PRESS RELEASE: New Book: Surviving the Darkness: Lessons learned from a battle with depression and anxiety

MEDIA RELEASE
Embargo: 1 September 2020
SURVIVING THE DARKNESS
Lessons learned from a battle with depression and anxiety
By Robert Nicholls

rrp: $19.99 – ISBN: 978-0-6488865-0-1 (paperback)
e-book also available

One in five Australians are reported to suffer from a mental health disorder – every day, eight people will lose their lives to suicide. Before the onset of COVID-19, the World Health Organisation had reported that depression was a leading cause of disability worldwide, a significant contributor to the overall global burden of disease and already on the rise globally. Now, recent research indicates that the incidence of mental health disorders and suicide rates within Australia are likely to increase due to COVID-19. Despite the common nature of the problem in Australia and around the world, stigma remains a significant issue in mental health: it lowers people’s self-esteem, makes symptoms more severe and limits help-seeking behaviours.

A new book, Surviving the Darkness, to be released on 1 September 2020, written by Robert Nicholls, a 50-year-old lawyer, senior corporate executive, and company director, highlights that depression and anxiety are common mood disorders from which recovery is possible through ‘hard work, genuine self-discovery, a commitment to change and acceptance’ that sufferers are unlikely to discover pathways to recovery on their own and without support from a ‘Recovery Team’.

‘Through the lessons derived from my experiences, I wanted to assure sufferers that it is possible to rediscover hope as a panacea to recovery, to provide carers and supporters with the practical means of assisting someone with depression and anxiety, and the broader community an opportunity to learn about these illnesses and their impact on sufferers and their families. Hopefully with the collective outcome of reducing the number of lives lost to suicide, and the erosion of the stigma which still pervades mental illness in our society,” says Robert Nicholls.

Surviving the Darkness outlines some practical tools for coping with depression and anxiety, overcoming common obstacles, restoring hope through the discovery of pathways to recovery, and if you care for someone with depression, providing them with meaningful support.

While acknowledging that ‘there is no fixed menu of options’, Nicholls provides an overview of 20-plus strategies, supplemented by lessons learned and ‘failed options’ explored by him during his battle with depression and anxiety to assist readers in similar situations. In doing so, the book offers guidance on the ways sufferers can overcome common obstacles (the barriers to treatment); explains how to become ‘the driver, not a passenger’ while exploring recovery pathways; details treatment options, including tips on selecting a ‘Recovery Team’ and how to identify ‘good’ therapy; and outlines coping strategies for sufferers to use or adapt to their own circumstances. A chapter on building ‘your recovery team’ offers specific guidance on selecting the right therapist and the elements of ‘good therapy’. For caregivers and supporters of those with depression, Nicholls offers helpful suggestions including comprehensive tables detailing things to say (and to avoid saying), warning signs to look out for, suicide prevention tips and the importance of self-care.

Surviving the Darkness provides an abundance of encouragement and ultimately the means of restoring hope for sufferers, gives carers and supporters the tools for providing enhanced support to loved ones and educates those with an interest in learning more about what it means for someone to battle with depression and anxiety.

About the Author

Robert Nicholls was born and raised in the Sutherland Shire, New South Wales. During his schooling years, Robert excelled academically and in sport. After the completion of his schooling, Robert travelled to Denmark as a Rotary Exchange Student. Upon his return a year later, Robert enrolled in and commenced a physiotherapy degree at Sydney University, but was soon drawn to the New South Wales Police Force. Initially, he served in general duties as a sworn police officer in Newtown, and then as a police prosecutor for 6 years in the courts of inner and south-western Sydney.

While working as a prosecutor, Robert studied law part-time at the University of Technology, Sydney, graduating with honours in 1996. After his admission as a solicitor in 1997, Robert commenced his legal career in private practice in New South Wales which was later followed by roles as an Executive Lawyer with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and as General Counsel for a publicly listed company based in Sydney. Robert continued his study while working full-time, graduating first in his class from Charles Sturt University with an MBA (With Distinction) in 2006. He qualified earlier as a Chartered Corporate Secretary in 2003, completed the Australian Institute of Company Director’s Course in 2007 and became a Queensland Law Society Accredited Specialist in Business Law in 2012. In 2015, Robert became a Nationally Accredited Mediator specialising in the resolution of corporate and commercial disputes.

At various times between 2000 and 2017, Robert was also appointed to perform senior executive and C-level management positions and served as a director of privately owned and publicly listed companies in New South Wales and Queensland, including volunteer roles as a Non-Executive Director of Rugby Gold Coast and Squash Australia. In 2011, he founded Prestige Legal & Corporate Services on the Gold Coast which continued to provide specialist legal and business consulting services to businesses and high net worth clients within Australia and overseas until the onset of Robert’s battle with depression and anxiety commenced in 2017.

Robert has evolved as a spirited mental health advocate and writer of his blog on the subjects of mental health, self-help and improvement, motivation, human endeavour, communication, life and leadership, and other writing genres, which are featured on his blog at https://robertnicholls.online/

Surviving the Darkness is his first published book.

Robert is married with two (2) adult children and lives on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.