Trigger warning: This article discusses mental health issues and suicide and may be triggering for some readers. If you or someone you know needs assistance, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Osher Günsberg has opened up about his mental health journey on an upcoming SBS documentary about Australia’s suicide crisis.
WATCH BELOW: Osher Günsberg on Australia’s suicide crisis
Landmark feature-length documentary Osher Günsberg: A Matter of Life and Death explores investigates how new science, innovative thinking and technology could help prevent suicide.
In a promo for the show, which airs on SBS on September 19, the Bachelor host reflects on his own mental health experiences while examining why suicide rates remain high in Australia, and what is being done across the country to try and make a difference.
“Suicide is a very real and prevalent problem in our community, and I know firsthand what it’s like to experience suicidal ideation,” the television personality says.
“Two profound symptoms of mental illness are that it can make you feel like you’re the only person this is happening to, and it’s going to feel this bad forever.
“Both of those things are false and in this film we show that every day in Australia, there are people working tirelessly to try and prevent suicide, and it’s so important to know that there is help out there, and there are ways forward.”
Osher said he hopes the documentary offers hope to Aussies suffering that there is help available.
“But to also [we want to] help those who love someone that is struggling to understand just what happens when your brain starts to work in unhelpful ways,” he says.
“We want to encourage honest conversations between friends, family, and colleagues. At the very least, we need to recognise Australia’s suicide crisis, because you cannot fix a problem if you don’t acknowledge it exists.”
Osher also pointed out the sobering statistics in our own backyard. Every day at least nine people in Australia die from suicide and a further 179 people attempt to take their own life – one person every eight minutes.
The documentary will premiere shortly after World Suicide Prevention Day on Friday 10 September and precedes Mental Health Awareness Month in October.
Osher has shared his mental health struggles publicly across various mediums, writing blogs and regularly speaking on podcasts about his experiences.
He suffered an episode of psychosis while living in California in 2014, having stopped taking his medication for depression and anxiety, which eventually led him to return to medication and seek help for his various conditions.
The Bachelor host has also been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
“It was as if the prism of which I viewed the world through had been flicked to doom…trapped in these doom spirals, unable to snap out of it,” he explained on ABC’s You Can’t Ask That.
“I would have a compulsion to very viscerally fantasise about the end of the world, climate change catastrophes that had been predicted.
“If I turned the air conditioner on, it meant that climate change would destroy the world and it was like every three to five seconds. It got to the point where after a few hours of that you’re like ‘This can’t stop, and I can’t stop it’,” he told viewers.
After his appearance on the show, Osher took to Instagram to speak some more about the disorder.
“I’m a lot better now thanks to some great meds and some greater doctors who guided me through exposure therapy – but it’s something that my brain just does,” he wrote to fans.
Osher also shared his darkest moment dealing with OCD including when he was prepared to take his own life.
“I had in the past been at the point where I hadn’t left the house for three to five days at a time. I was still drinking and using back then so it was just a never ending pit of day drinking, compulsive internet gambling and compulsive masturbation.”
He went on to say that at a point he found himself in so much pain that he would’ve “absolutely done anything” and thought about ways to “make it stop permanently.”
Need help? Call Lifeline on 131 114, visit or call beyondblue on 1300 224 636. There are also free 12-step help programs available
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