Latest / The R4R Podcast: Road to Zero / A Community Forum on the Mental Health Crisis

Transcript

A Community Forum on the Mental Health Crisis · The R4R Podcast: Road to Zero

0:03
Alrighty guys, thanks for rocking up to the dock on a
0:06
Wednesday after running for Resilience.
0:09
We've got the honour tonight of having a mental health forum.
0:14
It's going to be hosted by Thomas Emerson.
0:18
Come up here Thomas, give this spiel and thanks everyone for
0:21
coming. Yeah, thanks.
0:26
Thanks everyone for being here and thanks to the dock for
0:28
having us. So they're running for
0:30
Resilience Crew for using their platform to help promote the
0:33
event and for everything you're doing.
0:35
I just think this is such a cracker thing that you're doing
0:37
all the time and Wednesday nights, I wish I could be more
0:40
often. It's a good run out there
0:42
tonight. So my name is Thomas Emerson.
0:44
I'm an independent member of our local parliament, the
0:46
Legislative Assembly. So not the big one up on the
0:49
hill. There are 25 of us and I
0:52
represent the electorate of courage on.
0:53
So if you don't know that, central Canberra, the inner
0:56
north and also here. So if you live in in Kingston or
0:58
in that area, I'm one of your representatives.
1:01
If you don't, you're dead to me. Vote for another independent
1:04
next time if you want better representation.
1:07
Great to be here. I will just I think we'll just
1:10
RIP straight into it. So we're starting off with
1:13
special personal reflection on on mental health from one of the
1:17
regular runners here, Lily Mooney.
1:32
Hi everyone, it's a real honour to be here today to talk about
1:36
mental health and the power of community.
1:39
Firstly, I'd like to thank Tom for organising this event and
1:42
inviting me to speak to you all about mental health.
1:45
It's a massive honour and an even bigger mystery as to why I
1:48
was asked. My interest in local politics
1:51
extends as far as which party promises the most park runs, and
1:56
I'm certainly no expert on mental health.
1:59
Accepting this, however, I believe is very powerful.
2:03
I do not see mental health as something with an end game or a
2:06
cure. Instead, I see it as a journey.
2:10
My journey with mental health has been closely tied to
2:12
something that's been part of my life since I was a child.
2:15
Running. I started running with my dad
2:18
when I was young, purely as something I like to do with him.
2:22
You could say that I did it because my other three siblings
2:25
didn't and it meant that I got all the attention, but we won't
2:27
comment on that. Back then, it was not about
2:32
training hard pace or distance. It was about connection, joy and
2:35
being present in the moment with Dad.
2:38
That love for running followed me into high school where I
2:41
started training more and quickly became that kid at
2:43
school that was took cross country way too seriously.
2:47
I began to see running as something I had to excel in and
2:50
prove myself in. I pushed myself harder, setting
2:53
higher expectations and without even realising it, I lost the
2:57
joy that running used to bring me.
2:59
At the same time I was also battling an eating disorder and
3:03
when I was 15 I was diagnosed with anorexia and had to stop
3:06
all exercise. My final memories of running as
3:10
a teenager were not good ones. Looking back, I don't blame
3:14
running for my anorexia, but it certainly didn't help as my
3:18
relationship with exercise was very unhealthy.
3:21
It became something that fed into my illness rather than
3:24
helping me heal. Instead of using it to stay
3:27
healthy and something I enjoyed, I was using it to control my
3:30
guilt around food and eventually had to start exercising in
3:34
secret to avoid getting in trouble.
3:37
At one point my parents threw away my brand new pair of Nikes.
3:41
I'm sure this was the best thing for me at the time, and they did
3:43
it with the right intentions, but the fact that I now own at
3:46
least 20 different pairs of runners probably suggests I'm
3:49
still a little scarred by it. When I was finally weight
3:55
restored and out of hospital and treatment, I honestly didn't
3:58
think I'd ever run again. The memories were too painful.
4:02
Running had become tangled up with an ink with my illness and
4:05
I couldn't imagine it being part of a healthy lifestyle.
4:07
However, years later in my final year of university, I found
4:11
myself drawn back to running, not to compete but to cope.
4:15
Uni was stressful, life was overwhelming and I needed an
4:18
outlet. One day I was going for a walk
4:21
as I usually did, and I don't know why but I just started
4:24
running. I wouldn't have gone for long
4:26
but the way that I felt immediately after was
4:27
incredible. They talk about a runners high
4:30
and I truly felt it that day. I started running again a couple
4:34
of times a week, purely for the way it helped my mind.
4:38
Later that same year I saw a fun run coming up for Lifeline, a
4:42
'cause that's really close to my heart.
4:44
So I signed up with Mum and we ran it together.
4:47
I'll never forget the feeling I had crossing that finish line.
4:50
It wasn't just about completing the 5K, it was about being part
4:53
of a greater 'cause it was about community and connection, just
4:57
like it had been with Dad all those years ago.
5:00
I always tell people, even if you don't particularly like
5:02
running, sign up for a fun run because the vibes and energy as
5:06
you cross the finish line are unmatched and it's a great way
5:08
to accidentally get addicted to running from that lifeline.
5:13
Fun run. I discovered Park Run and not
5:15
long after I met Ben who introduced me to Running for
5:17
Resilience and I started going every week.
5:20
And what I found wasn't just a running group, it was a
5:22
community, a place where people show up for each other and
5:27
support each other. I always say my favourite thing
5:30
about Ah Farah is that on a bad day, it gives me an opportunity
5:33
to get out of my own head and forget about whatever problem
5:36
I've been thinking about. I always leave in a much better
5:39
mood than when I arrive. Now I run for many reasons.
5:44
It helps me manage stress, it gives me structure.
5:47
But most importantly, when I'm out there with my friends,
5:50
chatting, laughing and maybe grabbing a coffee or a drink
5:52
afterwards, it's not about control, it's about connection.
5:56
And while this may sound like I've conquered my mental health,
6:01
I am mindful of how easily I could fall back into those
6:03
negative habits at times. I still struggle to convince
6:06
myself that energy gels for long runs are necessary, or that I'm
6:10
allowed to have a treat on a weekend even if I haven't done
6:13
my religious Sunday long run. I, like everybody else, have
6:17
mental vulnerabilities that will always be with me on my mental
6:20
health journey. Community LED initiatives like
6:24
Running for Resilience are powerful because they're
6:26
inclusive, supportive and grounded in shared experiences.
6:30
They remind us that healing doesn't always have to happen in
6:32
a clinic. Sometimes it happens on a park,
6:35
on a trail or over a post run coffee.
6:38
You also don't have to enjoy running to get the benefits of
6:41
communities like our Farrar. Any sort of movement is good for
6:45
our minds. Walking, yoga, plain pickleball,
6:49
it doesn't matter. The key here is movement with
6:51
mates. Thank you for letting me share
6:54
my story. I hope it's a reminder that we
6:56
don't have to run alone, literally or metaphorically.
6:59
There is strength in community and together we can keep moving
7:02
forward. Amazing.
7:14
Thanks very much, Lily. Another round of applause for
7:16
Lily. Come on, just just a taster for
7:22
the podcast episode. If you haven't listened to it
7:25
yet, you need to Running for Resilience podcast produced by
7:28
Lonsdale St studio. Thanks to Damo for doing that
7:31
and also for streaming us here tonight.
7:34
I listen to it. It's an amazing story.
7:36
And you, you said, oh, why have I been asked?
7:39
I just think there's nothing more powerful than hearing from
7:41
someone in your community about their own lived experience or
7:45
something that you might be going through too.
7:47
So nothing, nothing better. Well spoken.
7:50
We're going to go straight into a discussion and I'll kind of
7:53
lead with a few questions for the panellists, but then as soon
7:56
as we can, we'll open up to the floor.
7:58
And if you guys have nothing to say, then I've got some other
8:00
questions in my back pocket, but hopefully it's input and
8:02
questions from the floor. Before we do that, we'll just
8:05
introduce who's here. We've got Ben Gather call CEO of
8:09
Men's Link, Carrie Anne Leeson, CEO of Lifeline Canber and I'm
8:22
always forgetting Benny Alexander on the end here
8:25
running for resilience. So the first one's a pretty open
8:32
one. We'll see how we go with it.
8:34
But you know, for me, I think the what we're seeing this
8:38
mental health crisis, I mean, what, what could be more
8:40
important for us to talk about Something's going on, right?
8:44
The rates of mental poor health we're seeing aren't, aren't
8:47
normal. And in a clinical setting, if
8:49
we're just counting on getting more psychologists through the
8:51
door over and over and over again.
8:52
And that's what we're going to do to solve it.
8:53
I don't know if that's going to be enough.
8:55
There's something going on at the root of it.
8:57
So I just wanted to hopefully have some general reflections
8:59
and anyone jump in on what you think is that the root of this
9:03
mental health crisis, you know, what's really going on here and
9:07
what, what, if any other the groups that seem to be
9:10
disproportionately impacted? Sure.
9:15
I'll, I'll jump in. Well, thanks once again, it's
9:18
really great to be here. Lily, thank you for sharing your
9:21
story. But I think Lily might have hit
9:23
on some real key points there. It's really about connection.
9:27
So from men's links point of view, we educate young fellas
9:31
here in the Canberra region. So between 10 and sort of 20,
9:35
one of the things that we're actually noticing in today's
9:37
society is disconnection, disconnection from school,
9:41
disconnection from family, disconnection from sporting
9:44
groups. I mean, all of us sitting up
9:46
here, you know, really have that genesis of sporting groups,
9:49
family, church, other social groups to actually fall back on
9:54
and, and be involved in society. And a lot of young people
9:58
nowadays actually don't have that sort of disconnection in
10:01
society. And it's very easy to be sort of
10:04
locked in your bedroom, so to speak, or that the young, from
10:08
our perspective, young guys lock themselves in the bedroom.
10:11
And that's where the online and the Internet and all the the
10:15
echo chamber type things start to happen there.
10:18
So from our perspective, it's really about trying to continue
10:20
to create connection. So with what Ben is doing with
10:25
the connection, with running for resilience, what Lily was
10:27
talking about is really important from our point of
10:30
view. Yeah, good points.
10:35
Am I audible? Thank you.
10:37
In terms of what Ben was saying, connection is incredibly
10:42
important. I think timing is also one thing
10:46
that I think is whether the services are available or
10:49
whether they're available at the time at which people want that
10:52
help and are willing and able to do the work.
10:55
At Lifeline, what we tend to focus on is not the crises.
11:01
I think I've used that word once in my 11 years in this role
11:04
because it can leave you feeling rather helpless and hopeless.
11:08
And I think one thing that we find is incredibly powerful is
11:13
around bringing hope and strength and courage and
11:16
vulnerability through connection, but also timing,
11:19
making sure that there is someone willing to have that
11:21
conversation with you when you're ready to have it.
11:24
It's a tough conversation to have.
11:26
And following that conversation, it's about deciding what your
11:29
steps are going to be. It's so complex that it's almost
11:34
impossible to solve as a systems problem at Lifeline.
11:37
What we do see the same reasons, the same 5 reasons that people
11:42
will call Lifeline. They haven't changed in over a
11:46
decade. Relationship breakdowns, alcohol
11:50
abuse or substance misuse, domestic violence, mental
11:53
illness and isolation. Now financial distress will dip
11:57
in and out of those. But one thing I can say and
11:59
shout out to the crisis supporters that are here
12:01
tonight, and they'll agree with me, I've never taken and we've
12:04
never taken one call that's the same as the other.
12:07
So how does a mental health system cater to each and every
12:11
one of us who are so unique, who never have the same crisis at
12:14
the same time or the same needs within that crisis at that time?
12:16
So I think the solution actually rests in the community.
12:21
But in terms of what we're seeing, I think that's an
12:23
important conversation to have because it's not potentially the
12:27
health system that is a problem we can solve.
12:28
It's a truth to be accepted and it's really about empowering
12:31
communities and starting with ourselves.
12:35
Well said. You got anything to add on that?
12:36
On that Benny? No worries.
12:40
Well might come back to you then.
12:42
Ben, you touched on education, the young, you know, in your
12:46
case, the young, the young boys, young men that you're working
12:48
with, what are the, what's, what's kind of the gap?
12:51
What are the unmet needs that you're saying that maybe you're
12:54
mentoring programmes and also your education work in the
12:57
schools try to address? So the the simple answer to
13:01
this, it's also always about resource.
13:03
So we could, if we had more resources, we would be able to
13:06
do more. But the the truth is that we are
13:09
well supported by ACT government and in particular well supported
13:13
by the ACT community. So we're very thankful for that.
13:17
What we know is that if we work on creating better young men,
13:22
they're going to be better middle aged men and they're
13:24
going to be better older fellas as they, as they go through
13:27
their journey and their, their life, so to speak.
13:30
So we, we really hold that close to our chest trying to create
13:34
better young fellas and then surround those young fellas with
13:37
some good, obviously peer LED learnings as we go along, but
13:43
also the the mentors as they go through life and then the role
13:47
models later in life. So it's quite a big deal for us
13:51
to have, you know, quite obviously I'm an older fella.
13:54
It's quite important for us to have role models through our
13:58
organisation that young guys might not necessarily know that
14:02
they're modelling, but we're always there for them and it's
14:06
important just to be there for our young fellas.
14:09
We don't have to have the answer every time, but just to be
14:12
following and be part of that journey is really important to
14:14
us. So that's one of our big, big
14:16
things. A lot of people talk to me and
14:18
ask me why we're a gender biassed service.
14:21
So just for young fellas, what we know, we have this big ripple
14:24
effect that goes on. So if we've got a better young
14:27
fella and he's going home and he's being a little bit better
14:31
in terms of in the house, in the home environment to his family.
14:36
So his mums, his sisters, his nan, his aunties, inevitably
14:40
that means he's probably going to school and he's being better
14:42
to his school teachers. And it just, it just generates a
14:45
little bit of momentum. So we we know that we make a big
14:48
difference not only to our young fellas, but that ripple effect
14:51
sort of resonates out in the rest of the community.
14:55
Cheers, Ben. Yeah.
14:55
And for those who don't know, Fearless Women, great
14:58
organisation that's popped up to mirror what men's links up to
15:01
for for young girls. And they've also been funded
15:03
through the ACT budget, so they're very happy about that.
15:07
I might throw it to you on that on that, Ben.
15:09
And you kind of touched on it, Carrie, and the importance of
15:11
opening up like having someone there on the other side when
15:14
when someone does seek help, what do you see as the role of
15:16
community? And obviously things like
15:18
running for resilience in creating a space where
15:20
conversations possible, Yeah. I'll try.
15:30
Sorry, that better, Yeah. So what was the question again?
15:34
The importance of community and opening space for conversation.
15:38
Yeah. So when I retired from sport, I
15:40
was like, super aware of like the role of like sleep,
15:44
nutrition, exercise, how good that was for my mental health.
15:47
And so I retired thinking, yeah, I just focus on that I'll be
15:51
good because I've lost a teammate to suicide.
15:53
And he'd, you know, he had a wife, kids and studied at
15:56
Oxford, Sydney University. So that was a real wake up call
16:00
for me while I was still playing because I wasn't feeling great
16:03
even though when I was playing And I thought, jeez, you're not
16:05
feeling good, Ben, and you're still playing.
16:07
You know what happens? You know, retirement's pretty
16:09
tough. I'd read any article about
16:11
athletes struggling in retirement.
16:13
And so, yeah, I did a lot of research about trying to help me
16:16
understand what I was feeling. And yet, yeah, I learned to be
16:19
sleep, nutrition, exercise and thought I was ready to retire.
16:23
But, you know, a few years after retiring, despite, you know,
16:26
eating really well, sleeping, exercising, I still got
16:29
depressed and was still in a really bad way.
16:31
And the thing that I learned most from that and the bit that
16:36
I really think I was missing was just how important social
16:39
connection is for our nervous systems.
16:41
Like I eat the word mental health these days.
16:43
It's it means different thing to different people.
16:46
And I think a big reason why people still struggle is we
16:48
don't have like a as a community.
16:50
We haven't actually decided or agreed on what is what is actual
16:53
mental health? Is it the brain?
16:54
Is it the body? I think it's nervous system
16:56
health. That's sort of what I believe.
16:58
And I think that's a big part of what education around mental
17:01
health should be is around understand the nervous system
17:03
and what it needs and that nutrition and asleep and
17:07
exercise is a big part of it. But the studies are all out now.
17:10
If you're you're being lonely is just as bad as smoking a pack of
17:16
cigarettes a day. So you might as well be darting
17:19
up with your mates. You're just as healthy than if
17:21
you're on your own and lonely. And I experienced that being
17:25
through the yeah, when I retired, doing my own business,
17:28
working from home and not feeling great.
17:30
And I remember I needed to come and roster myself down here at
17:33
the pub to come hang out with Shooter and hang out with staff
17:35
and just be around people. And I didn't realise at the time
17:39
why that was. But then just as, yeah, learning
17:42
more about the importance of community and the role that
17:45
social interaction. We are social creatures.
17:47
We have evolved in communities and villages and our nervous
17:51
system and our neurochemicals there.
17:53
There is like a scientific explanation behind it.
17:56
I won't try and do it, but yeah, the communities play a massive
18:01
role in making us feel at home, feel welcome.
18:03
And that's, I guess, something after ours always trying to do.
18:06
I'm really proud of Lily sharing her story.
18:08
Brandy and I have always tried to share ours, our struggles to
18:11
normal. It's we're all going to go
18:14
through rough patches in life. It is super normal.
18:16
And the more we can just talk about it, not in a pity party
18:19
way, but just in a, you know, I'm doing a bit shit at the
18:22
moment. I'm struggling.
18:23
That's when people around you can actually help.
18:25
But if you just bottle it up, you don't ask for help, you
18:28
don't have help seeking behaviour, that's when you can
18:32
just, your nervous system will just get more and more burnt
18:34
out. And I think that's the biggest
18:36
part for our comply. It's not getting people running,
18:39
but getting people to feel OK that Oh yeah, it's not that bad
18:42
to put my hand up because I can get help and I can get through
18:44
what I'm what I'm facing. Is this something you see it at
18:48
Lifeline? Yeah.
18:49
Well, at Lifeline Carrier, when people do reach out, is that
18:59
often something that's been a barrier for people, a sense of
19:02
shame, not wanting to seek help? Do you get feedback that people
19:05
have thought about reaching out and they finally have?
19:08
What's that dynamic like? Yeah, absolutely.
19:11
I think, sorry Lily stepped out a moment ago.
19:13
I wanted to acknowledge you, but you were out of the room.
19:15
Thank you so much for sharing your story.
19:17
I think lived experience and actually basing a health system
19:20
around lived experience is something that we need to take
19:23
on board. And that was very brave.
19:25
We're up here talking and we feel very uncomfortable.
19:28
We're not burying our souls. So very, very powerful message.
19:30
Thank you. Thank you.
19:33
Who does in terms of vulnerability and in terms of
19:39
strength? I always talk about the courage
19:41
it takes to pick up the phone. People talk about what courage
19:43
it takes to be on the crisis supporter end.
19:46
But it takes immense courage to pick up the phone and ask for
19:49
help. And that's one element.
19:52
Of course, what drives the help seeking behaviour or the OR the
19:56
barrier to that can be stigma, stigma of bio communities.
20:00
That's the importance in terms of community addressing stigma,
20:04
but also self stigma. So what we sit with internally
20:07
and the stories that we tell ourselves and the self talk that
20:10
we use in terms of understanding our own value.
20:13
During COVID, we were talking a lot about self care and and
20:17
reaching out self care, self care, self care.
20:19
And I was talking to my team one day being essential services.
20:23
We were all in mosques on three metres apart.
20:26
And one of my team members pulled their masks down and just
20:29
said, what on God's earth does self care look like to you right
20:32
now? And I thought to myself, wow,
20:35
it's actually not useful or helpful.
20:38
Telling people that they need to look after themselves and reach
20:41
out for help. And because until they see the
20:43
value in themselves and they see themselves as someone worth
20:48
saving and someone worth doing the work for, they're not going
20:52
to necessarily have the self awareness that meets that self
20:55
compassion and reaches out for help.
20:57
So we started running self compassion workshops.
21:00
And I think one of the things people in community and in these
21:04
events and in these engagement and activities can do is show
21:07
you value in yourself that you don't see.
21:10
So it's self compassion which leads to self awareness.
21:12
The courage to pick up the phone or reach out or mention to a
21:15
buddy that you're struggling. I think that's where it starts.
21:19
Stigma is obviously a major issue that we spend a lot of our
21:21
time trying to address. Just on that, how much do you
21:26
see a barrier in people feeling like, well, someone else is
21:29
definitely doing it worse than me, so I'm not the one who needs
21:32
help? Is that something that comes up?
21:34
Absolutely hear it all the time. People often will say when they
21:38
when they do get the phone answered, Maybe I don't know if
21:41
I'm bad enough to call. I don't know if my situation,
21:44
you know, out our ability to place others in that, in that
21:50
position of needing help. The media have a bit to answer
21:53
for there in terms of what we see being relatively normal in
21:57
terms of crisis or disaster, being near that end of life and
22:01
life lines and a lot of work to try and position ourselves
22:03
further upstream in terms of crisis and not necessarily there
22:07
just to assist in the event that someone is having suicidal
22:12
ideation. That's been a lot of work
22:15
because a lot of people will always see someone as being
22:17
worse off than themselves. And the important thing to to
22:20
realise is that working on things sooner and getting the
22:24
help you need sooner, finding your GP and your sock, your
22:27
coach, your mentor while you're happy and healthy is a much
22:30
better way to go rather than waiting until you're unwell,
22:32
you're fatigued, you're tired and what you're trying isn't
22:35
working. So it's, it's important to try
22:38
and get to yourself earlier. Yeah.
22:42
Yeah, just to back that point up, we certainly see that in
22:45
young guys, the stigma about reaching out for counselling.
22:48
So we've actually gone around a little bit differently.
22:50
So we go out to schools and we talk about help seeking
22:54
behaviour in our sciences deadly workshop and that's particularly
22:57
around suicide prevention. We now actually hand out a sheet
23:03
of paper with a QR code. So quite anonymous.
23:06
It just goes out to every young fellow that comes along.
23:09
They can put in their pocket and take it away.
23:11
And obviously you scan the QR code and it runs through the
23:13
men's link services that you need and so forth.
23:16
So it's just taking away some of the layers of I need to go home
23:19
and tell mom or dad or I need to go to footy and tell, tell this
23:22
guy. So we've tried to take away
23:23
those barriers because even in young people there's a real
23:26
stigma about calling and talking about breaking up my girlfriend
23:31
or a bit of online porn or there's some online gambling
23:36
going on, or my mates don't talk to me anymore for some other
23:38
reason. They they don't recognise those
23:42
as behaviours that they probably need to have a chat about.
23:45
So we're trying to take that stigma away.
23:46
Exactly what Carrie's saying. I do want to ask on that, Ben,
23:51
you and I were speaking the other day about your kind of
23:53
peer to peer facilitated work that you're doing.
23:56
And it comes back to what Benny, I shouldn't have two, two bends
23:59
on a panel was, you know, could have made another choice.
24:02
That's what Betty A was saying about that connection, not
24:06
always necessarily with a mental health practitioner, but with,
24:09
with your community. So could you talk us through
24:11
what you're doing in that space? And, and maybe on the back of
24:13
that, if there's ideas that come up in terms of how we could do
24:15
more of that sort of stuff, and then I'm going to throw to the
24:17
audience. So you better have questions
24:18
prepared. I haven't planted any, which is
24:21
a mistake as well. So people in my team, you better
24:24
have questions prepared. So one of the things I was
24:28
talking to Tom about the other week was we're starting to
24:31
develop, we're becoming much more mature with the way that we
24:34
educate young, young fellas for us, but young people in general
24:38
and we all in this room can recognise the fact if you say
24:41
no, don't do that, me as an elder says do this, do this, do
24:45
this, it doesn't resonate that well.
24:47
So we've now started to develop our workshops in a facilitated,
24:52
but peer to peer to peer type experience.
24:54
So we lead the workshop and the young fellas start to talk about
24:59
what they what what we're leading, what they're trying to
25:04
create for themselves about whether it's it's feeling better
25:06
about themselves or how they treat other people in their
25:09
family or how they treat society and how they go about just
25:13
becoming better young men. And as I said, we've we've
25:16
figured out that just telling somebody to do it doesn't work
25:19
really well. So if we can do that in that, I
25:22
guess yarning circle style environment and we facilitate
25:26
it, but it's the young people coming up with the answers.
25:29
It obviously works a lot better when you when you talk it out
25:32
aloud like this, it's like, yeah, that's a no brainer.
25:34
But for years teaching has always been right, Tom, this is
25:38
what we're going to do. It doesn't go down that well.
25:41
And you've got them doing kind of daily check insurance and
25:44
shifting culture within the different schools.
25:46
Yeah. So one of our signature
25:48
programmes which is called the Tribe programme, which goes all
25:50
term what we've actually happened to the the school
25:54
counsellors and the teachers have come back and said they've
25:56
actually noticed the young guys going out at recess or lunch or
25:59
even before school and running their own check in circle.
26:02
And they're just checking in with the other fellows and
26:04
they're bringing other young fellows of the school community
26:07
into it. And that's exactly the way that
26:09
you want it to work out. So I might throw to you on that,
26:12
Ben A how can we do more of more, create more of those
26:17
opportunities across the population?
26:20
Running for zillions might be part of the answer.
26:22
But yeah, keen to hear if you've got any further reflections I.
26:24
Think just as a community, the one thing I think a lot of bad
26:28
went out for, I think we're doing really well, is just
26:30
creating environment where people feel like they can be
26:32
themselves, that they don't have to come and put a mask on.
26:35
And at work, you know, a lot of people put a mask and they act
26:38
like they got all everything together.
26:40
And that's really bloody draining, like to act like
26:44
you've got everything together when.
26:46
Yeah. So just trying to, as we're
26:47
saying everything we've been saying, just trying to create an
26:49
environment where if you're not doing all that well, that's
26:51
fine. That's normal.
26:53
We're here to help. And but on the flip side, the
26:55
reason why we are going to be able to help as a community is
26:58
because we're all looking after ourselves first and foremost,
27:00
putting ourselves first so that we can then help others.
27:03
So the more as a community that people, yeah, it's kind of
27:07
counterintuitive that you've got to put yourself first to be able
27:10
to help others. But just, yeah, really enforcing
27:13
that amongst, you know, the board and the volleys, trying to
27:15
really lead, lead by example of making sure we're great examples
27:19
of, of self compassion and self care.
27:22
And that's going to then put us in a position to, to not not be
27:25
patient's the right word, but to be able to help when someone
27:28
isn't feeling great and isn't a bad way.
27:31
And we're really grateful for our partnership with the
27:33
Medicare Mental Health Services Centre.
27:34
So if someone comes on a Wednesday night or, or we, you
27:38
know, we get messages from people, not in a great way.
27:40
We're like are the lifeline. Or if you need to go and get an
27:43
appointment, you go to Medicare Mental Health Services Centre
27:45
and the person gets assessed and then they'll get introduced to
27:48
the right professional support. Because, you know, I was really
27:52
lucky that I was very hesitant to go see a psychologist.
27:55
All the stigma, you know, coming from a, you know, big sort of
27:59
sporting background. I didn't want to go see a psych.
28:02
But I was very lucky that, you know, some family convinced me
28:04
to go see the Brumbies and they put me in touch with a a great
28:09
sports psychologist, someone who she transitioned out of sport
28:11
herself, so gayly includes. And she was incredible.
28:15
And huge part of my turn around has been from the work that I've
28:18
done with my psych. But I was very lucky that we
28:21
clicked. She got she got me from this,
28:23
from this straight away. She's we're with lots of rugby
28:25
league clubs and a lot of people don't have that experience.
28:29
When they finally do put their hand up, they go see a psych.
28:32
It just doesn't click for whatever reason.
28:34
And hopefully we can As for as a community, we can then create
28:38
the environment where people can, you know, admit that
28:41
they're not feeling great by de stigmatising it and then direct
28:44
them to the professionals. So get them to go to Medicare
28:47
Rental Services Centre, which will then increase the chances
28:50
they'll get introduced to the right professional support.
28:53
I think that's a model that hopefully all sporting
28:56
communities can do. Bring people together, make them
28:58
feel welcome, make them feel like they can be themselves.
29:00
And then if someone in the community does put their hand
29:03
up, they can quickly get them off to the right the right
29:06
services. Whether you have life,
29:07
hopefully, I mean sorry before they need to call Lifeline, try
29:10
and catch them before they're in a super, super bad way.
29:15
And just a practical one quick follow up on that then Ben, if
29:18
someone is like someone here could be see, you know, feel
29:20
like they're ready to seek help, where do they go after running
29:23
for a resilience or before they come and chat with you?
29:25
What's the way to do it? Well, yeah, you really
29:28
desperately need help. You know, you call Lifeline or
29:30
you go to the hospital, you see, JP?
29:32
But yeah, so we haven't done enough to make a song and dance
29:37
about this, but through Gayle, my psych introduces it to you.
29:40
The Medicare Mental Health Services Centre.
29:42
It's a bloody mouthful. They need to sort their name
29:44
out. But you go there, there's one in
29:47
Civic, they're building another one in Tagranong, they're
29:50
building 60 across Australia and it's a triage centre.
29:53
So like you go to the hospital, you know, if you busted your leg
29:56
or whatever, you run into the, into the, you get taken into the
30:00
emergency department, you get assessed, you get triage and
30:03
then you get put in touch with the right doctor.
30:04
You know, if you're having a broken leg, you don't get sent
30:07
to the cardiologist. So hopefully that's what the
30:10
Medicare mental health service centre is because I know when I
30:12
was in a bad way, there is no way I could have googled and
30:15
found a psychologist. Like if I typed psych service
30:18
Canberra, it would have been a million less.
30:19
I would have been overwhelmed and I would have just gone.
30:21
It's all too hard and I would have just kept plugging along.
30:25
Whereas if you go to that centre, they won't fix like they
30:28
won't treat you or anything. They just assess you and then
30:31
they go, OK, we think this psych, this service is the best
30:34
for you. So you might have struggling the
30:36
way Lily was struggling. They might put you in touch with
30:38
an eating disorder expert or is an athlete transitioning out of
30:41
retirement. I could have spoken to someone
30:42
else or you've got PTSD, you'll speak with an expert in PTSD.
30:47
So that's kind of this network sort of structure that we think
30:50
that hopefully running residents we can, we're getting feedback
30:53
from Medicare saying that people are coming as a result of R for
30:57
R, which is awesome. And we'll do a lot, lot more.
31:00
Everyone in the community, all your lot.
31:01
We've got to do heaps more to help raise awareness to that
31:04
centre because they're the experts, they're the ones
31:06
that'll help. We'll just raise awareness and
31:08
try and shine a lot on their amazing work.
31:10
Same with Mens Link and Lifeline as well.
31:15
I think it is. It's an important what Ben is
31:17
saying, you know, hands up if you've done a first aid course.
31:21
Yeah. So we can do CPR, we can address
31:23
snake bites. You're far more likely who's
31:26
done mental health first aid. That's fabulous.
31:29
I don't think I've seen more than five hands go up in in all
31:33
my decade. That's incredible.
31:35
Well done. I think in terms of if you're
31:37
going to do a first aid course, make it a mental health first
31:40
aid course, there's there's far more chance, a far higher chance
31:45
that you're going to come into contact with someone that needs
31:48
that first aid. You know, we need to normalise
31:51
mental health injuries, mental health illness like we do
31:55
physical. And that's part of the
31:56
conversation that we're having. And then as Ben was saying, the
32:00
help for you might not necessarily be that formal
32:02
structured medical system. It might be alternatives.
32:05
You know, the first time it Ben G, I'll call you Ben G Ben A and
32:10
I were in a having coffee and I just had had the roughest day
32:13
was a 5:00 AM start. And I was just like, hi, my
32:16
name's Carrie Blair. This is who I am.
32:19
This is the day I'm having. And then Ben was like, well, you
32:22
know, me too. And I think normalising not
32:24
being OK, normalising having a rough day is where it starts.
32:29
Just, you know, it's, it's about trying to ensure that people
32:32
feel safe to have that conversation with you as well.
32:36
Great advice. We'll throw to the floor if
32:39
anyone's got a question, a statement, feedback, and we'll
32:44
try to get. Shall I just do you want to run
32:46
the mic? The mic is coming.
32:50
OK. Oh.
32:55
God, ahead of mic, can you hear me?
32:56
Yep. So hi, I'm Georgia.
32:58
I'm, I'm a teacher, more recently a mom, and I guess I
33:04
can only speak from my own perspective, mostly from the
33:07
education setting, but I work in a high school and I think in a
33:12
world that is so tuned into mental health and diagnosis and
33:18
seeking help and the ways to go about that, there are some real
33:21
positives that have come out of that.
33:22
But what I'm finding still is, and I work in the well being
33:25
space at school. So I do find that you're
33:30
speaking about connection before and I feel like there's still a
33:34
huge disconnect between students being able to go home and share
33:40
with their parents about how they feel.
33:43
I think they use school as a safe space, not use school, but
33:46
they do feel like school can be a safe space.
33:48
But then at home, I'm not saying it might not be a safe space,
33:51
but the capacity and narrative around how they express that is
33:56
still difficult. And I guess I don't really know
33:58
what my question is, but maybe are there programmes or
34:02
initiatives that can bridge that gap or I mean, I'm can set it up
34:07
myself if it needs to be done, but I would really love to see,
34:10
I guess, more of that. Yeah, particularly in the high
34:14
school space. Georgia, I'm probably well
34:19
placed to answer that. So thank you for your question.
34:22
Yes, we see that disconnect also.
34:25
Absolutely. The truth is that a lot of
34:28
families and a lot of parents are struggling with the same
34:30
thing that their kids are. So that real probably a little
34:35
bit different problems, but it's usually money orientated, work
34:38
orientated, family orientated. So it's really hard for young
34:42
people to go home and engage with mum and dad with that.
34:44
That's not an easy conversation to have.
34:46
So I totally acknowledge that. Can we do a better can?
34:50
Can we do better with that? Absolutely.
34:52
How we do better than that? I don't have the 100% answer but
34:55
I I certainly acknowledge what you're saying and and totally
34:58
agree. Yes.
35:01
There is a well, for one, I think that's probably a
35:03
challenge to us as a community, you know, and as as as parents
35:06
as well, to open those spaces from when, when our kids are
35:09
really young. And I think it's great that
35:11
you're talking about it and thinking about it.
35:13
There is an organisation called Mental Illness Education Act and
35:16
I believe they're running programmes within schools.
35:19
But I have to say, I'm not sure if they're focused on speaking
35:21
with parents or, you know, the peer to peer they are.
35:24
Do you want to answer this, Heidi, you have some more to add
35:26
or would that be right? Because I think it's question is
35:30
that you know. Well, so may act lived
35:33
experience educators and they do go into schools, but they also
35:37
go into workplaces and any community groups.
35:40
So historically they've been invited to share their lived
35:43
experience at a parent's evening.
35:45
And so that's been a really great way for parents to not be
35:48
told your child's may or may not be OK, but to hear about some of
35:53
the experiences that people have gone through when they have had
35:57
low mental health or a living with a mental illness.
36:00
And and then that's helped to bridge the gap for them parents
36:03
to be able to seek further help and support from there.
36:06
So it's a really great place to start the education journey.
36:10
And then Me Act also have programmes on their website that
36:14
parents can do to further build their skill.
36:20
Thanks, Heidi. And they run, you know, they run
36:22
programmes in workplaces and so on and you can contact them if
36:24
you want to have them do that. So we're going to try to get one
36:26
done in the assembly for all the for the members and staff.
36:35
Down here. Sorry, before the question,
36:37
Lions fans, we're going to get the footy on soon, all right,
36:39
don't worry, we're going to. All right, go the Reds.
36:44
Hey, just a quick question for me.
36:46
Camber is a pretty unique place. What do you think of the blind
36:48
spots of Canberrans or people in the ACT when it comes to mental
36:52
health? Who's lived here the longest?
37:01
You give a mental health answer while you're thinking about a
37:03
mental health answer. I think one of the unique
37:06
features of the city is the transitory nature of this place.
37:10
So we're now in the ICT. We've got the highest rates of
37:13
loneliness in the country. 40% of people report experiencing
37:17
loneliness, which is pretty staggering.
37:19
And the rates are highest among young adults, which is not what
37:22
you tend to assume. But, you know, when I'm chatting
37:26
with people, you know, which you don't often chat with lonely
37:29
people, to be honest. But when I hear from, you know,
37:31
I'll chat with international students who are visiting and
37:34
they've just not managed to create connections here.
37:37
People who might be doing a grad programme find it hard to break
37:40
into networks. And I think that is a bit of a
37:42
reputation that Canberra has is that it's like a, you know, it's
37:45
a physically cold place, but also a bit of a socially cold
37:48
place. But what I hear also from people
37:50
when they do manage to forge us relationships is because it's a
37:54
tight community and everyone's 15 minutes away from each other.
37:58
Once you kind of bridge that gap, there's actually a lot of
38:00
friendship right there and it's easy to create and maintain
38:02
those connections. So I think it's probably on us a
38:06
little bit, people that have been here for a long time to try
38:09
to look for ways to create more opportunities for people who
38:12
haven't and are newer to the city to, to connect into those
38:15
networks because otherwise it can remain a bit a bit clicky,
38:18
you know? Yes.
38:20
And to add to that, I think as well, we are highly educated.
38:25
So when something seems to be feeling wrong, we try and solve
38:29
it. And we all look for stats, we'll
38:31
look for information and, and science, it's quite different
38:35
again, because we're not connected to necessarily our
38:37
families. We're all living away from home.
38:39
You lack that wisdom. So during COVID, there was a lot
38:43
of information in terms of numbers hitting us every single
38:46
day. And I kept trying to seek out
38:48
the wisdom. I tried to find the people that
38:51
you know that this too will pass that really philosophical way of
38:54
because your frame of mind and how you look at something and
38:57
what Lifeline does is just sort of elevate individuals above
39:00
this scenario and give them a bird's eye view, enable coping.
39:04
So when you're feeling like you're not coping and you're
39:06
looking for more and more numbers to to feel that and
39:09
evidence that feeling, it's very hard to break out of it.
39:11
So again, connection can help with that.
39:14
I think in terms of blind spots, you know, I would say that yes,
39:19
there are areas that do need addressing.
39:21
We've obviously got, we could talk about the budget, I could
39:23
talk about the budget or not. Let's talk about the fact that
39:26
they're charging $11.00 for volunteers to have to work with
39:30
vulnerable people. So there's, there's a lot of I
39:34
guess input into the system that we're in.
39:36
But I will say, I will say that to the AST government, the
39:39
National Capital Authority are all is when it comes to
39:44
identifying and discussing those blind spots.
39:46
An example of that is in Canberra 10 years ago when I
39:50
started in the role, I sat with the NCAA and the ACT government.
39:52
We have, we have a suicide hotspot in Canberra and the
39:56
conversation 10 years ago was we don't want to hear it.
39:58
We're not putting up signs. We're not going to ruin the
40:00
beauty of our city. We're not, we're not dealing
40:02
with that. It's just a problem that you
40:04
have to solve on your own. 10 years later.
40:06
The NCAA have put up the signage.
40:08
That spot has been identified as a suicide hotspot.
40:12
There is a number to call when individuals reach that spot.
40:15
We've had two calls from that spot and no incidences since and
40:18
that's only been live for three months. 2 laughs so.
40:22
Thank you. I think it's a testament to
40:25
absolutely being having the blind spots, but I think
40:28
Canberrans are all about, Canberrans are all about jumping
40:30
on it. Another one from the floor over
40:34
here. Thanks, Hannah.
40:39
I have a really quick question. So one of the ethos that we
40:43
guess we have running for resilience is this idea of a
40:46
funnel of crisis. So at the very bottom of the
40:49
funnel, obviously those are the people who are in acute distress
40:52
who need hospitalisation or the supportive organisations like
40:56
Lifeline and Men's Link. Then one level up from that, we
41:00
have those who with the right psychological support, whether
41:04
that be from a friend or a professional, will be able to
41:08
navigate themselves through that situation.
41:11
And then at the very top of the funnel is where we see ourselves
41:14
operating, which is providing an opportunity for people to be
41:18
able to connect and move on a regular basis.
41:20
And if we can keep people doing that, then the likelihood of
41:24
them falling through the funnel is significantly decreased.
41:28
I think my question is obviously at the bottom of the the funnel,
41:33
there's a lot of clarity around investment to result.
41:38
But as you move up the funnel, it becomes more and more
41:40
ambiguous because you don't know how many people's trajectory
41:44
you've changed through that level of intervention.
41:47
So I guess my question is, how do we have the courage and the
41:52
bravery to invest in the ambiguity the higher we go up
41:56
the funnel to ensure that we can reduce, I guess, the crisis
41:59
point further down the funnel? And how do we work, I guess,
42:04
between the bands? Yeah, I get to get political.
42:13
Hey, well, you mentioned the budget.
42:16
So we had the ACC budget last week, a week ago and that was
42:20
kind of, that was my main reflection.
42:22
And the main reflection in the team is the budget contains over
42:25
the next four years another $1.196 billion in health
42:30
funding. So that's predominantly hospital
42:32
funding. So it's, you know, it's acute
42:33
and of course you break your leg, you want somewhere to go,
42:36
but it's the ambulance at the end of literally right at the
42:39
bottom of the Cliff. Or another example was there's
42:43
$16,000,000 in the budget for homelessness services to work
42:46
with people who are, who are experiencing homeless
42:49
homelessness and provide that kind of support, whether it's
42:51
material aid, food relief, but only 102 social housing
42:55
dwellings in the budget. When we've got more than 3000
42:59
approved applicants on our public housing wait waiting
43:01
list, then you only get on that waiting list if we know you
43:04
can't afford private, the private market.
43:08
So we're doing a lot of there's this pressure and it's a
43:11
political pressure a lot of the time to invest the acute end
43:14
because you do want to have a doctor there when you show up at
43:16
the hospital and it's very measurable.
43:19
What are the wait times? How many people are have been
43:21
waiting longer than they should have all these, how many people
43:24
are seeking help from homelessness services and aren't
43:27
able to get it and so on. But that stuff upstream, which
43:31
is hard to measure, which we know saves us downstream and
43:34
it's been studied and reported on over and over and over again,
43:37
doesn't get the investment. So at the same time, those kinds
43:40
of figures, 1.196 billion for the health system, there was
43:43
just a $10 million uplift in community sector funding.
43:47
And they're the organisations that really do the preventative
43:49
work like what Mens link does what like what fearless women do
43:53
to to address things downstream. So I guess what I'm, what I'm
43:57
saying is it is a problem and I do think that there's a big role
44:02
for politicians to change their thinking and show a bit of
44:05
courage in how they think about investment and think about
44:08
prevention. You can't really measure all the
44:11
lives you've not, you know, the, the, the issues that didn't
44:13
arise. But there are places around the
44:15
world who have started that, where they've started doing
44:17
this. So if Victoria, for instance,
44:19
has an early intervention investment framework, which is
44:22
really focused on shifting decision making in the ACT, we
44:25
have a well being framework which is supposed to supposed
44:28
to, you know, shift decision making.
44:31
So you're focusing more on well being, not just on the kind of
44:34
economic, you know, pie. We love the example of of Wales.
44:38
So I'll use these examples. I always do.
44:41
Wales got self government a little bit 10 years after we
44:43
did. And 10 years ago they introduced
44:46
the the Well Being of Future Generations Act for Wales.
44:49
They basically got together as a country and said, what do we
44:51
want for our country? And then held themselves to
44:54
account in actually making decisions that aligned with that
44:58
conversation. So one example is they shifted
45:01
all their transport infrastructure investment from
45:03
things like roads to things like footpaths and bike lanes because
45:07
they said we want to be, well, we want to be spending more time
45:10
outdoors moving actively rather than stocking cars.
45:14
But that takes courage. And they got slapped, you know,
45:17
slapped on the wrist by a lot of people for doing that and people
45:19
who wanted to see more Rd duplications.
45:21
But I think it, you know, it comes down to what are you, what
45:23
are you hearing from constituents?
45:25
Because we're, we're politicians and we don't have the courage.
45:29
There's self preservation involved.
45:31
And so if everyone in the community is saying the same
45:33
thing, saying let's invest more upstream, then at some point
45:37
people listen because they want to keep their jobs and get back
45:39
in next time. So I think we could talk a lot
45:42
more about it as a community night.
45:44
It's like. We can't wait for the wheels of
45:47
government to start funding in that thing.
45:49
Mate, you got to take action. Everyone here has got to start
45:52
working in that preventative layer, doing whatever you can do
45:55
out in the community. It's something I'm super proud
45:57
of and I shoulder is true that the dock plays its part.
46:00
I mean, I only learned recently that the word pub is short.
46:03
It was the original. It's from Public House back in
46:06
the 1800's the pub was known. Obviously, you know, pubs aren't
46:10
all great, but hospitality venues are a really proud part
46:14
of the Two Before 10 group. The Jetty, another pub what wait
46:18
a bit. Frankie's at Ford creating these
46:21
environments where people where we can start working
46:23
preventative. It is it is the community that's
46:25
going to do it. Hopefully the government in the
46:27
wheels and all the politics will eventually start dedicating
46:30
funding there. But we cannot wait.
46:32
We got to get going with what what we have and just do the
46:34
best of what we got. And I'm superpowered with the
46:37
right. You've seen the suicide rates in
46:39
Canberra that we're now well below the national average
46:41
incredible drop. And that is that's yeah, we've
46:44
contributed, but it is the work of everyone in the Canberra
46:46
community. Lifeline the government Mens
46:49
link. Everyone in Canberra needs to
46:50
work towards the goal of illudicating not just suicide,
46:53
but then all I'll mental health and because I truly believe
46:55
Canberra is the most beautiful city in the world and we should
46:58
have the healthy and happiest people that reflect the
47:00
environment that we live in. So we got to get going.
47:03
We can't wait. All right, Timbo.
47:09
Well, on the back of that Rev Up, big Rev Up speech, how can
47:12
people who are here and want to get involved and they're feeling
47:15
a little bit of fire thanks to you, Benny A, how can they get
47:18
involved, whether it's through your organisations or otherwise?
47:21
I think it's a good opportunity to spruke.
47:23
Everyone's always looking for volunteers and donors.
47:25
So yeah, let's just run down the line.
47:30
Thanks, Tom. So for us, we're, we're always
47:33
seeking mentors to help our young fellas.
47:36
So on our website or the QR code just jump on the website just
47:41
runs through what's required of a volunteer that comes and helps
47:44
us out. And so that's really pretty
47:46
simple for us. Thank you and a very worthwhile
47:50
role as well having met and heard from people that have been
47:54
through the programme. From Lifeline's perspective, we
47:58
have so many volunteering opportunities, whether it's a
48:00
one off, you know, fundraising at a Raiders game or whether you
48:04
want to go through the warehouse sort books, work at a warehouse
48:07
book fair over the course of a weekend, or even undertake the
48:11
crisis support of workplace training and be on that end of
48:14
the phone when someone does find that courage to ask for help.
48:17
lifelinecamera.org dot AU. All of the volunteering
48:20
opportunities are there. We would love to have you,
48:23
Evelyn. We have a crisis supporter,
48:27
Evelyn, who's willing to tell you about her experience here
48:29
tonight. Thank you.
48:31
In the orange scarf, Evelyn and then just.
48:35
Good work. Just come to you Running for
48:37
Zooms. Come to one of our events.
48:38
Head to Running for zooms.com to find out about one of our 15
48:42
weekly events across Canberra. And if you bring a friend or if
48:45
you know someone's struggling, maybe send them the link to
48:48
Medicare Mental Health Service Centre and maybe just give them
48:50
a nudge and say, hey, maybe give this, give this a try.
48:57
Well, I think, you know, I love the mission, right?
49:02
Make Canberra suicide free by 20232033, I should say, already
49:06
failed by 2033. Why not right?
49:10
And if it's a place where we can, I'm sure there's people who
49:14
have come here for the rugby, they just stumbled into a mental
49:16
health forum. They're going, what are we,
49:18
what's going on? Especially if we got visitors
49:19
from overseas, what's going on in Australia, what's going on in
49:22
the capital here? But I think it's pretty special
49:23
that we can run an event like this and have people turn up and
49:26
really care about it. And that's an that's an
49:29
incredible sign of the work that you guys have done, the work
49:32
your organisations are doing. And also of, of how much can
49:35
Barons care? So seeking help and making it
49:38
clear that you're there to help. I think it's something we can
49:40
all do. And obviously we all are doing.
49:42
And I just think it's incredible that we got people here to have
49:44
these kinds of conversations in a in, in a public house.
49:49
So I think that's probably enough from us.
49:51
I want to thank everyone for being here.
49:53
Thank you everyone for taking the time.
49:55
To all of our panellists, another round of applause.
49:57
And Lily. Thank you Damon Lonsdale Studio
50:01
for recording and live streaming tonight.
50:04
And you, Tom? Yeah, up to demo to Lily for her
50:07
sharing as well. Bravo.
50:09
Shooter and go to the. Shooter and everyone for putting
50:11
it on. Thanks for being here.
50:12
Have a great night. Woody, let's get the footy on.