R U OK? Day is on Thursday, September 12. It's a reminder to check in on people and their mental health. This year the campaign is encouraging people to trust their gut and recognise the signs that someone might be struggling.

Mr Doolan, an R U OK? ambassador, said it was important to make a connection with people.

"A few weeks back I got a lift home and I said to the lad 'how are you going?' He gave me the typical bloke's response of 'I'm sweet'. I looked at him and said 'hey brother, it's Riverbank, how are you really?'. I'm looking at him in profile and I see the bottom lip quiver," he said.

"He stopped and kind of looked at me again. He said 'you don't know how hard it is for me when I go out and shoot stock of an afternoon' and he left the last bit unsaid.

"I'm sitting there with my heart in my mouth and I said 'brother, you're not alone. We're going to get through this'."

ALSO MAKING NEWS:

Mr Doolan said blokes often internalised their emotions and didn't want to talk.

But especially with the ongoing drought, people were struggling, he said.

"I talk to wives with tears in their eyes who are afraid to go to town. It's not going to town they're afraid of, it's the coming home," Mr Doolan said.

There are four conversation steps R U OK? promotes: ask if the person is okay, listen, encourage action and then check in.

"Anytime you reach out to somebody, even if you give a bloke a nod in the street or say 'g'day mate'. If you make a connection that's real you may be the first person that person has connected with that day, that week, that month. You don't know," Mr Doolan said.

"The average Joe doesn't want a tweet from you, he wants you to look him in the eye and say 'how are you doing brother? It's alright'."

Mr Doolan first became involved with R U OK? about two years ago.

"They were doing a series of advertisements to try and get their message out to a broader section of the community. I'm an Indigenous man and they were concerned about the message getting out to black fellas so they asked me," he said.

After the ad went national, Mr Doolan was contacted by someone who praised him for the message he was helping to promote.

The ambulance driver told Mr Doolan the startling number of young people he had seen who had been self harming.

"Every man is more vulnerable than they think. All men need each other, I honestly believe that," Mr Doolan said.

Learn the signs of struggle at ruok.org.au.