Australasian Dentist Magazine March April 2021

Category 8 Australasian Dentist D ental entrepreneur and Managing Director of Integrated Dental Marketing, Carl Burroughs, has long been a supporter of mental health charities and chooses to raise awareness and much needed funds through his passion of extreme motorcycle adventures. In 2016, Carl along with a group of eclectic, but like minded friends rode Royal Enfield motorcycles around Nepal and raised money and awareness for the Black Dog Institute. In 2018 Carl did a similar trip around the Himalayan mountains in Northern India and with the help of the Australian dental profession, raised over $7,000 for the Movember Foundation by dressing ‘dapper’ and riding to the highest inhabited village in the world, Komik Village which sits at 4,587 meters (15,050 feet) in the famous Spiti Valley. With international travel not on the horizon for 2021, Carl’s trip this year is nearer to home, but is no less impressive. On August 7th this year, Carl and his cohort will set off from Brisbane and travel to Alice Springs as part of the Black Dog Ride to the Red Centre. “Although often attributed to Sir Winston Churchill, the term ‘Black Dog’ has been associated with depression since medieval times. However, Churchill certainly helped bring mental issues out of the shadows as he would often refer to “His Black Dog” when feeling melancholy and was unashamed of making his state of mind public, something that many people still struggle to do to this day. The metaphor of the black dog is an important one, both for the people who suffer with depression as well of those who don’t, as it provides a frame of reference for how depression can appear in a person’s life. Far too often, depression is depicted in the media as a range of emotions that one can simply ‘get over’ and the metaphor of a black dog allows us to understand how depression can persistently follow us around and show up at any time. It’s all about the conversation – Carl says “If you ever watch TV shows, such as The Drum or Q&A on the ABC, it would be easy to believe that we live in some Pollyanna world where the issues within our society are getting discussed and in the process improvements are made over time. And within certain groups vast improvements have been made, but sadly depression is not one of these groups. Suicide rates in Australia were at their highest in the great depression of the 1930’s and as you might suspect dropped significantly throughout the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Since then they have ebbed and flowed, but what is alarming is that since the early 2000’s the rate of suicides have been increasing year on year and this is a trend that is not abating. What is more alarming is the way depression affects males, who represent over 75% of all suicides. In 2019 Australia reported 3,318 deaths by suicide, 2,502 of these deaths were men and 816 women.” Ride for mental health n ws “But this is not all about suicide. It just happens that the suicide rate is the easiest statistic to measure to show we are not dealing with depression correctly in this country. For every death through depression, there are thousands of people struggling everyday and this is manifested in domestic violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, loneliness and simply living a life of constant struggle. “There have been many studies into the rates of depression within the dental profession and there is some conjecture over whether this is myth of fact. One study back in 2007 reported suicide rates of dentists were more than twice the rate of the general population and three times higher than other white-collar workers. Irrespective of the statistics, the dental profession faces the same problems as the rest of society. It’s a reluctance to talk about metal issues, a stigma, particularly within males the belief that we simply need to ‘man up’. “The one thing these extreme motorcycle trips I do emphasis, is the need to simply reach out and talk to one another. My riding group consists of firemen from the UK, who have been first responders at some horrific events; farmers who have suffered drought and floods and people like myself who live privileged lifestyles but still benefit from a friendly ear and hug from someone who cares.” We all know people who are at risk, the friend who has gone silent for some time, a colleague who has become withdrawn or someone dealing with grief or separation. So, reach out to those in your circle and ask them regularly if they are OK, you simply can’t get it wrong as everyone likes being thought of – including you.” u If you would like to support Carl’s efforts to raise awareness of mental health issues and fund for the Black Dog Institute you can make a donation at https://donate. blackdoginstitute.org.au/ https://www.mycause.com.au/ charity/36929/BlackDogRide