I'm a father of three young boys; fourteen, eleven and eight.

I'm separated from their mum.

I met the mother of my children. Our relationship took off quite quickly and after three months we fell pregnant, and we chose to have the baby. Yeah.

Becoming a father was really daunting. I wasn't in a place of, you know, really taking on that commitment.

In all honesty, the support was mainly focused on the boy's mum, not so much me. I just kind of felt like I took the back seat in regards toeverything.

Yeah, I feel like I struggled with connecting with my children.

You know, you can't really prepare for it, especially, you know, when you haven't really been brought up in an environment where you have that emotional awareness.

And my father's and he worked a lot, so he was never really home.

So I thought going into a relationship and then becoming a father, it's just, you know, you just got to provide and you're doing your job. You don't really need to be there.

I don't think I really grasp the responsibility. I would still, you know, catch up with my mates on the weekend.

I had drug and alcohol dependency. Obviously, it took its toll on my relationship with my boy's mum. The blow-ups were becoming more regular and the drug and the and alcohol dependency was becoming more regular.

I realised that I needed professional help but also worried about the stigma of workmates.

You know, the maybe the backlash from my family, my brothers and my dad growing up, if we show any sign of weakness in a sense, you know, would just be told to harden up where you're a man.

You can work through it.

I'd lost full contact with my boys, my three sons, and it was just after the first Christmas of not spending that day with them. I was in a pretty, a pretty dark place.

I knew that there had to be change and however that looked, I was willing to go the full journey.

After the initial phone call with Lifeline, I got referrals to other organisations to engage with.

That support has completely changed my life around.

I see relationships differently. That's, you know, with my new wife, with my children, with my friends, with my family. It has given me a complete different perspective on in regards to just engaging with people.

My message to new fathers would be don't be ashamed to show your weaknesses. You know, first and foremost, speak to your wife or your partner and let them know what's going on in your head so you can be the best father and partner possible.