HELP SEEKING
New self-help resources
Men experiencing difficult times: Lifeline’s new tool kit
Although we all go through difficult times in life, often men and women experience these situations differently. As a man, sometimes it is difficult to talk about our emotions.
Some common causes of tough times, particularly for men include:
- Financial problems
- Unemployment, including redundancy
- Excessive alcohol or drug use
- Relationship breakdowns (through separation or divorce)
- Bullying or harassment (at school or work)
- Trauma or abuse
There are lots of things you can do to deal with difficult circumstances and find solutions to your problems.
- Recognise when you aren’t coping – men sometimes find it difficult to realise that they are stressed
- Talk about it – Talking about your problems with someone you trust can really help
- Take care of yourself – Eating healthily, exercising regularly, doing activities that you enjoy and finding time to relax.
- Reduce use of alcohol and drugs, including caffeine and nicotine – Alcohol and drugs can impair your judgement, leading to poor decisions and risky behaviour.
- Avoid excessive gambling or other high-risk activities – Excessive gambling and other risky activities can make your problems worse and can put both you and others in danger.
- Have a health check-up – A visit to your GP for a general health check up
- Be proactive – Come up with some practical ways to manage your situation.
It takes courage and strength to ask for help. Seeking support from others can help you to get through tough times. If you or someone you know is experiencing difficult times, Lifeline’s crisis support line is available 24 hours on 13 11 14, or more information is available on our website.
Lifeline has also recently produced a number of self-help Tool Kits focussing on; Carers of people with mental illness, Suicide prevention information for Aboriginal & Torrest Strait Island people, Help when you are feeling down, and Getting through floods, drought and extreme climate events. These can be downloaded from the Lifeline website, or ordered by emailing marketing@lifeline.org.au
LIFELINE EVENT
Alan Walker Memorial lunch
Lifeline presents the Alan Walker Memorial Lunch
In honour of our founder, Lifeline is hosting the Alan Walker Memorial Lunch on 16 March 2011at Mural Hall at Parliament House in Canberra.
We warmly welcome you to attend this event with special guest speaker The Hon. John Howard AC, former Australian Prime Minister reflecting on his time in government, mental health and the role of Lifeline.
Newly appointed Lifeline Ambassador, Natasha Ferré will be the facilitator for the event, and Graham Flower (Lifeline Board Chair) and Maggie Jamieson (Lifeline CEO) will also make an address.
Tickets to this memorable event are available now!
For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.lifeline.org.au/events/alanwalker
LIFELINE IN THE COMMUNITY
Psychological First Aid and its role in the recovery of disasters
An interview with Lifeline Community Recovery Manager, Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson, Lifeline Community Recovery Manager, has recently been involved with the community recovery effort in Queensland as a result of the recent floods and Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi. We asked Richard about the importance of Psychological First Aid for both individuals and communities and here are his responses:
Q&A – Richard Johnson, Lifeline Community Recovery Manager
1. What is Psychological First Aid?
Psychological First Aid is a framework for providing helpful support following a traumatic event or critical incident. People, even professionals, often feel a sense of helplessness when it comes to responding effectively to the needs of those who have had their lives significantly impacted by events such as natural disasters, family tragedy, personal violations, and many other devastating experiences. Psychological First Aid aims to reduce the initial distress, foster a greater capacity to cope, and minimises the risk of further harm.
2. How long has Lifeline been involved in providing Psychological First Aid?
Psychological First Aid is often seen only in the context of Community Recovery following a disaster, however, Psychological First Aid can also be applied in a variety of contexts where a person is in distress. As such, I could confidently say that Lifeline Counsellors have been using some of the components of Psychological First Aid ever since Lifeline commenced.
3. With the recent floods and cyclone in Queensland, how has Lifeline been involved in the recovery effort and how important it is to provide Psychological First Aid as part of this recovery response?
As part of the recovery effort, between 29 December 2010 and 15 February 2011, Lifeline has made 2,726 deployments - a deployment being defined as one person working between 7 and 10 hours a day. On average, Lifeline deployed 57 counsellors each day and in total approximately 150 counsellors.
Most of the volunteers have come from within the Lifeline Community Care organisation, Lifeline Centres across Australia as well as external counselling organisations from within Queensland. Lifeline has attended approximately 60 Community Recovery Centres or Evacuation Centres, plus joined Outreach teams, community events and meetings, and also attended funerals.
Follow-up counselling is also taking place through a call-out telephone service which is currently attending to over 450 referrals.
4. How have some of the funds raised as part of the recent ‘Get UP’ campaign been used to help with the recovery effort?
The flood crisis placed tremendous pressure on our limited human resources and required a radical response. So with the funds raised as part of the Get Up campaign we provided Psychological First Aid training to counsellors with the necessary counselling prerequisites but who were yet to complete their Psychological First Aid training. These counsellors were immediately mobilised to support flood affected people help manage their emotional overload and develop a personal recovery plan.
5. What are Lifeline’s plans for Community Recovery and Psychological First Aid in the future?
The Psychological First Aid training program has already been presented in other states (NSW and Northern Territory) and there are plans for Psychological First Aid trainers to present the training program in all states of Australia. Over time it is hoped a national network of qualified counsellors be established to respond to disaster and critical events across Australia.
More information about Psychological First Aid training in Queensland can be found at www.lccq.org.au/pfa
Lifeline pulls together to support flood affected Brisbane
In response to the recent flooding in Brisbane, Lifeline’s National Media Manager, Chris Wagner, travelled to Queensland to assist the Lifeline Community Care Queensland communications team. Chris spent the better part of a week assisting with media management on the ground and Lifeline’s response to one of the biggest flood crises in Australian history.
(Pictured: Chris Wagner, centre, with Lifeline Community Recovery Counsellors Bob and Claire at an Evacuation Centre in Brisbane).
During his time with the team in Brisbane, Chris saw first hand the results of the flooding, including the physical and emotional impact of the event.
“I went to both flood affected areas, where people’s lives were being literally scraped up off the ground by tractors and trucks, as well as to a number of recovery and evacuation centres,” Chris said on his return.
“I was amazed at the scale of the event, so I can only imagine the devastation in other places like Toowoomba. However, I was also privileged to see our Community Recovery counsellors in action. These people are amazing, watching them move amongst the crowd, speaking to anyone and everyone. These are truly inspirational people. As an organisation Lifeline are very lucky to have this calibre of people working for us.”
“I’d also like to praise the communications people in Brisbane. Elissa Jenkins and her team and a highly professional bunch who are doing it tough. I know that at one stage, one of her staff was working, while her house was filled with water and mud! Truly, as an organisation, we are blessed with some incredible people.”
If you would like to know more about Lifeline’s media activities, please contact Chris Wagner, National Manager of Media and Government Relations 02 6215 9446 or chris.wagner@lifeline.org.au
CAMPAIGN
Upbeat at the Big Day Out 2011
Since 2007, Lifeline has been associated with the Big Day Out and our volunteers and staff have been present at many of these events holding stalls, giving away merchandise and distributing help seeking information. This year, Lifeline was given an amazing opportunity to partner with Channel [V] as well as Big Day Out in an effort to promote Lifeline’s Upbeat initiative to around 276,000 people at six different events across Australia.
Recent Lifeline call data analysis revealed that suicide intervention by Lifeline Volunteers is the highest among youth callers. Additionally, a recent survey of Lifeline website users identified young people under the age of 25 as regular visitors to the site.
UpBeat is about promoting key messages about wellbeing and help seeking to a youth audience, and Lifeline’s presence at the Big Day Out was the perfect platform to reach a youth audience and raise the profile of Lifeline to a younger audience.
Lifeline staff and volunteers engaged with this youth audience by handing out merchandise and help seeking information promoting Lifeline’s 13 11 14 telephone crisis support service.
You can watch Lifeline and Channel [v]'s promotional video and hear words of support from bands like; Wolfmother and The Vines.
More information about Upbeat can be found on our website.