When Marcus was in Year 6, he began to realise that he was gay. And despite receiving love and support from his parents, Marcus found his sexuality difficult to accept. For the next 10 years, Marcus embarked on a journey of self-destruction, first through an eating disorder, and then through drug abuse. 

Then a visit from a mental health professional changed things in Marcus’ life forever.

A transcription of this episode can be found here.

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If this episode brought up any troubling thoughts of your own, or if you know someone who is in need of help and assistance, please reach out to one of the support options below.

For emergencies:

Police, fire, ambulance - 000

Lifeline - 131 114

Suicide Helpline - 1300 651 251

Crisis and Assessment - contact your nearest hospital

At Swinburne (for students only):

After hours crisis phone service - 1300 854 144 or (SMS) 0488 884 145

On-campus wellbeing services- (Hawthorn) George Building, Level 4;

 (Croydon) CA130;

 (Wantirna) WA121

If you are an international student you can access all the same health services as a local student. But you do need to bring details of your overseas student health cover to your appointment. And in some cases, you might have to pay for the service upfront, and then get a reimbursement from your insurance provider later. 

Other information and services:

Eating Disorders Victoria

headspace

headspace Hawthorn

Beyond Blue

Obtaining a Mental Health Care Plan

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About the host:

Hannah McElhinney is a presenter, writer and creative with a long-standing interest in mental health. Her work has featured on VICE, Triple J and others – and she's also a Swinburne alumni (Bachelor of Media and Communications). 

Off the back of her own personal experiences, Hannah reckons we've got a hell of a long way to go in removing the stigma and opening up the conversation around mental health, but this podcast is a pretty good start.

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Produced by: Sam Loy and Hannah McElhinney

Sound Design and Mixing: Tiffany Dimmack

Executive Produced by: Clare Monte, May Ling Yong, and Douglas Pope