Entertainment journalist Jonathon Moran writes about his experience with mental health.
Entertainment journalist Jonathon Moran writes about his experience with mental health.
Warning: This story discusses mental health, sexual abuse and suicide. Helpline information is supplied at the end.
When entertainment journalist Jonathon Moran decided to write a book about his experience with mental health, it didn’t occur to him to leave anything out.
I don’t remember when I was introduced toMoran, or J-Mo as everyone calls him, but I knew before I met him that I wanted to be his friend.
Not just because I’m a long-term fan of his work, but because in a sea of beige and neutrals, J-Mo will be seen strutting around the News Corp offices in everything from camo to sparkles to track pants.
If you don’t see him coming, you’ll definitely hear him because he has no issues projecting his voice while lovingly calling most people “babe”, usually followed up by a disarming one-liner.
He is also a lovely friend. I can remember once he said something in passing that hurt my feelings. Not only did he apologise, but he also rang me that night to check on me again.
J-Mo is incredibly sweet but some of that sweetness stems from a lifetime of not feeling good enough.
It was his own mental health journey, which is still very much a journey, that made him want to write Mental as Anyone.
It is part memoir and part mental health toolkit, which he wrote alongside psychologist Dr Jodie Lowinger.
The seasoned entertainment journalist puts it all out on the table, from the sexual abuse he experienced to his battle with depression or the fact he estimates he has slept with more than 1000 men.
It is unflinchingly honest, but speaking to news.com.au J-Mo said the process was ultimately liberating.
“Obviously, the sexual abuse was really difficult to reflect on because it forced me to relive it in ways I’ve kind of avoided, despite the fact I’ve had lots of therapy. The only times I’ve relived that is within nightmares,” he told me.
“It was so vivid in my mind.”
That wasn’t a deterrent though, because J-Mo was deadset on being honest and the only stuff that he didn’t put in his book was trauma that involved other people.
When telling of his own, he realised he didn’t want to inadvertently out anyone else’s issues.
“There were a couple of things I didn’t include to protect their feelings,” he said.
Besides that, he was happy to air it all.
“People think I’m this bubbly and happy life of the party, but anyone that really knows me knows I have a dark underbelly … and a belly,” he joked.
The journalist said that “everyone is dealing with something” and this book is all about not hiding from it and embracing it.
He said he knows some of his honesty goes against the “harden up, blokey” Australian culture, but that is something he’s proud of.
“I refuse to play that game and I refuse for that to dictate what I will or won’t do. The mental health conversation has really stalled at ‘are you okay?’ We need to take it further,” he said.
There are also a lot of fun moments in the book, such as conversations about him meeting Madonna, juicy celebrity encounters.
“Mate, I’ve slept with many people. It didn’t really matter! It wasn’t about them; it was about me being desperate to show that I had value,” he said.
J-Mo said that despite knowing immediately Alex was “the one”, that doesn’t mean relationships are easy or that Alex makes him feel great all the time.
“Sometimes [he makes me feel] like s*** when he hasn’t done the dishes but he makes me feel complete,” he said.
Ultimately, the whole point of the book, much like J-Mo’s comments about his relationship with Alex, is to point out that nothing is perfect.
Mental As Anyone doesn’t just show how far he has come in his mental health journey, but also how far he still has to go.
“I feel I’m very much a work in progress. The book isn’t saying I’m all aces, it is saying we’re all works in progress,” J-Mo said.
