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General News

8 September, 2022

Community marks R U OK? Day

Yesterday (September 8) was all about mental health, with residents encouraged to check in with one another as part of R U OK? Day, with local businesses and schools rallying to the cause. A national day of action, R U OK? Day is a reminder for...

By Riley Upton

MEC school support dogs Daisy and Maisy donned special bandanas for R U OK? Day, much to the excitement of students Lara, Charlotte and staff member Renae Kurzke.
MEC school support dogs Daisy and Maisy donned special bandanas for R U OK? Day, much to the excitement of students Lara, Charlotte and staff member Renae Kurzke.

Yesterday (September 8) was all about mental health, with residents encouraged to check in with one another as part of R U OK? Day, with local businesses and schools rallying to the cause.

A national day of action, R U OK? Day is a reminder for Australians that every day is the day to check in with someone and start a meaningful conversation about mental health.

The national day is organised by harm prevention charity R U OK?, an organisation that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times in their lives.

One local business to get involved in the day was Barker Trailers, where staff heard from the co-founder and spokesperson of HALT (hope, assistance, local tradies) Jeremy Forbes who spoke about the organisation’s work in suicide prevention and the importance of recognising how depression, stress, tiredness and frustration can impact their lives.

Barker Trailers production assistant Darren Murrell said it was important for mental health to be in the spotlight, given all the local staff are male and it’s a topic that’s generally swept under the rug.

“We’ve had Jeremy from HALT speak to us a few times which is good, it’s important to just get that reminder to look after yourself a bit,” he said.

“We had a morning tea, heard Jeremy speak and then played R U OK? Bingo which lightened the mood and got everyone talking.

“We’re all blokes here on-site and mental health isn’t something that’s generally talked about by a lot of men.

“It’s definitely important to talk about mental health and we’ve put quite a bit of effort into that, we’ve got an employee assistance program that helps with that sort of thing if any staff ever need it and it’s available at all times.”

Local schools, including the Maryborough Education Centre (MEC) also took part in R U OK? Day, with a host of activities taking place at school on Thursday.

Students were able to speak with Headspace, youth staff from the Central Goldfields Shire Council, Doctors in Schools and Mill House representatives among others.

School nurse Fiona Phelan said education around mental health, particularly for young people, was critical.

“One of my key roles at school is primary health promotion and R U OK? Day has been a great opportunity to do that,” she said.

“We arranged a whole heap of activities for students from prep to year 12 and specialist as well to start conversations about mental health which is important, but also show students what resources and services are available to support them if they feel they need it.”

Ms Phelan said it was important to bring mental health services together as part of R U OK? Day at the school.

“I believe promoting the mental health literacy of young people is very important and it’s important to bring these services together so young people can learn what services are available to them both in school and outside of school,” she said.

“The services within school are highly accessible to students and students may not always be fully aware of what the services can actually do.

“For example, the Doctors in Schools program can give mental heath plans and I can refer students onto other services both internally and externally if that’s needed.

“We have a whole health team, including a mental health practitioner who is a wonderful resource to young people.”

Ms Phelan said challenges with mental health and mental illness is something the school sees and that R U OK? Day recognised that.

“We have something like one in five young Australians experiencing a mental illness in any year and it’s not a small number of adults that also encounter not only mental health issues but difficulties with their mental health as well,” she said.

“A core part of what we do is supporting young people in a school environment to be okay and R U OK? Day brings that to the forefront and really promotes that.”

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