Reaching new heights for mental health in 2021

Good-bye 2020 and Hello 2021! 

We made it! 

And what better way to embrace a new year than to put our own mental health forward as a priority and set the bar high to look after ourselves and each other.

This year we are taking mental health awareness to a new level as we aim to reach more communities, more regions, more workplaces, more schools and more people who are needing to hear that It Ain’t Weak to Speak – and we are encouraging everyone to get on board in anyway you can to help make this happen. 

So how can you be a part of our movement for 2021?  

SPREAD AWARENESS! 

This is easier than you think.  Spreading awareness for any message starts with your community and network of family and friends.  Sharing a social media post, chatting about the cause with friends over coffee, or simply following through with what the organisation is all about – for LIVIN that is breaking the stigma surrounding mental health. 

This doesn’t have to be a complex task and you may find you are already doing it without even realising.  When spreading awareness for LIVIN and mental health can be as simple as wearing some LIVIN merchandise out on your morning walk or a LIVIN cap to a mates BBQ.  You would be amazed on the conversations that small gesture can start.   

Share any posts or prompts for mental health awareness and the importance of speaking up through any of your social or online platforms. 

Every action no matter how big or small, makes a difference and helps to get our message out there to those who need to hear it that It Ain’t Weak to Speak. 

TAKE ACTION! 

There are so many ways that you can get involved and take action with breaking the stigma surrounding mental health. 

If you are connected with a school, workplace or community group you can reach out to us about our LIVINWell mental health education and stigma reduction program which is delivered in person by one of our experienced LIVIN facilitators. 

Or you can create your own fundraising event/campaign which through engaging those around you to get involved, also helps our message to reach people.   Fundraising for LIVIN also enables to keep continuing the work that we do through delivering our LIVINWell Schools Program at no cost to the schools and students who contact us. 

We are also a part of several major events this year including the Skypoint Sea to Sky Q1 Stair Challenge happening on the Gold Coast and would love to see community events like these flooded with LIVIN supporters! 

PRACTICE WHAT WE PREACH! 

At LIVIN we aim to break the stigma surrounding mental health and through educating and encouraging people who are struggling to reach out and ask for support and this all starts with you. 

Simply following a few actions can make such a difference and positive impact and it can start with sending a friend a simple text asking them how they are going.  Or reaching out to someone who you notice is a bit ‘off’ whether it be a work colleague in your office who is behaving a bit different or a good friend who is perhaps posting things on social media, the ‘small’ gesture of taking a few moments and touching base with them could be the ‘biggest’ thing you do that day and help them more than you know. 

AND DON’T FORGET ABOUT YOU! 

Give yourself the same attention and acknowledgement as you would to others and if you start to feel that you are not coping as well as you used to or things just seem ‘harder’, reach out to someone.  It may be someone in your family or it may be your GP. Or you may jump onto one of the many great mental health platforms available.  Just remember there are options and different people connect to different things so don’t feel deflated if your first option doesn’t seem to help as much as you had hoped . . . . just go to the next option . . . . and the next . . . . . and you will find it. 

So as we slide into 2021, let’s remind ourselves of the incredible support networks we have both around us and that are accessible to us as we work together to continue to break the stigma surrounding mental awareness and that It Ain’t Weak to Speak. 

If you are struggling check out our Get Help Page for organisations that can offer support.