion of these males are between forty and fifty years old. The suicide rate went down a little during the Covid pandemic but the numbers have gone back up and are very stubborn.
We talk today with John Brogden about possible solutions. One thing we should be agitating for is a massive public campaign about the causes of suicide. This approach has been extraordinarily successful in the area of cancer treatment particularly breast cancer in wormen.
Another particularly important approach is to learn from lived experience and this is where Profiles in Hope is so important. In this new book by John Brogden we learn from fifteen cancer survivors. How low did they get, was it necessary to hit rock bottom before finding a way forward? Were these 15 looking for a permanent solution to a temporary problem?
With John’s experience as a politician he knows the right questions to ask. With his own experience as a suicide survivor he knows about bouncing back. We asked John how he came to select these Australians with a story to tell. The people in the book are a varied lot including a billionaire, some famous sports people and some everyday people. The link to suicide does not depend on setbacks in life. Some of these people would be high achievers on any scale.
We asked John if there are any common threads among these survivors who on the face of it do not seem to share much in common. One thing that came out is that there is often an element of luck in survival such as someone arriving at the right moment or importantly the absence of a means of suicide at the critical moment.
John has been very influential in this field through his work with Lifeline. An extraordinary number of people call Lifeline or contact in other ways and the benefits are long lasting. And John suggests other approaches as well such as meeting up with people you know on a regular basis. Treatment may also involve doctors and a tailored drug regime.
John Brogden is a fascinating person with an all important mission. It is great to hear him speak and a real experience to read his book.
John Brogden AM
John Brogden is an Australian businessman, former politician, former Chair of Lifeline Australia and the Honorary President of LifeLine International.
John’s career in politics started when he became a member of the Parliament of New South Wales in 1996. In 2002, he was elected Leader of the Opposition on his 33rd birthday - the youngest person ever to lead a major political party in Australia.
A global leader in suicide prevention and crisis helplines, John’s passion for mental illness recovery stems from his own suicide attempt which marked a turning point in his life and reframed the public discourse around depression and suicide.
Song selection by our guest: One Call Away by Charlie Puth