Pearcey's Pledge to Mental Health

My name is Jacob Pearce and I'm a 29-year-old from Melbourne, Australia.

I've started this page because I need help. I need help to end suicide and to smash the stigma that comes with mental sickness.

Suicide is the highest cause of death for Australian teenagers and young adults. In 2014, 1463 Australians committed suicide and the statistics are increasing each year.

9 months ago my family lost a relative to suicide and 6 months ago I received a call that a bloke I had bonded with had taken his life. I have seen the effect suicide has on a family and ever since then I have had a burning desire to do something about it.

Recently, I have teamed up with an organisation called Alive Project. Alive Project dedicate their time helping our youth build resilience when times are tough with a focus on programs and workshops in schools. They provide aide to those at risk through various forms of coaching support in a non-clinical setting.

I have taken this on because I feel the need to give back. I have the chance to make a difference. Sometimes you have to go to hell and back to get a better perspective on life.

For a long time I wasn’t doing life right. I’ve dealt with anxiety and depression, I was a heavy binge drinker and relied on illicit drugs to get through a week. I was living a wreck less life. I look back now and realize what was happening. I was battling with my mental health and I would shut myself away from the world and became numb to what was really going on.

18 months ago I should have died but I didn’t. I fell 22 stories from a building after a highly intoxicated accident. I can’t remember a thing. I should have woken up on a Sunday with a routine hangover but instead I woke up on a Tuesday from an induced coma and a lot of rehab to come.

Someone was looking over me that night and I feel like the reason I was given a second chance, is to educate and help others who have been through what I have been through as a young person.

I stand here today fully recovered physically but a work in progress mentally. This will always be the case.

I have started this campaign to raise much needed awareness and create ways to fund what Alive Project is trying to achieve. Help me smash the stigma, treat mental sickness like a cold or a flu and let’s SAVE LIVES!