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Mental Health Month

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About Mental Health Month

Mental Health Month is celebrated each year in the month of October in NSW. This awareness month encourages all of us to think about our mental health and wellbeing, regardless of whether we may have a lived experience of mental illness or not. This month also gives us the opportunity to understand the importance of mental health in our everyday lives and encourages help seeking behaviours when needed.

This year the theme for Mental Health Month is Share the Journey.

No- it’s not déjà vu – Share the Journey was the theme for 2017 and 2018 as well, but we received such incredible and important feedback we decided it should be kept this year as well.

Share the Journey means – telling your friends and family when things are a bit tough – finding others who have been through something similar – connecting with your community – finding a health professional you trust – connecting on social media – giving your pet a cuddle – organisations working together for the best possible wellbeing of everyone – sharing your stories with others – creating a sense of security within families and communities – reaching out to someone who might need your help - decreasing the isolation people feel when things aren’t great

The message is important – isolation has a huge impact on the wellbeing of people whose mental health isn’t as great as they’d like it to be. We can all share the journey to make things a little easier, to make communities as supportive as possible; to make good mental health a bit more accessible for everyone.

And there are benefits to keeping the theme for all of us – greater understanding of how sharing our journeys can help, better awareness of Mental Health Month, and more preparation time for people organising fantastic community events, and our tireless, incredible grant recipients. Grant applications will open earlier – keep an eye out in mid-May - so your event can get funded earlier. It also means we can promote your events for longer, making sure as many people as possible see your message. And if you have resources left over from last year, they can all be reused this year.

Please Share the Journey with us another year, and let’s all work to make this Mental Health Month, and good mental health and wellbeing, a journey everyone in New South Wales can share.

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At School

 

How can we share the journey at school?

  • Host a Mental Health Month assembly
  • Include Mental Health Month in your classroom activities 
  • Support students to put on their own events for Mental Health Month
  • Consider hosting a “Share a Meal for Mental Health Month” event on World Mental Health Day
  • Ensure that all students and staff know what supports are available at your school
  • Challenge ideas and language that may have a negative impact on the way people think
    about mental ill-health

 

Download the ‘Schools Pack’ with heaps of useful resources and activities

Download the ‘At School’ social post here

Check out all the Share the Journey downloads here

At Work

 

How can we share the journey at work??

  • Include mental health in discussions about workplace health and safety
  • Organise wellbeing activities and make them accessible to people
  • Consider hosting an event for Mental Health Month
  • Have someone to come and talk to your workplace about mental health and wellbeing
  • Connect with the WayAhead Workplaces network –
    a network of likeminded organisations working together to improve mental wellbeing in the workplace.

 

Download the ‘At Work’ social post here

Check out all the Share the Journey downloads here

With Family and Friends

 

How can we share the journey with family and friends?

  • Share a hobby or teaching each other something new
  • Helping each other with chores like laundry, cooking or cleaning
  • Help each other get to appointments, occasions or events
  • Organise times to check in with each other
  • Help each other plan for difficult situations
  • Create a fun challenge you can do together
  • Play games together

 

Download the ‘Family and Friends’ social post here

Check out all the Share the Journey downloads here

In the Community

 

How can we share the journey with family and friends?

  • Host a community event for Mental Health Month
  • Think about ways you can connect with people experiencing mental health issues –
    this could include having quiet spaces or transport options available for community events.
  • Make sure that mental health and wellbeing are talked about in your community
  • Consider hosting a “Share a Meal for Mental Health Month” event on World Mental Health Day in your community

 

Download the ‘In the Community’ social post here

Check out all the Share the Journey downloads here

Share the Journey

 

Connecting with others is important for all aspects of our health and wellbeing. Research tells us that feeling connected with others gives us a sense of security, support, purpose and happiness. Close connections and good relationships with others help us enjoy good times in our lives as well as cope with difficult experiences. Many of us report feeling lonely and believe loneliness is increasing in Australia. For those experiencing or living with mental illness, loneliness can have an even bigger impact, especially when you factor in the added experiences of social exclusion and stigma.

Share the Journey is all about ways we can connect with others, both for our own health and wellbeing, as well as theirs.

Sharing the journey can mean many things:

  • Telling your loved ones about both your successes and difficulties
  • Reaching out to people who might be withdrawing from others
  • Working with someone to find and access services or support
  • Asking for help with day-to-day things when you need it
  • Getting involved in group activities, like sports or book clubs
  • Sharing a cuppa with a mate

 

Whether you reach out to someone who might be feeling a bit lost or find a way to connect with others when you need some help,
building positive social connection is something we can all try and do.

Download this information as a fact sheet here

View all Share the Journey downloads here