Mental health has never had a greater profile in the community than in recent years.
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Certainly there has been an exponential rise in the effort to remove the stigma associated with the range of illnesses that fall under its umbrella.
And that’s for the simple reason that far too many lives were being needlessly lost or seriously compromised as a result.
The word “tragedy” is so often bandied about to describe all manner of unfortunate things, but rarely does it reach its true meaning.
Suicide though is an indisputable tragedy that has torn apart too many families right across the Border region.
The community of course has been at the forefront of efforts to tackle the issue, to de-stigmatise to ensure mental health problems are not suffered in private. That ultimately led to success in a bid to win funding for a headspace centre in Albury-Wodonga, which was one of the aims of the Ending the Suicide Silence series in The Border Mail.
The commitment continues through other events such as the annual Winter Solstice for Survivors of Suicide and the upcoming Albury-Wodonga Big Splash, which raises money for the centre.
And yet people are still losing their lives to suicide.
Clearly mental health is something that affects all parts of society and has a reach that snares a lot of people.
While programs such as headspace provide an enormously valuable role, much more certainly needs to be done. That is the call made by headspace founder Professor Patrick McGorry, who was a strong supporter of the Border’s community campaign. Indeed, Professor McGorry has likened this epidemic of suicide to the road toll in terms of there needing to be a national effort to address what is happening.
His view is the Border community needs to step-up again, to take a stand in order raise awareness.
As he says, “at the very least this needs some soul-searching”.
Ordinary people throughout the region of course are doing all that they can on a daily basis, such as helping loved ones who cannot work or look after their kids because of the onset of depression.
The community should accept Professor McGorry’s challenge.
That’s because, ultimately, all of us will benefit if we play a role, however small.
It is that important.