Microsoft Australia’s Nick Hodge is partaking in Movember, a lets grow some facial hair in November charity event with sponsorships going to the ever excellent Beyond Blue.
I’m not a huge contributor to charity; as I’ve written on this blog in the past I use to donate to the Salvation Army until I discovered that they give cigarettes to poor people: don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-smoking, but if you’re sooooo poor you cant afford smokes that should be as good a reason to quit as any…and I don’t want my donations going towards that.
Unlike a slew of charity organizations in Australia, Beyond Blue is a-political…no seriously, they really are, which unfortunately puts them in a minority.
The black dog could bite you tomorrow so I’d encourage anyone with a spare dollar or hundred to sponsor Nick. Depression isn’t nice…and for the record I’ve been there, done that. It was called b…sorry, legally I cant say but lets just say that I was pushed to the edge in some of my previous activities. 30 sucked as well, which was probably complicit in it all. I got some decent (private) advice that set me on the straight and narrow. Lesson though: don’t think that the black dog cant get you, it can.
Nick’s id is 82950, you’ll also need to enter Nick + Hodge to sponsor. Link here.
Duncan
Thanks for the call out. As a fellow depression sufferer, thankfully diagnosed and handled in a similar professional way, BeyondBlue helped me.
Their web site and resources was one of the first places I reached out for. Also a big shout out to Jeff Kennett. Love him or loath him, he’s an excellent ambassador for us who suffer with the black dog.
Nick
Nick
I was just fortunate enough that I had cash to burn on private help…2 years prior and I wouldn’t have been able to afford it. I should have been a shrink BTW: $180/ hr.
Duncan
I also feel for those who cannot seek help.
The largest suicide rate is now in men 35-50 having previously been in teenage boys. Much work over the last 10 years has reduced the rate in younger men. BeyondBlue is one of the key organisations helping blokes.
The reduction of stigmatisation of depression and mental health is also helping. Funding from Federal and State Gov’ts, too.
Nick
The thing is Nick: what I’ve written above is the closest I’ve ever been to admitting my time with the black dog, and I’m betting that it will be used against me in the future. There is still this stigma that to suffer depression= you’re nuts, and that you should just buck up and deal with it. As you know, it’s just not that simple…and I cant count how many times I wished it was.
Duncan
Same here. I’ve hinted at it in previous posts on my blog. And in twitter.
The great google machine will suck these, and many other utterances ready for all to read about it in the future.
Nick
I’ll sponsor Nick if you sponsor me :o)