Peace of Mind

Mental health awareness

 Why now?

• at least one person in five will experience a common mental illness in any one year in Australia
• by 2020 depression is predicted to be the largest global health issue

 Did you know that...

• depression and anxiety is more common within the GLBT community than the general population
• suicide attempts occur more frequently than in the general population - between 3.5 and 14 times more likely

The financial cost to the Australian health system for mental health problems is yearly around $3 billion. Additional outcomes, such as family and relationship troubles, physical illness, substance misuse, missing work and personal unhappiness, cannot be estimated.

Why do we need specific workshops?

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, as well as people living with HIV, report higher levels of depression and other common mental health conditions then the general population.

The Peace of Mind Project seeks to address some of these issues by giving community members the skills to help each other. Funded by the the NSW Ministry of Health and partnering with other key organisations we have to capacity to start a conversation about mental health that can really help those experiencing mental distress. During the second half of 2012 we ran a series of workshops targeting community members and mainstream service providers, which were very well recieved. Please try our e learning module that incorporates the wisdom gained from the workshops.

By educating ourselves we can support our family, friends and loved ones by recognising when the people we care about need support and help through difficult times in their lives. 

If we can recognise early signs of emotional or mental distress and feel confident in our ability to help, we can support our friends and family in their journey to recovery.