Teens reflect on mental health recovery ahead of Albury-Wodonga headspace Day

That's the message from Border teens Asha Romeril and Katie Kendall, who have shared their stories to encourage others battling mental ill-health to find a different outlook.

Asha and Katie are two of the six members on the headspace Albury Wodonga youth reference group, both on their journeys to recovery, that are using their lived experiences to provide support to the region's young people and break the stigma surrounding youth mental health.

"I joined the YRG because I want to help people and show people that it's OK to ask for help, and it's OK to not be OK," Katie, 18, said.

"It's completely normal and I want to try and make a difference, even in one person's life."

Katie said she has gone through many traumatic experiences, which have taken a toll on her mental health since the age of seven.

While most students at her school and her network of friends were understanding of mental health, she said social media had provided challenges.

"I find more so on social media is where it gets dismissed," she said.

"I wouldn't say there's much of a stigma (about help seeking), at least from the people that I know in the community, because people talk, but most of time they'll talk about their negative experiences.

"That definitely has made people think twice about seeking help. In reality, they're not hearing about all the good stuff that actually happens in the services.

"I feel like the whole journey of recovery is sort of like a maze. All you ever see are the dead ends and you think there's no light.

"You can spend ages putting in all the work and sometimes you still reach dead ends. The important thing to know is that at some point you can see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Katie said the youth reference group gave her "a reason to wake up every morning" knowing she could assist others.

"I would rather have a positive impact on one person than have a negative impact on a lot of people around me," she said.

For Asha, 16, it was the death of her father that contributed to a spiral in her mental health.

She may well be the newest member of the youth reference group, which meets fortnightly in Wodonga or Wangaratta, but she's passionate about making a difference.

"No one goes through the same experience. Everyone experiences losing someone, but no one's going to come out the same," she said.

"Talking or therapy isn't for everyone, because everyone's wired differently and things work differently for different people.

"I remember when I first started at headspace, I was nervous. I questioned what I was doing here and why was I telling a stranger all my problems, but you build a bond with them and it's really helped.

"I remember my sessions were an hour and time flies out the window. I would get home and pass out because it was so draining telling your whole life story, but it's really worth it.

"You don't just show up and talk, there's a lot more to it. You have got to put in the outside hours and the effort.

"It's a big thing taking that step to reach out."

Asha admitted she was often hard on herself when she was not feeling her best mentally, but said it was important for people to cut themselves some slack.

"You will appreciate the good times much more than just focusing on the bad stuff," she said.

"I like to replace a negative thought with three positive thoughts because the negative is so much stronger than the positive."

Community awareness and engagement worker at headspace Albury-Wodonga Katie Shalevski said the youth reference group played an integral role at the centre, beyond organising events for young people.

"They are really key in making recommendations for decisions around how our service runs," she said.

"Our young people decide the staff members they'd like to see working at headspace, they are part of making decisions for governance and accreditation, how we communicate on social media, and how I go out and communicate to young people at presentations and events.

"They have a very deep, ingrained function and they are the voice of their centres."

Ms Shalevski said rolling applications to join the group were in place, with 10 members an ideal number.

"We do have the two sites, Wodonga and Wangaratta, and, in a perfect world, we'd have a group for each centre," she said.

"It would be a 12-month tenure and then re-application once we're properly established."

Asha and Katie, along with their fellow youth reference group members, will host a headspace Day gathering in Wodonga on Saturday, October 7.

The event is to be held at Wodonga's Junction Place from 11am to 2pm, with workshops, exhibitions, and engaging conversations on mental health focused on inspiring youth to create a healthy headspace.

The theme for headspace Day 2023 is "rubbishing unreal expectations" with the aim to debunk societal pressures and promote healthy mental wellbeing.

To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: