Home 2015 September

Monthly Archives: September 2015

Should workplaces be educating staff about mental illness?

The Sydney Morning Herald Mental illness costs Australian businesses more than $10 billion every year, with about 12 million days lost to reduced productivity annually, begging the question of why workplaces aren’t doing more to educate employees about the issue. Mental Health Recovery Institute chief executive Pedro Diaz said businesses were still trying to catch up with workplace mental health training. “In reality, mental health [education] in the workplace is about 20 …

Continue reading

Drought assistance extended

The Land DROUGHT assistance has been extended to the communities of Richmond and Barcoo in Queensland and Coonamble in NSW. They are now eligible to participate in the federal government’s new Drought Communities Programme to assist in building infrastructure. In a joint statement, Agriculture and Water Minister Barnaby Joyce and Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said the decision to extend the Drought Communities Programme was based on an update and …

Continue reading

It’s time we talked to our kids about suicide

Daily Mercury DON’T let our kids’ calls go unanswered. The Daily Mercury in conjunction with Grapevine Group has launched a petition to Mackay’s principals urging them to get the suicide prevention program SafeTALK into their schools. With suicide rates in Mackay higher than the national average, our kids are hurting and it’s time we tackled the issue directly. Queensland education minister Kate Jones pointed out SafeTALK as a potential way …

Continue reading

Why I became an ice addict – and how I got clean

The Age When I was a little girl, my dream wasn’t to become an ice addict. I didn’t really have dreams. I didn’t really believe in much. I remember feeling sad, lost, lonely and in pain. I didn’t know how to deal with these emotions. In my teens, I was scared of drugs. I drank and tried to numb the pain in other ways, but I never thought of turning …

Continue reading

Feeling anxious? It’s good to cry.

The Guardian One in five 18-34-year-olds admit to having cried in the past week because of anxiety, according to a poll for the mental health charity Mind, while four in five say they put on a brave face when anxious. The charity has launched a free guide for people of all ages on how to cope with stress and anxiety, and says crying is a common and useful response to …

Continue reading

No, I Can’t ‘Just Relax’: How I Learned To Manage My Anxiety Disorder

Lifehacker Australia According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders fall along an entire spectrum. One of the most common is Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which is the closest to what I deal with, but you can also suffer from panic disorders that cause sudden and repeated panic attacks, or social anxiety disorders that tend to crop up when dealing with other people. Mental health problems don’t come in …

Continue reading

Australia in the middle of “mental health crisis” with unnecessary deaths escalating

The Age Australia is in the grip of a mental health “crisis” that is leading to the unnecessary deaths of thousands, former Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry says. In a passionate plea to new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Professor McGorry said if the government doubled the amount it spent on the direct care of people with mental illness, it would “be enough” to resolve the crisis. Suicide is the leading cause …

Continue reading

WA’s homeless services “struggling” with mental health challenges

WA Today Youth advocates have expressed grave concerns about services for the homeless, with many “struggling” to provide adequate support for those also living with mental health issues. The Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia held a summit last week, to coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day, with the aim of raising awareness about homelessness and mental health concerns among young people. “When you think of homelessness, you think of homeless men,” YACWA ambassador Annabeth Bateman …

Continue reading

Lifeline’s Out of the Shadows and into the Light community walk

PortNews, 10 September 2015. LIFELINE’S Out of the Shadows and into the Light community walk is an annual event that sees thousands of Australians gather around the country on World Suicide Day. It is just one of the many initiatives thought up by selfless people in a bid to try and cut the rate of suicide and raise the awareness of crippling mental illnesses. Lea-Ann Foord is one such community …

Continue reading

Goondiwindi farmer encourages conversations around mental health and depression

ABC Rural, 11 September 2015. As Australia marked R U OK? day this week, with the aim of combating depression and suicide by encouraging people to check on the welfare of friends, colleagues and family, one farmer reflected on his own mental health struggles. Five years ago, Dave Woods, a farmer from northwest of Goondiwindi, shared his story about coping with depression with the ABC. At the time Mr Woods …

Continue reading