Depression claimed yet another life 2 weeks ago Wednesday 27th of August when Aussie actor Mark Priestley took his own life Mark was working on the Aussie medical drama All Saints which is my fave Aussie show. It's right up there with Supernatural and NCIS for me – my all time fave shows. It was a big shock when I found out, I loved his character on AS. I still can't believe it, he apparently filmed 11 eps b4 his death. It's weird seeing him on screen in new eps but knowing he's no longer with us. 2 of those eps have already aired, the first a week ago ended with a tribute. Another actor from the show John Howard did a small tribute to Mark at the end of the first ep. It was a beautiful tribute but so sad – I don't think there was a dry eye from any fan who saw it. It didn't help that as John spoke, the pain and sorrow was so evident on his face and in his voice – it's so upsetting. Then they showed a few clips of Marks time on AS – it was supposed to be about his 4yrs with the show but it only seemed to be from eps that aired this year. There may have been one or two that were from other yrs.

Here's the link to the tribute if you want to see it…

All Saints remembers Mark Priestley

It's the 2nd death of a Perth-born actor (Heath Ledger being the first) this year. Not that that means anything, I just can't help but notice it Also the day of Marks funeral September 4th was the anniversary of Steve Irwins death.

Since Marks death there's all these comments and posts of all these ppl mentioning their own fight with depression. Is everyone utterly miserable?! It sure feels that way. Some of the depth of Marks depression was revealed in the following article…

"It emerged Priestley suffered deep depression for months but was unable to beat the personal demons which led him to end his own life this week. The 32-year-old was unable to work on some days and production was re-scheduled around his illness to accommodate him in the hope he would recuperate. Family, friends, colleagues and his Seven network employer were aware and supportive of him during the bleak periods, a colleague said yesterday."

He was apparently getting treatment but obviously it wasn't working or wasn't enough. This apparently wasn't his first suicide attempt. A friend of mine is suffering from a deep depression and is getting treatment for it but I still worry.

A close family friend committed suicide and the anniversary of their death is this month. I would have been thinking about the person anyway but Marks death is bringing it all back. It's also making me think of Michael Gilden a US actor who had a guest role on NCIS around the time he committed suicide. 2 out of my 3 fave shows has had someone take their own life…this is going to sound silly but is anyone keeping an eye on those that work on Supernatural?

Closer to home for me, last Friday night I found out a family friend had committed suicide ...It's only sort of hitting me now.

This is my 100th blog – it's taken me long enough to get here

My thoughts are still with Mark's family, friends, cast and crew of All Saints and his fans. RIP Mark Goodbye Mark, may you have found the peace you were after.

Here are some tribute fan vids of mark…

Remember Me

Wasn't It Good

A little clip from the show...

The Dan and Ricki show

A clip from Mark's funeral of his former girlfriends speech...

Mark's farewell

The episode that aired this week was a little weird at first. They had a lady come into the ED - suspected suicide attempt. They were talking about how depressed ppl can't always talk about it or something. straight after that it jumps to Mark's character Dan. I know that ep was filmed weeks ago but it was kinda strange...