As Peter O’Doherty and Reg Mombassa from Mental as Anything have joined a podcast to discuss mental health, revelations about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse in the music industry are made with refreshing honesty (“Every band from our heyday has casualties”, DT, 9/6). I first met this band at Sydney University’s St John’s College in 1979, while running the formal ball. I was lucky to book them for $250. I had Cold Chisel (for $3000) playing at the same function, so it was clearly the premier event in the college year calendar. No doubt the stresses on personal relationships can be toxic, with constant travelling, marathon concerts, media commitments, generating creativity for new songs and the dangers of mixing with underworld drug pushers. While some might have succumbed to an early grave because of life choices, the two brothers surely prove it was not inevitable and talent can be sustained without the crutches of alcohol and mind-bending pharmacology. Mental as Anything, thank you for the good memories, surely the best foundation for excellent mental health. Alan Sexton, Parramatta 10June2026