Video Transcript

David's story - "I'm well because I'm able to connect"

Intro 

0:08
My name is David Corduff.
0:10
I'm a retired businessman.
0:12
My passion is volunteering for organisations
0:14
where I can hopefully make a little bit of a difference.
0:18
First bout of depression came as a result
0:20
of a retrenchment in my 30s.
0:22
From there on, things didn't work out particularly well.
0:25
I found myself losing interest in day-to-day things,
0:28
sleeping poorly, my appetite had gone.
0:31
I found a job that I should have been able to do easily
0:33
became very, very stressful.
0:35
I ended up in the hands of a psychiatrist
0:37
and on medication to try and just stabilise me.
0:41
I went to see a whole series
0:42
of different mental health professionals
0:44
to try and find a cure.
0:46
I realised maybe it's all about managing the depression.

 

Managing Depression

0:51
I used to be very reserved about anybody knowing
0:53
how I was going because I was a bloke
0:56
and I'm not supposed to feel down.
0:58
And I realised as I got better,
1:00
it was extremely important
1:01
to maintain contact with people
1:03
and also acknowledge the support of my family.

 

My 60th

1:08
My 60th was a very seminal day in my life.
1:11
There were about 30 people there
1:13
and the doors opened
1:14
and it was "Happy birthday!"
1:15
and I just froze.
1:18
I thought, "No! God. I just don't want to be here.
1:21
"I don't want to do the social thing."
1:23
My daughter basically,
1:25
for want of a better description, outed me.
1:28
She said, "I just want to tell you about Dad
1:29
"and his struggles over the last few years."
1:31
There was a relief.
1:32
A weight seemed to lift off my shoulders.
1:34
I feel quite different now about being open
1:37
and having whatever it takes
1:38
to talk about mental illness.
1:41
Something I'm really passionate about
1:43
is that guys need to communicate,
1:45
not just on a minor level,
1:47
just about themselves.
1:49
I feel very lucky

 

My passion

1:51
in terms of the voluntary stuff I'm doing now
1:53
and I've got the facility
1:54
of being able to talk to audiences.
1:56
The more I sense that people get
1:58
some sort of a message out of what I'm doing,
2:00
the more energy it gives me.
2:01
I'm making a connection for me
2:03
and it's part of my recovery too.
2:06
You don't know whether you make a difference to people,
2:08
but I'm sure as heck not going to stop trying.