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Ryan Corr talks men’s mental health for new show In Limbo

Ryan Corr talks men’s mental health for new show In Limbo

Video transcript

RYAN CORR: And, yeah, it's a big issue. You know, mental health a broad sweeping issue. And so we can't be so arrogant as to assume that we do know the answers. You know, I think it kills eight to nine young Australians a day here. And a huge-- I think six of those eight are young men, under the age of 55. And there's a really vulnerable group between the ages of 20 and 30 amongst young men, even more so if you have Torres Strait Islander or Aboriginal descent.

So there's a real room for conversations to be had and to change those-- change those numbers. And with any luck, we've just tried to sort of open that conversation, and make it less taboo, and take all shame around it, and try to normalize conversations around mental health and seeing how your friends are, because what we've discovered in the making of it is often people seem OK outwardly, but they're not necessarily. And in my personal experience, that's always been the case. And I think shining light on what sort of is usually covered in darkness is sort of what we're trying to do here.

So I hope that we've done enough of a cross-section that you could-- you know, that you believe in these characters and that you care about them. And I hope it starts-- I hope it starts conversations. It was born out of a Michael-- sorry, Lucas Taylor out of his personal experiences. And we've also had Jennifer Cummins, our producer, and Lucas did a documentary series called "Man Up" many years ago about on trade sites and in mining sites about suicide rates and mental health within young men.

And we've also-- we're also sort of working hand in hand with an organization called mates.org, which is specifically groups of people on work sites, traders and miners that are getting together. There's hundreds across Australia. Just to have a platform to talk to each other and to, as I say, to normalize conversations about mental health, because, ultimately, it's the things that are hidden that are the problem. And so the more we can bring those to light and the more that we can feel comfortable in doing so, I think, that's a positive step in the right direction.

But I think the way that men-- I think the idea, you know, those old ideas of masculinity, that stoicism, that toughness, I think, I think they're slowly changing. I hope they're changing throughout culture. And I hope that this show is sort of a part of that narrative, you know? I think people is talking about it more openly now, which is really healthy.