Anthony Hart Travels from SA
Fee Range: .Up to $5000
Anthony Hart's Biography
The facts are undeniable - yet as a nation, we are wearing a mask. Three million Australians are living with anxiety or depression. One in five women and one in eight men will experience depression in their lifetime. Each day eight people lose their life to suicide, six out of eight are men. Suicide is more than double the national road toll. In the workplace, one in five employees will take time off due to mental health-related illness costing Australian businesses approximately $10.9 billion per year and this doesn't factor in a loss of productivity whilst at work.
Whether we view mental health as a personal or a professional problem there is little doubt we are facing a collective crisis. Mental health is not only an issue negatively influencing the lives of our mates, but an issue that also highlights the need for a deep-seated cultural shift in communities and organisational cultures across the country. We must remove the masks of mental health in order to encourage the formation of new cultures built upon vulnerability, open communication and an ability to seek out support when needed.
Anthony Hart is a passionate social entrepreneur, advocate for mental health and a man on a mission to shift the narrative around mental health in Australia. At the heart of his message 'Mates who wear Masks' is a desire to empower others with simple tools to inspire and activate better conversations, connections and to build positive communities designed to remove the many masks of mental health. We all have a right to feel safe in seeking support and getting our lives back on track.
It was an ironic 'fall to freedom' in 2003 that forever altered Anthony's destiny. As a 28-year-old wearing all of the masks of a highflying corporate job not even Anthony himself could have predicted that he would actively choose to walk off a 21 storey building in the heart of Sydney, yet that is exactly what happened. Depression had silently yet cunningly led him to death's door. In a twist of fate, Anthony's life was saved when he landed on a balcony eleven floors down and while there is no denying the gruelling journey that lay ahead of him in order to find good health again, it was in this moment that Anthony's life purpose emerged and his masks finally melted. There was hope and a new life began.
In an act of true resilience, Anthony transformed crises into a new opportunity. Harnessing a natural entrepreneurial flair, he decoded the basic steps he was using to recover from depression, and devised strategies to actively measure his healing journey. As a result, he founded what is today known as the Lifeback Tracker program. This award-winning mental health support program is designed to empower anyone confronted by a mental health challenge with a powerful four-step framework to help better confront and overcome early stages of anxiety and depression.
Today, along with Anthony’s work as a social entrepreneur and mental health ambassador, he is also a success in business. He has been part of building an eight store PETstock franchise group with his brother Nick and father Jeff within Australia’s leading pet retailer PETstock. This experience has given him valuable insight into what it takes to drive a profitable business that is built upon a foundation of high performance as a result of nurturing a mentally healthy organisational culture. Your business is a brain, and removing the masks of mental health matters to the health of your business.
As a speaker, Anthony is a gregarious and relatable presenter who delivers the raw truth about mental health in Australia, yet does so in a manner that empowers the audience with the active tools to facilitate positive change in their own lives or the lives of others. His stories inspire, activate and educate the audience to join a new movement that nurtures positive support for those suffering from depression and anxiety.
Anthony is a man of integrity who has literally walked the edges of mental health crises via his own lived experience. This has enabled him the depth of emotional intelligence to truly understand and unpack the masks that veil our ability to acknowledge the impact of depression in our lives. There is no need to battle mental health on our own, and Anthony is the mate who represents all of the mates we can turn to, when the going gets tough. We just need to know how to take off our masks.
Speaking Topics Include
#1 MATES WHO WEAR MASKS
For the first time in history, depression and anxiety are being acknowledged as verified medical conditions. On a clinical level suffering, depression or anxiety is no different to treating diabetes or fixing a broken arm. There is a process and a treatment. In theory, this is a welcome shift creating a refreshing mental health narrative, except our 'mates' are being left behind. Due to social conditioning, there is still an unwritten stigma around mental health and a shame attached to admitting that we need help. Our mates who need support are hiding behind masks - and those masks are taking the lives of almost nine Australians every single day.
In this presentation, Anthony takes the audience through a process that unpacks the many masks of mental health. Having experienced his own mental health crises Anthony walks his talk, unpacking each of the masks of depression through his own lens with an intention to empower others with the knowledge and wisdom to recognise depression earlier or to take the necessary steps to get well. If we can help our mates remove the masks we can begin to shift a disconnected culture that is contributing to the current mental health crises in Australia and the world. By doing this, we can make a dent in the number of lives lost to a cause that can be prevented - suicide.
Audiences will walk away from this presentation inspired by Anthony's personal journey from pain to purpose. They will also gain unique insights into what it is to live with depression, in addition to understanding the role of culture and community in shifting a stigma that despite great work still exists regarding mental health. Finally, they will have the ability to be a 'mate' to themselves or those around them by understanding the masks in which mental health conditions hide.
#2 FALL TO FREEDOM
Not many of us can claim to have jumped from a twenty one story building only to land eleven floors below and quite literally live to tell the story. If this wasn't true you would be forgiven for thinking this was straight out of a Hollywood script, however, in the case of Anthony Hart, this 'fall to freedom' marked the end of darkness and the beginning of a life of purpose.
In this presentation, Anthony takes the audience on an emotional journey where they are able to gain invaluable insights into the haze that is depression and anxiety through his own personal story. Anthony's story is confronting and raw yet at the same time, his ability to rise from such a painful scenario is nothing short of inspiring. How do you rebuild your life, when death seemed like the only option? Anthony's story is one of resilience, courage, and vulnerability defined by his decision to 'choose' life again. Anthony found meaning in madness, and in doing so gave birth to a new mission that today is changing the world.
Audiences will walk away from this presentation inspired by an incredible human being who has transformed his own life and the lives of others in the face of personal crises. His journey to freedom a powerful story that in being shared publically is helping to flip the stigma still experienced by those suffering from depression. Anthony is an agent of change in a world that so desperately needs more men brave enough to take off the mask of mental health in order to create a new story of hope.
#3 UNLOCKING THE BRO CODE
One in eight men experience depression at some stage in their life, yet despite this men also put off getting any support. Underneath the pain of depression, there seems to be a much stronger social fabric or 'bro code' that has created labels around what it means to be a man, even more, significant when that man is feeling weak. Some of these stereotypes include themes such as men being tough, self-reliant, and in charge - but what happens when depression is the boss, and the lives of our brothers are at stake?
In this presentation, Anthony unpacks the social, cultural and behavioral patterns that have created an unhealthy status quo of what it is to be a man. He provokes questions with regards to male identity and the concept of success. He takes a deep dive into the current belief systems held by men in order to understand whether this silent narrative between men serves our growth or is leaving men silenced. At the heart of Anthony's message is a focus on the role of emotional intelligence and expression as a tool for men to connect authentically in order to create a new 'bro code' built upon communication, connection, and community.
Audiences will walk away with a better understanding of how to manage mental health in men, as well as understanding that depression is a serious and common condition that does not heal via denial. As men, we must come together to create a new culture built upon empathy, authenticity, and meaningful male relationships.