Australia is often seen as a very laid back country. Casual, open and friendly. But when you scratch the surface you’ll find that it’s a front for a troubled mind.
Here, we pass off problems with, ‘nah, she’ll be right mate’ – as if sweeping the issue aside makes it null and void. But statistically speaking we have a problem. According to the Black Dog Institute ‘suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians between 15 and 44 years of age’. In a country with accessible healthcare, this is an alarming statistic.
And we are all happy to support a cause – Black Dog, Beyond Blue – as long as that doesn’t mean we should admit to having a problem. After all, ‘she’ll be right’. But she won’t be right. And she isn’t. And neither is he.
For far too long we’ve swept aside personal, emotional and spiritual issues as if they were a nuisance instead of an indicator for a chance to grow and evolve. We treat these issues as a child who covers their eyes with the belief that because they can’t see you, you can’t see them. But the stats say something different. Pretending the issues aren’t there doesn’t make them go away.
So we campaign, and we fundraise and we bring awareness up around mental health. Yet this is where we fall short. Culturally speaking, we’d much rather be seen to be doing something to help, mate, than addressing our issues. Admitting that others have a problem is one thing, admitting that you have a problem is another.
Why is this so? Because ‘she’ll be right mate’ permeates so much of our thinking that we’d rather eat our problems away, drink our problems away, shop our problems away, gamble our problems away and over-work our problems away than act on our problems. After all, ownership is not something we are used to.
In my practice, I find that clients are often looking to be told what they need to do. They feel uncomfortable owning the idea that they can make the decisions, that they can own their health. That they have the answers. Yet when they do, they have amazing breakthroughs and life-changing transformations. Traditionally Chinese medicine practitioners were paid to keep their patients well and not paid if their patient became sick. The idea of taking ownership of your health and keeping yourself well is foreign for those who have passed this responsibility onto others. We have developed a culture of co-dependency that is disempowering.
So much so that people are hesitant to seek out options, keeping up the appearance of ‘she’ll be right mate’. And if they do seek help, and come away feeling renewed, they’ll often not talk about it either due to a fear of being judged for having an issue in the first place.
We have a long way to go to make people feel comfortable talking about challenges, admitting they have issues, acting on them and then sharing their experience. Then and only then, will we be remotely close to being ‘right’.
If you are wanting to move forward in life I invite you to make an appointment. Read through the testimonials www.butterflylane.com.au/community and take ownership of your life. Ph: 0418512822
