After attempting to take his own life in 2012, Kyabram’s Ryan Grace began a gradual journey towards healing which has ultimately led him to a career as a counsellor for other men battling mental illness.
This is his story.
Produced by Cath Grey and Charmayne Allison
HE WAS just 24 but life’s short journey had taken Kyabram’s Ryan Grace to his bedroom with a power cable, his makeshift noose, in his hand.
And in no doubt he was about to end his life.
Since he was 16, when he discovered his dad was not his biological father, he had struggled with feelings of failure, shame and low self-worth.
To the point where life seemed too painful to keep living.
You wouldn’t know it to look at him – in fact, he’d make sure you didn’t.
Like far too many men and women, he’d become an expert at hiding his inner struggles – always the life of the party, he’d be the one out partying until dawn.
Until he’d arrive home, exhausted, and would burst into tears.
But one day and one charade too many, it became too much.
In a devastating series of events, he lost his job, then his apartment, then all his savings – and had to move back home with his estranged parents.
Left alone one night, the “kettle boiled over” and he decided to end his life.
“I couldn’t pretend anymore. I couldn’t fake a smile. I was exhausted and sick and tired of feeling a failure, shame, doubt and low self-esteem,” he said.
“The only way I could see to escape that was suicide.”
In the middle of his attempt, Ryan had a sudden change of mindset and realised he didn’t want to be another tragic suicide statistic.
As he comprehended what he had almost done, how close he had come to death, Ryan curled into a ball and wept.
It wasn’t a complete healing – but it was a turning point that might save his sanity and his life.
And in the subsequent years he began to take small steps towards restoration.
From smaller changes, such as altering his diet and attending a gym to the crucial, big-ticket ones including opening up with others about his emotions and – biggest of all – repairing his relationship with his parents, who he’d struggled to forgive since discovering the truth about his father.
Ryan said his newfound Christian faith played a crucial role in this healing.
“Just because I found God doesn’t mean my life just started working out,” he admitted.
“But I slowly discovered God’s not about perfect beings that live perfect lives in a perfect world. He wants people just as they are.”
Now 31, Ryan has made a career of talking about feelings.
A far cry from theyoung bloke who never opened up.
He is now a counsellor at Teen Challenge, a 25-bed men’s alcohol and drug live-in rehab in Kyabram, where he’s encouraging other men struggling with mental health to speak up.
“People don’t follow titles. They follow courage,” he said.
“When men speak up about mental health, it doesn’t matter who you are. Other men will follow.”
If you or someone you know needs help now, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. If it becomes a crisis go immediately to the nearest hospital or phone 000.