by Danielle Maloney, Acting NSW Statewide Eating Disorders Coordinator, Centre for Eating and Dieting Disorders
We are relatively lucky in Australia, the lucky country as they call it. We have a number of initiatives which address the stigma of mental illness and in particular that address depression, one of the most common mental illnesses. There are organisations like BeyondBlue and the Black Dog Institute which focus on depression and work towards reducing the stigma. There is also the foundation headspace which is focused on Youth Mental Health. With all this in place, rates of depression are still high. Perhaps this is because depression so commonly co-occurs with every other mental illness and with mainly chronic illnesses and injuries.
Investing in depression alone is not enough. It is important also to focus on other serious mental health problems such as anxiety, psychosis, eating disorders and personality disorders, to name a few, and treat them well to prevent the slide into depression.
000 is the national emergency number in Australia.
Lifeline is a 24-hour nationwide service that provides access to crisis support, suicide prevention and mental health support services. It can be reached at 13 11 14. They also offer an online chat service.
Kids Helpline is a 24-hour nationwide service that provides access to crisis support, suicide prevention and counselling services for Australians aged 5–25. It can be reached at 1800 55 1800. In addition the Kids Helpline does also provide online chat services.
Beyond Blue provides nationwide information and support regarding anxiety, depression, and suicide. It has a helpline which can be reached by calling 1300 22 4636. The helpline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition, the organisation also provides online chat from 15-24.
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