In 1912, following drought and hard times, a young farmer in South Australia could no longer cope with the pressures of life. He left behind his wife and four children. Five decades later one of his sons, after the stress of another drought, was discovered not knowing his name or where he was. He spent a month in Parkside Mental Hospital. These men were my great–grandfather and grandfather. I did not know their stories until my grandmother shared them with me in 2003. Mental illness was not something you ever spoke about in a close–knit country community. Men were the providers, they were tough and they felt the weight of responsibility for their families and their farms. This is the forward from a

2013 publication Game On https://cdn.movember.com/uploads/files/Our%20Work/game-on-movember-foundation.pdf – finishing with the words 

“Over the last decade, we have created a foundation in mental health that positions us to move quickly and decisively to invest further in the development of e–mental health in both wellness promotion and the prevention of mental illness and in early intervention, treatment and recovery. We are uniquely positioned to act, and the time to do this is now”.

Today in 2022 it has taken a global pandemic to allow us to even begin to imagine what a 21^st century system of care might look like. Rich Jones, Co-Founder of Tacklit, was almost another statistic lost to mental illness, one of the one million people who die of suicide each year. Rich had everything to live for, a great job, beautiful wife, baby daughter and son on the way – but he couldn’t see the point of living. 

We have all heard this story – our family members, our friends, the people we Love who feel that they cannot continue in this world. Rich has a powerful message and he tells it in a funny, warm, engaging way – he’s resilient but vulnerable – his story is powerful, pragmatic, heart warming and one of great hope for the 1 in 4 people who live with a mental illness. 

Rich talks about stigma and his battle to overcome it. His defining moment listening to a Tyson Fury podcast https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2839648-tyson-fury-talks-mental-health-struggles-reveals-he-was-on-the-verge-of-suicide and how it gave him a purpose. The support he found in a broken mental health system and the family and friends who wrapped their collective arms around him and helped him on his journey of recovery. Most importantly – he talks about why he continues to work on getting the balance between work and life right, and his passion in life - raising his children to be compassionate and kind. 

Tacklit exists because Rich believes his experience with the mental health system could have been better. It should have been better. The system is broken, the quality of care substandard, and our mental health workforce under extreme duress. Tacklit aims to change that and I cannot wait to see where the team take their technology, and the role it will play in changing the way care is provided worldwide. 

Listen to the podcast here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2015630/episodes/10919631