‘This world is better with you in it,’ promises Beautiful Bogan Marc Ryan

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If you ever doubt yourself, just remember: you’ve already survived the worst day of your life.

That was the message from Marc Ryan, the Beautiful Bogan, at the Murray Bridge Mental Health and Wellbeing Expo on October 10.

The comedian joked about mismatched thongs, tattoos, Gawler, his “spicy” son and his relationship with his ex-wife.

But he was also brutally honest about his own run-ins with mental health issues, including suicidal ideation: thoughts about ending his own life.

Having those thoughts didn’t mean he needed to act on them, he explained.

With the right support around him, he could acknowledge that darkness existed, but still feel happy and enjoy the things he loved about life – like stand-up and good coffee.

“If you’ve survived up to today, you’ve survived 100 per cent of your worst days,” he said.

“You’re a super resilient person.”

You might feel like you were alone, he said – “mental illness does that to you”.

But there were other people out there who, in private, were going through exactly the same thing.

Reach out for help, he suggested.

Make a mental health care plan with your GP and other professionals, and stay connected with your mates and activities you loved.

When he was feeling low, he said, he’d just text his closest friends: “Hey.”

That was their secret code – they’d know what he was going through, and that their friendship and support could help him keep going.

Helping a struggling friend, colleague or family member was actually a lot easier than you might think, he said.

A mental health professional would help in the long run; but in that moment of distress, all you had to do was say to someone, “I see you”, and mean it.

“Life is a struggle,” he said.

“I know we all want to be heard, we all want to be seen, and we want to know that we matter to someone.”

He called himself the Beautiful Bogan to own who he was, he said, as a proud product of the northern suburbs; but also because he believed in a beautiful world.

Love was punk rock.

Kindness was king.

And most importantly: “This world is better with you in it.”

• Get help: Talk to your GP; find a local service that suits you at murraymallee.servicesdirectory.org.au; call Lifeline on 13 11 14; or, in an emergency, call 000.

Let’s be a supportive community, clinician says

Earlier in the day, iReach clinical services manager Lisa Courtney had applauded the fact that the stigma around mental health had reduced, and that more and more people felt free to talk about their wellbeing.

Yes, challenges like the cost-of-living crisis, social isolation and limited access to services all affected people’s mental health, she said.

But she and many other locals were committed to making Murray Bridge a community where:

• everyone could feel seen, supported and understood
• people felt safe to ask for help without fear of judgement
• locals were able to have constructive conversations about mental health when someone reached out

“Murray Bridge has always been known for its strong sense of community, resilience and care for one another,” she said.

“We all have a role to play in creating a positive community.”

She called for more investment in mental health services, education and early intervention.