Over 60 people who work or volunteer in mental health or community support roles attended our Annual Mental Health Forum on Tuesday 28 May.
This year we focused on showcasing our local supports. We had talks from several services, including Safe Haven and Talk2mebro, as well as some training and tips from Mindframe to support people to communicate appropriately in relation to suicide, mental ill-health and alcohol and other drugs.
Lifeline Macarthur and Western Sydney CEO Veronica Macdonald opened the forum stressing the importance of networking and knowing there would be someone to turn to for support.
Poppy, from Safe Haven Liverpool, spoke of using lived experience to bring hope and encouragement to people, of meeting people where they are.
The forum learned about Campbelltown Hospital’s mental health pod, the first of its kind in NSW, a dedicated quiet space in the hospital’s emergency department for mental health patients.
And there was a soft launch of the new Suicide Prevention Hub.
Mitch, from another Safe Haven, also spoke from lived experience about the ability to make connection and convince someone that life is worth living and there is hope.
“We all have the ability to provide a light for someone, to prevent someone from taking a permanent solution to a temporary problem.”
He said it was up to us to provide a better answer.
After some chair-aerobics, Fred from Talk2mebro said, “The only way we can do this is together.
“We need to change the narrative so a man can be vulnerable and be perceived as being strong enough to do what he needs to do for his family.”
To see more photos and selected slides from presentations at the forum, visit this album.
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