Local People Connected with Support

WHAT do you do when someone you know is in pain and how do you have the conversation with them to access support?

Sarah Green presenting in Scone on mental health resources.

Local mental health experts were on hand last Thursday to talk about how to reach out to people who needed support and connect local people with local resources.

According to Caroline Hayes rural support worker for the department of primary industries local people want the tools for how to connect their friends and family to the right health support.

“Everyone I spoke to about this event said they knew of an individual or a group that would benefit from accessing support, but they all said they would not want to come forward,” said Ms Hayes.

“What is wonderful is how many people did turn up and that they can now reach out to people in the community and have the tools t do it,” said Caroline Hayes.

Sarah Green, rural adversity mental health program, said mental health is like physical health and we need to destigmatise mental health issues.

“By 2020 the World Health Organisation predicts 48 percent of people will have a mental illness in their lifetime,” said Ms Green.

“Maintaining physical health is the same as maintaining mental health, you go for a walk of a morning because you know it is good for you,” she said.

“Diet, sleep and exercise are the cornerstone of health both physical and mental.

“Stress is a major precursor to mental health, but we rarely do anything about it.

“In the country when things get tough we tend to knuckle down and work even harder, so we stop going to tennis and to social outings,” she said.

“But it is when you are under stress that you need to have those social interactions,” Sarah Green said.

The warning signs of depression vary between individuals but can include a lack of enjoyment in the things you used to enjoy doing, an unusually sad mood that does not go away, people can become very withdrawn they can sleep too much or sleep too little, eat too much or eat too little.

For more information on local resources contact Caroline Hayes: caroline.hayes@dpi.nsw.gov.au or phone: 0407 971 675

If you need support for depression and mental illness phone:

• NSW Mental Health: 1800 011 511
• LifeLine: 13 11 14