Blue collar blues a growing problem
As a highly paid and well-trained “rope access technician” working on offshore oil and gas platforms, Dave Crispin was living a life where seemingly everything was in order.
He liked the work and camaraderie that went with it, was fit, in a loving relationship with his long-time partner and was the father of a happy and healthy teenage daughter.
Then, nine years ago, Mr Crispin’s life was turned upside down.
In a cruel and unforeseeable twist of fate, the Byford man’s wife Denize, who was 45 and similarly fit, died suddenly of a health complication.
Mr Crispin said he didn’t know it at the time but he largely lacked the skills to get help, even as he plunged into the depths of despair.
The deeply personal story coincides with today’s release of survey results by depression group beyondblue showing almost one-third of men who are blue-collar workers would not know what to do if they were suffering anxiety or depression.
The results, which come on the heels of a parliamentary report warning many fly-in, fly-out workers are falling between the cracks of mental health safeguards, also show one-quarter of those men see such conditions as soft and seeking help as a sign of weakness.
Mr Crispin said he eventually learnt to deal with his grief — thanks to willpower, the counsel of a close friend and the love of his new wife — and he now wants to help others struggling with mental health problems.
The 53-year-old, who speaks on behalf of beyondblue across Perth and the South West, said the results were evidence of the stigma attached to mental health issues among blue-collar men and the need to change this.
“I really did struggle,” he said. “Being a guy you try to reach out but sometimes you almost feel emasculated, or that’s the perception.
“But it’s not — it’s what you think. There are people out there willing to help you.
“And that’s what I try to preach with beyondblue, to say ‘you’re not alone, someone has been through this and there is help available’.”
Starting today, Mr Crispin will feature in a television, radio and digital advertising campaign aiming to help men get help to deal with depression or anxiety.
“All you’ve got to do is lift that phone up and make that call,” he said.
“There is someone there who will listen because a lot of the time you don’t want someone to solve your problem — all you want is someone to listen.”
