Kintsugi Heroes
Jason Higson
Jason outran trauma for 35 years until the barriers holding him alive began to fade, forcing him to finally stop and face what he'd been escaping.
You don't have to be in crisis to call.
Jason Higson is 52, a single dad from Western Sydney who spent 35 years running from trauma without realizing that was what he was doing. His mother was disowned by her family at 15 when she fell pregnant with him in 1971. Growing up in a fractured household, Jason learned early to use the energy from that chaos as fuel. He left home at 17, built a life, and kept moving forward, never stopping long enough to process what had shaped him. It wasn't until his marriage broke down 13 years ago that the weight of it began forcing its way to the surface.
What changed everything was a conversation with a mate who told Jason he'd crossed a line. Suicidal ideation had shifted from something distant he could push away to something that felt like a real option. Worse, the thought of his son, the one solid barrier keeping him alive, had started to fade. That same day, Jason went home, googled mental health clinics, and checked into Northside Clinic for three weeks. It was the first time he'd stopped running.
In the years since, Jason has done the harder work: learning to be emotionally vulnerable, understanding his own warning signs, and separating being a catalyst from being responsible. His grandfather was institutionalized and died of alcoholism. Jason inherited different tools. He's now in a relationship where he can be open in a way he never has before, and he's learning who he actually is. His message to his younger self is unvarnished: you cannot outrun trauma. If you don't process it, it catches up with you, and when it does, it comes down like a ton of bricks.
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses suicide & self-harm prevention, which some listeners may find distressing.
If you need support, you're not alone. Help is available: • Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au
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