27 March this year was the last ‘coming-of-age’ milestone of my father’s suicide. He took his own life twenty-one years ago, in 1998. Ordinarily I’m overcome with a sense of dread in the weeks before this annual milestone, but this year, I wasn’t.
In announcing an expansion of its mental health program, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) said the men “will be automatically offered a comprehensive mental health assessment and sign-posted to professional support if needed.” Australia should go even further.
Married with a young family and a great job, JC Clapham thought he had ticked all the boxes for a good life. Then he nearly lost it all, and himself. On paper, I had the perfect life. Married with three kids, a seemingly great job that paid very well, a mortgage in the suburbs, and…
I love being a dad and having my three kids. I’m a very involved and good father, and the upside of quitting my senior corporate job last year after my marriage ended, is that I’m now far more present and active in my kids’ lives. With three major and parallel challenges in the preceding few…
Today marks 19 years since my father hanged himself. For more than half of those years, I hated him. Intensely. Fiercely. But now, having been right to the same metaphorical ledge he stood on (but stepped back and resolved never to get there again), I feel desperately sad for him. I miss him. And I…