MEssage from our ceo

Reimagining PREVENTATIVE Mental Health

two too many

This weekend, we learned the heartbreaking news of Adam Selwood’s passing by suicide—just months after the tragic loss of his brother Troy. Words cannot express the heartfelt condolences we all feel for the Selwood family. Two lives lost in the space of weeks. 

The silence left behind is deafening. The grief is immeasurable. 

And like all tragedies of this kind, the questions: Why? How? Could it have been different? 

Mental health is not linear. It doesn’t present the same in everyone, and it certainly doesn’t arrive with a neat set of instructions. 

It’s layered, complex and often invisible, and it’s shaped by our relationships, environments, identities, physical health, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and whether we matter. Suicide, as confronting as it is to acknowledge, is rarely the result of a single issue. It’s often a perfect storm of pain, confusion, disconnection, exhaustion, and hopelessness—and too often, it unfolds in silence.

But here’s what we must hold onto: it’s not inevitable. Even in the darkest moments, there is space for intervention, support, and connection that can change the trajectory. And it has to start long before the crisis hits. To create change, an upstream, prevention focus is critical.

Prevention isn’t a single program or one-off conversation. It’s a culture. It’s the way we show up for each other. It’s the stories we tell our kids about strength and softness. It’s building the kind of world where reaching out is seen as strong—not shameful. 

Where asking for help isn’t seen as a last resort, but as a normal, encouraged part of being human.

Preventative mental health support must be embedded in every part of our communities—from schools to sports clubs to workplaces. It needs to teach people how to understand themselves, how to name and regulate emotions, how to find purpose and identity that go beyond achievements. 

It needs to focus on skills that help people navigate change, loss, and challenge with a sense of agency.

And just as importantly, prevention must be grounded in connection. Because one of the most dangerous contributors to mental ill-health is isolation. When someone believes they are the only one feeling this way, the only one struggling, the only one unsure of how to keep going—the risk grows. We need to build and maintain real human connection.

This is where school-based wellbeing programs play a critical role in embedding early prevention and emotional literacy before crisis occurs.

Not surface-level niceties or curated social media friendships, but meaningful bonds where people feel seen, heard, and connected.

Purpose matters too. 

A sense of direction. A reason to get up, to try again, to believe that there is something worth staying for. And purpose isn’t always grand. It can be found in family, in creating, in mentoring, in contributing to something bigger than ourselves. When people have purpose, they are more likely to survive harder seasons because they feel anchored to something that matters.

This is particularly critical in the world of elite sport. Athletes are often celebrated for physical endurance, but mental wellbeing can go dangerously neglected. The transition out of professional sport can be jarring. Identity loss, public scrutiny, and physical exhaustion all combine in a way that too often leaves former athletes adrift. In these environments, leadership and organisational wellbeing approaches are increasingly important in reshaping how performance and mental health coexist.The systems in place are outdated or inadequate. And the cultural messaging—that vulnerability is weakness—although shifting, still persists.

It’s not enough to have a helpline or a brochure handed out after a crisis. We need structural change. That means rethinking how we prepare people—not just for performance, but for life after performance. It means integrating mental health education and support into every level of the sporting experience. And it means being honest about the broader influences too: the rise of gambling sponsorship, the personal attacks masquerading as sports commentary, the toxic silence around help-seeking.

What we need is a collective shift.

A reimagining of how we talk about wellbeing, success, and what it means to thrive. It’s not about pretending life is easy. It’s about ensuring people are equipped to face the inevitable moments when it isn’t.

Connection is not a bonus—it’s a basic need. And community is more than a word or a marketing campaign—it’s a lifeline. Whether through friendships, family, shared interests, mentorship, or faith, we must invest in the relationships that sustain us. We all need someone who will walk beside us when we can’t walk alone.

Let these tragedies be a turning point. 

Not a moment of mourning that fades with the news cycle, but a call to act differently. 

To show up. 

To ask the hard questions. 

To create more awareness and conversations, to increase crisis care and most importantly to fund preventative mental health initiatives in schools, sporting organisations and the workplace.

We can build a culture where no one feels like they have to carry it all, all the time, on their own. 

Where help is normal. Where connection is everywhere. Where we all know, deeply and truly, that we matter. 

Where our actions decide that it ends here, with this generation.

Take care of each other,

Scott

CEO | Founder - LifeChanger Foundation