| Name: | Tony McManus |
| Age Bracket: | 45 to 55 |
| Topic: | Depression |
| Location: | Geelong |
Tony’s Story
Born in Geelong Victoria, Tony is the eldest of five siblings and as a child, lived a modest and simple life with his parents running the local milk bar. Tony’s family immersed themselves in local community initiatives, and since then Tony has maintained this legacy by using his profile in the Geelong and Lara Regions to raise awareness of mental health issues, particularly in men.
Tony completed a Business Degree in 1986, and went on to establish a successful real estate firm… life was looking good.
However, in 2005 everything changed when Tony’s brother Mick took his own life while at the same time, Tony was seeing a psychiatrist to deal with his own depression and anxiety.
“The fact that I was seeing a psychiatrist at the time my brother took his life turned out, in hindsight, to be very timely in terms of how I was able to cope and move on.
“The basic hope that I can offer others is that I was able to manage my depression, but the most critical point is that you need to ask for help.”
At the funeral of Tony’s brother Mick, Mick’s widow asked that family and friends support beyondblue and ever since, Tony has been a passionate supporter of beyondblue and a strong advocate for mental health and well being and stigma reduction.
Tony was instrumental in founding the beyondblue Cup, and also participated in a ‘Gentleman’s Lunch’ as part of the Movember initiative in 2012.
Tony now stays well by maintaining a balance between his business, relationships, finances and physical health, as well as travelling with loved ones.
He says it’s important to take action and get support, maintain a good work-life balance and help others. Tony also emphasises the importance of putting yourself and your own needs first.
As a beyondblue Ambassador, Tony shares his story of depression and recovery, and the suicide of his brother to encourage others to take action to get help for depression and anxiety.
Healthy Minds Geelong's vision is to create a positive culture of mental health across the Geelong region.
The HMG concept was born to fill the gap in local mental health support services and in particular the need for a dedicated local information hub to help connect the community to local services, navigate the mental health care system and ultimately empower people to look after their mental health.