![Stockinbingal farmer and longtime mental health advocate John Harper has launched a new podcast on preparing to deal with poor mental health. Picture by Andrew Mangelsdorf Stockinbingal farmer and longtime mental health advocate John Harper has launched a new podcast on preparing to deal with poor mental health. Picture by Andrew Mangelsdorf](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/172474527/bd90c1e3-6865-46e5-a147-a11f2675c82f.JPG/r0_430_4608_3021_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
While the Christmas holidays are a joyful time of reunion for many families, many experience loneliness and other challenges at this time of year.
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Riverina-based mental health advocate John Harper is encouraging people across the region to safeguard their mental health this summer through the latest episode in his well-known Mate Helping Mate podcast.
Last Thursday, Mr Harper released the first of a two-episode special entitled 'Rough But Ready' which looks at preparedness and resilience when it comes to mental health.
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In the episode, Mr Harper urges people to take pro-active steps to safeguard their mental health.
Mr Harper has himself been "bitten by the black dog" of depression, and said it's particularly tough for those without family gathered around them at this time of year.
While Wagga has a sizeable homeless population, he said there are also people without a permanent roof over their heads in the towns and villages across the region.
Mr Harper said while homelessness may not be as big an issue outside of Wagga, it still takes place in a variety of ways including couch surfing.
"We also see people living in camper vans on stock routes," he said.
"It's not only a hard situation they're in, but to me it also indicates they're not connected to anybody.
"That is really sad in all sorts of aspects, especially at Christmas time and I just wonder how they deal with it."
Addressing men's mental health preparedness in his latest podcast, Mr Harper said it's no good bottling up emotions inside.
"It's not about being strong and deciding to build yourself up so you don't have to say a word to anybody," he said.
"It's about understanding who your support team is."
Mr Harper encouraged those concerned about the mental welfare of a mate to let their doctor know.
"While it seems daunting at the time, afterwards you feel good that you've probably helped them out," he said.
Mr Harper launched the Mate Helping Mate program in 2006 to help other farmers like himself battling the drought and not dealing with the stress that came with it.
While this was initially to his local community of Stockinbingal north of Wagga, over time this expanded dramatically.
In early 2020, this reach extended even further when the Mate Helping Mate podcast was launched in Temora to help raise awareness of mental health and mateship in the bush.
The podcasts focus on the real life experiences of people from the bush, their battles with depression, how they dealt with it and the sources of help that were available to them.
Part two of the latest podcast mini-series is set to be released in January.
For more resources and to find a link to the latest podcasts, go to: https://www.matehelpingmate.org.au/
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