F
eeling anxious, isolated and alone, Darren
Cook had just had been placed in a mental
health unit at his own request. He'd just been
released from intensive care after trying to
take his own life.
That was 2013, at the time Darren was bat-
tling the stigma that comes with mental illness and sui-
cide. It's an area that
many men feel awk-
ward talking about,
confusion seems to
be a common denom-
inator. Darren want-
ed, needed, to over come this and set about looking for an-
swers. He was determined to find an explanation for it all.
While he explored his own personal being Darren found
an outlet and a way to seek answers in exploring his world.
He focused on the outdoors, four wheel driving, camping
and trail riding all became his vehicle.
This vehicle challenged Darren immensely as he had
to overcome a number of obstacles. Just leaving his front
door was a mountain he had to scale. Vomit inducing
anxiety would quickly take over, fortunately Darren never
gave up and soon came to realise that what many take for
granted; offroading, was a great way of building mental
health.
Darren found he was starting to look for ways to live
life rather than ways to
end it.
" I had to accept that
I was sick and far from
OK," says Darren.
" I couldn't believe I
was in this place, I made a promise to myself and my chil-
dren, that I'd never live in silence again and somehow, I'd
navigate my way out of this."
Darren realised that he was going through a "shitty" ex-
perience and that his life was far more important, for the
sake of his children, his family and his friends. His fight
back had begun.
TRAVERSE 16