01/10/2026
This!
OCTOBER IS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH 💚
Alright. New month.
September was Su***de Prevention Month, and if you followed this page through it, you probably saw some of the rawest parts of me.
Austin’s birthday.
Five years without my brother.
The Out of the Shadows walk.
Crying on camera.
Talking about things I normally struggle to even say out loud.
September kicked my arse.
But I made it through.
And now we’re into October, Mental Health Month, with World Mental Health Day coming up on the 10th.
So Check on Your Mates is going to ramp up again.
Not just talking about su***de.
Mental health.
Trauma.
Chronic pain.
Recovery.
Addiction.
Boundaries.
Education.
Faith.
Community.
Asking for help.
And what it actually looks like to try and change your life.
Because the last 12 months have taught me a hell of a lot.
I’ve spent basically a year dealing with chronic pain, doctors, hospitals, referrals, complaint systems and appointments, eventually travelling to Melbourne because I desperately wanted somebody to properly understand what I was experiencing.
There have been some bloody awkward appointments along the way too. 😂
And somehow, while all that was happening, I completed my first year of university.
That still blows my mind a little bit.
About a year ago I decided I wanted something different.
I started asking for help.
I started going to church.
I went to uni.
I started questioning myself instead of assuming I already knew everything.
I started learning about mental health, social work, culture, community and the way my own experiences shape how I see the world.
I’ve even started learning what decolonising myself actually means.
How far through am I?
About 15%. 😂
Long bloody way to go.
But that’s okay.
My Week 12 reflection at uni basically came down to four words that I wrote in massive letters:
JUST GROW, DAMO.
That’s where I’m at.
And another thing I wrote was:
BUILD THE INTERNAL SUPERVISOR.
That’s something social work is really starting to teach me.
That little voice that makes you stop and ask yourself:
Is what I’m doing actually helpful?
Am I listening properly?
Am I reacting from old pain?
Am I being fair?
What am I missing?
Could I handle this better?
Pirate Damo isn’t disappearing. 😂
I’ll still swear.
I’ll still laugh at stupid s**t.
I’ll still be emotional.
I’ll still get things wrong.
I’m still going to be genuinely and authentically me.
But being authentic doesn’t mean refusing to grow.
And one of the hardest things I’ve learnt this year is this:
YOU CANNOT SAVE EVERYBODY BY DESTROYING YOURSELF.
I’ve spent years trying to help people I love.
Friends.
Family.
People dealing with addiction.
Mental health.
Legal problems.
Work problems.
Relationship problems.
Whatever it was, I wanted to help.
And sometimes I kept helping long after it started hurting me.
I thought loyalty meant staying no matter what.
I thought family meant accepting things I shouldn’t have accepted.
I thought if I helped enough, explained myself enough or gave enough chances, eventually everything would become healthy.
It didn’t.
This year I had to make some boundaries that still make me feel like s**t sometimes.
I had someone I loved living with us for years, and eventually I had to accept that I wasn’t capable of giving him the help he actually needed.
That hurt.
It still does.
And some family relationships came to a point where I finally had to admit they simply weren’t healthy for me or for the life Kristie and I are trying to build.
That didn’t feel empowering.
It felt horrible.
Sometimes protecting your peace doesn’t feel peaceful.
Sometimes it feels like guilt.
Sometimes it feels like grief.
Sometimes you sit there wondering whether you’re a terrible person for finally saying:
“I can’t keep doing this.”
But I’m learning that setting a boundary isn’t the same thing as abandoning somebody.
And sometimes loving somebody means admitting:
“I’m not the help you actually need.”
I also stopped chasing family relationships where I constantly felt like I had to prove that I deserved to be loved.
That was a massive lesson.
Because somewhere along the way I’ve found other things.
University.
Church.
Community.
New friends.
Old friends who genuinely show up.
People who encourage what I’m trying to do.
And most importantly, the little life Kristie and I are building together.
And another massive lesson?
ASK FOR HELP.
I keep asking.
And weirdly enough, people keep helping.
Doctors.
Lecturers.
Friends.
Church.
Community.
Asking for help has probably done more for changing my life than pretending I could handle everything alone ever did.
So if you’re sitting there thinking:
“I’m too old.”
“I wasn’t good at school.”
“I’m not smart enough.”
“My mental health is too f**ked.”
“I’ve wasted too much time.”
Nah.
Go again.
Go to TAFE.
Go to uni.
Do a trade.
Do a certificate.
Do a short course.
Learn something completely random.
Apply for the bloody thing.
Give yourself another crack.
And while I’m talking about that, MASSIVE shout-out to Greeley.
One of the Tassie OGs and, in my books, still one of the absolute top dogs doing it.
I’ve been absolutely frothing what Greels is doing with the whole “Get Back to TAFE” message and taking that into those spaces.
That matters.
Because education isn’t only for the person who had everything figured out at 18.
Sometimes education is something you come back to after life has absolutely kicked your arse.
Sometimes it’s TAFE.
Sometimes it’s uni.
Sometimes it’s a trade.
The point is:
GO LEARN SOMETHING.
Back yourself.
Give yourself another chance.
I’m 39 and just about a full year into uni.
If you told some people who knew the old Damo that this would be me one day, they probably would’ve laughed.
The angry Damo.
The drunk Damo.
The welfare kid.
The bloke who struggled badly with his mental health.
The bloke who thought his life was basically already written.
Well...
Look at the little bu**er go now. 😂
Not perfect.
Not finished.
Still learning.
Still struggling sometimes.
But growing.
So Greels, keep doing your thing, brother.
And Burd Brain ...
Greeley’s already got “Get Back to TAFE.”
Surely your next hit has to be:
“GET YOUR ARSE TO UNI.”
😂😉
There you go mate. Free song idea.
And that’s probably the message I want Check on Your Mates carrying through October too.
You don’t need to become some perfect version of yourself.
Just move.
Reflect.
Learn.
Ask for help.
Make the boundary.
Take the opportunity.
Start again.
Start again at 20.
Start again at 39.
Start again at 60.
JUST START.
Because I genuinely don’t believe I’m here just to stop by.
I want to leave a mark.
Not through money.
Not through followers.
Not by pretending I’ve got some perfect life.
I’d rather leave behind people who felt a little less alone because somebody checked on them.
A kid who got a Kobe poster because somebody nominated him.
Someone who got a shirt and realised their mate had been thinking about them.
A sticker on a toolbox that reminds somebody:
“F**k, I haven’t heard from old mate lately.”
A conversation that happens because somebody asks twice:
“Yeah, but how are you REALLY going?”
That’s the mark I want to leave.
And yeah, faith has become part of my story too.
I believe God’s got my back through this.
That’s mine.
I’m not pushing it onto anybody else.
I just ask for guidance and then try to do something useful with whatever comes next, comes next.
I’ll let God decide that.
My job is simpler:
JUST GROW, DAMO.
So October...
We’re coming.
More videos.
More conversations.
More stickers.
More cards.
More giveaways.
More community.
And hopefully a few people deciding that maybe their story isn’t finished yet either.
Reflect.
Grow.
Ask for help.
Protect your peace.
Back yourself.
Check on your people.
CHECK ON YOUR MATES.
It ain’t weak to speak.
We’re in this together.
