As a parent of 11yo & 14yo girls, & married to a psychologist, I feel blessed every day that we have a relationship with our children where we hope they feel that they can talk to us about anything - in particular, if they are worried or feel anxious about anything or anyone. Of course, we would never assume that they would share everything with us, but we try our best to keep an open channel of communication amongst us. But…there are many pre-teens & teens who have no one to talk to about their mental health issues & concerns. Earlier this year, a boy in my 11yo’s year group had expressed suicidal ideations on social media after being the victim of a particularly nasty bullying campaign last year at the hands of 2 similarly-aged girls at the same school. Luckily, our youngest came to us with her concerns & we were able to get him some help without him ever knowing about our involvement or violating any trust between him & our daughter. I shudder to think what may have happened to him had there been no intervention. According to the Australian Institute of Health & Welfare, suicide accounts for over 1/3 of all deaths in Australian youth & is the leading cause of death among 15-24yo Australians. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. There are several agencies/organisations that offer help & one such service is the impact-led, Gen Z-forward, non-for-profit ALLKND - Australia’s leading provider of digital, peer-to-peer mental health first aid for young people. By inspiring compassion & smashing the stigma around thinking/talking about mental health ‘taboo’ topics, ALLKND encourages us to take better care of one another, which will ultimately lead to saving lives. With the aim to reduce the national youth suicide rate by teaching a digital program that can give others the knowledge & skills required for peer-to-peer mental health first aid support, ALLKND wants to open up the conversation & reduce youth mental illness-related fatalities. Please visit @weareallknd to watch & share their powerful video. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. #knowmoredomore (at Mental Health Awareness) https://www.instagram.com/p/CV4PO6tPQON/?utm_medium=tumblr
