Just like any community, the surfing world has had its own struggles with mental illness; this uncomfortable reality was brought to light by the 2018 documentary ‘Kissed By God’. The documentary followed the struggles of surfing great Andy Irons who dealt with bi-polar and addiction, both of which ultimately played a role in his death. The tragic episodes of John Shimooka and Sunny Garcia have also forced us to confront hard truths as a subculture. As unique as some of surfing’s personalities may be, mental illness doesn’t discriminate.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that around one in five Australian adults have experienced some sort of mental disorder in the last year. In our modern society pressures are piling up from all different angles. For many of us surfing helps put everything into perspective. We use it as a necessary practice to maintain a good state of mind.
Joel Pilgrim figured he could take what surfers intuitively know about the benefits of riding waves, and use it as a tool to help all kinds of people. A few years ago he co-founded Waves of Wellness (WOW) Foundation, a mental health surf therapy charity that aims to empower people to improve their mental health. Joel’s inspiration came from feeling like an outcast when he was younger and getting severely bullied at school. He found refuge in the ocean where he could get away from the negative environment and the head noise he was exposed to on land.
“Surfing was the thing that provided solace, it was the space where I could go and actually just be by myself and regather myself while at the time I was getting bullied to a pulp on land.”
Experiencing the negative psychological effects of bullying inspired Joel on a path to learn more about psychology and become a mental health Occupational Therapist. To pursue his career, Joel moved to Sydney and worked at The Bondi Community Mental Health Centre with people who were recovering from psychosis and other mental health struggles. While he was there it became the first mental health therapy centre in Australia to have a gym, so that practitioners could integrate physical exercise into their treatments.
“This meant that finally, it was being recognised that mental health and physical health were the same thing in terms of our well-being as a whole,” explains Joel. “And you couldn’t ignore one or the other.”
While working with one client who was struggling to make any progress with their mental health, he learned in a session that the client used to surf. Joel, an avid surfer, suggested that they go out for a wave. As soon as they paddled out Joel saw a completely different side to the client, who opened up way more than he had ever done in their sessions between the four walls of a therapy room.
“I was out there in the surf and realised how he was acting and how it was making him feel. I thought, ‘jeez, we’ve got to do this more’. It was this light bulb moment. It’s like ‘ding, ding, ding’. And so all of a sudden, I then went into overdrive designing a program. Over six months, I drew up this 50-page manual, and submitted it to the head of mental health in Sydney. And she said that I’ve got rocks in my head. She said, ‘You’re dreaming!’”
Convinced he could help people, Joel took matters into his own hands and decided to establish Waves of Wellness (WOW). The main service WOW offers is their surf therapy programs. These range from six to eight weeks, using trained mental health professionals as surf coaches to deliver innovative programs that tackle mental health on the beach. Today their programs run in eight locations over four states around Australia, with 23 staff unified by a purpose to help people’s mental health. Their work is saving lives. Joel shared with us, the story of a WOW participant who was in a very difficult place before he found WOW.
“He was an ex police officer of 13 years, he’d experienced a lot of traumatic events. And he was just a blokey bloke, absolute legend. But his mental health was struggling, because he’d seen so many traumatic things on the job, and the PTSD and that comes with that, you’re obviously going to be struggling. For him, he was at the end of the line.”
“He said, you found me at just the right time, because if it wasn’t for Waves of Wellness, I probably wouldn’t be here on this earth. “
“So to hear that, from people who are coming and accessing our programs, it’s not just this, we’re all getting together and having a bit of fun on the sand and having a laugh and going surfing. It’s that we’re actually intercepting people’s life journey at the right time to make sure that they don’t turn to suicide. “
When asked if he had any final words, Joel had this to say.
“If you’re worried about your own mental health or someone close to you, I would encourage you to ask for help, or check in and ask the important questions. You’re not going to make things worse, in fact, you could change your own life or positively impact someone else’s.”
For Mental Health Month, WOW are challenging people to get involved with Ductober, for the first 20 days in October, (or the entire ‘Mental Health Month’), to immerse themselves in cold water (surf, swim or have a cold shower) to raise funds for their mental health surf therapy programs.
Sign up for the challenge or donate to WOW here.
If you or anyone you know needs immediate support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via lifeline.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
