Meet Paddy Casey - Gotcha4Life Mentally Fit Primary Schools Program Facilitator

Paddy Casey

Gotcha4Life Mentally Fit Primary Program Facilitator

It seemed like everyone in Paddy Casey’s life struggled with challenges they either didn’t talk about or didn’t know how to handle. Including Paddy. So he did something about it. Here he shares the life lessons that led him to Gotcha4Life’s Mentally Fit Primary Schools team, where he’s changing little lives and whole communities.

The journey begins

My grandfather took his own life when I was young. I was told he was killed in a farm accident. My grandma was ashamed and saw it as a mark against our family name. My family dealt with it in a very hush-hush way and it wasn’t talked about. I was almost 18 when my mum told me what happened.

There wasn’t much talking at school either. The emphasis was on high performance in academics and sport, and ‘turning young boys into men’. The word ‘vulnerability’ didn’t exist. There was no space for emotions, so I suppressed mine, because I was so desperate to fit in with my friends and the school’s expectations. 

As a young adult, some mental health challenges came to a head after a break up. I felt completely alone, and didn’t have the skills to know what to do. It was a tough time, but through that experience I discovered the tools that we encourage today - like asking for help. I talked to my dad, who was incredible, and saw a psychologist. 

That started a personal development journey that really benefited me, and opened up conversations with friends. 

One of those friends had been in a dark place for a few years and I had no idea. When he told me he’d reached the point of suicide ideation, I was shocked. And I didn’t know how to handle that information.

I wanted to be more equipped for myself, and the people around me.

A change of direction

I’d been looking for a career change from unsatisfying corporate roles. I come from a family of teachers and was always drawn to education, but I didn’t want to be a teacher. I’d coached boys sports teams, and worked as a tutor and mentor at a boarding school and enjoyed that pastoral care side of things.

When I came across Gotcha4Life partner Tomorrow Man, I found the answer. Facilitation for wellbeing. In schools. I spent three years leading the kinds of conversations I wish I could have had when I was at school.

Now, as part of Gotcha4Life’s Mentally Fit Primary Schools program team, I’m having real conversations, running workshops and building awareness. We’re creating a common language to help kids, teachers, parents and carers learn how to look after their own mental fitness, and each other. 

It’s such a vital toolkit to have. Especially when you can start from kindergarten.

A lot of wellbeing programs focus on students, but our first contact is with teachers. 

In workshops, we say ‘Take off your teacher hat and look through a personal lens. We want you to look after yourself, and feel confident in your mental fitness and wellbeing, so you can teach your students this’.

They’re not expecting that. But they come into it with fresh eyes. Quite often, they realise they all have similar challenges and worries they’re not talking about. That’s when barriers come down and connection kicks in.

I run an activity where one person speaks uninterrupted for 60 seconds about something they’re proud of, the other listens, then they swap.

In one session, I could see all this emotion coming up between two teachers. When they finished, they embraced in a beautiful hug. One had shared her pride in handling a challenging time she hadn’t spoken to anyone about. Talking about it released a huge weight off her shoulders. The other teacher then felt she could be vulnerable too, and opened up as well. 

They were friends, but neither knew what the other was going through. By being brave and sharing, they felt this beautiful connection. 

We’re seeing the program’s impact in other ways too.

The principal of a primary school in western Sydney told me our first session for teachers really opened up a line of communication between staff and the leadership team. 

They’ve seen a reduction in staff absenteeism, and a lot more staff are willing to come and have conversations around what’s going on for them, in terms of challenges and struggles.

They’re not a well-resourced school, but the program is free and they’re really taking everything on board.

It’s a three year program. They saw those positive changes nine weeks in. 

And we’ve only just begun.

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