Budget puts the focus on mental health

Kind regards

Ready Flowers and Lifeline have joined together for a special online promotion. For the month of July everyone who purchases flowers from the exclusive Lifeline range; Ready Flowers will donate $5 to Lifeline.  There is also an opportunity to make an additional $5 donation at the checkout.

“I would like to thank all the volunteers and staff at lifeline for the assistance over the years. I have been house bound for most of the past two years and have found it hard to access the care I need to keep positive with limited services within the community… I have recently said to people that your service has been one of the most valuable keys to my survival in past few years… I have to say thank-you for being a life saver to me and many others within the community.”

Feelings of loss and grief can occur after losing someone or something that you care about. This may be the death of a loved one or the loss of a relationship, a job, your health, your possessions or your way of life. When we lose someone or something very important to us, it can take time to adjust and to learn to live our life without that person, thing or way of life.

Feeling of loss and grief is a normal part of life.
No two people grieve the same way. The way grief is experienced depends on a range of factors including who or what we have lost, our past
history, our cultural and spiritual beliefs, and our personality. There is no right or wrong way to experience grief.

How does grief affect wellbeing?

Everyone grieves differently and there is no right or wrong way to grieve. People are different in how long their grief lasts and their reactions to the loss.

Some typical reactions may include:  

• Feeling sad or down, frequent crying
• Shock, denial or feeling “numb”
• Feeling stressed, anxious, exhausted or confused
• Anger, guilt, shame, blame or relief
• Feeling lonely, isolated or withdrawn
• Not feeling yourself or acting differently than usual
• Physical health problems – headaches, change in eating habits or sleeping patterns
• Difficulties concentrating, making mistakes at work or school
• Not enjoying your normal activities or hobbies
• Difficulties or tension in personal relationships – loved ones may cope differently with the loss
• Increased alcohol, smoking or drug use
• Feeling hopeless or like you can’t go on, thoughts of suicide or self-harm

 All these reactions to grief are common and you may experience different emotions and reactions at different times.

If you are experiencing overwhelming feelings of grief or loss call Lifeline – 13 11 14.

Visit our Mental Health Resource Centre to access our   What is Loss and Grief fact sheet for more information and referrals about loss and grief.

One of the trials unexpected and positive outcomes was the story of a young deaf person who used the online service.

“I used to ring Lifeline before, years ago, about 4 or 5 years ago. I'm deaf so I can’t ring them and speak over the phone, I used to have a TTY (Telephone typewriter or telecommunication device for the Deaf)  that’s how I rang them before but now I don’t have a TTY anymore, so this is my first time online here.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or access our online chat service from 8pm (AEST) to midnight everyday.

Since its commencement in 1993, Lifeline in Fiji has been supported by a small but highly dedicated group of volunteers.  There is no government funding for Lifeline in Fiji and expenses for running the service are mostly met by the volunteers themselves.  

Volunteers have largely provided most of the face-to-face counselling at the local hospital or via a single mobile phone that has been shared by volunteers. With a small one-off grant from the Canadian Government a small office has now been established in the township of Ba.

In 2011, with endorsements of both Lifeline Australia and Lifeline Fiji, a small group of volunteers from Lifeline in Queensland, the Northern Territory and the National Office in Canberra will tour Fiji to engage in two specific community development activities, including the promotion of the Lifeline movement in Fiji. 

The focus of these activities will be to empower a cohort of young men in Fiji to improve their social inclusiveness and personal resilience, and develop healthy and safe family relationships. The 2011 tour dubbed the Lifeline “Rugby Tour” uses rugby as a drawcard to facilitate engagement.  For anyone who has spent time in Fiji, rugby for the male folk has almost a fanatic flavour.

Under the leadership of Lifeline staff and former Wallaby Joe Roff, two rugby training seminars will be conducted during the tour.  Each seminar will be interspersed with Life skills training for handling mental distress and developing respectful relationships.  

To further support the tour, Lifeline Community Care Queensland have donated 500 rugby balls, branded with Lifeline Fiji logo and contact number and TNT have kindly offered to transport the balls to Fiji.  

If you would like to support the Lifeline “Rugby Tour” to Fiji please make a donation online.

Name: John Brogden

Position: Lifeline National Patron

Why did you get involved with Lifeline
As the Leader of the NSW Opposition, I committed to provide $1 million of recurrent funding back in 2002.  Lifeline is the ambulance at the edge of the cliff for so many Australians – how can you not support it?

Do you think politicians are under too much pressure and public scrutiny?
Yes and yes. But as much as I hate to say it, that’s the deal.

How do you think Australia is doing with regards to mental health?
Better and better and better.  We can focus on the negatives if we wish, but the period we live in right now will be regarded in years to come as the time when mental health received the attention it needed.

What more can the business world do to assist with breaking down mental health stigma?
We’ve come an enormous distance as a community talking about mental illness, but we need to take suicide out of the dark corner and shine a light on it.  If we ignore it, it will simply be ignored.

Business is moving too slowly to understand mental illness in the workplace. It remains the last major area where we need understanding, acceptance and action.

In essence businesses must treat mental illness is exactly the same way they treat physical illness.

Lifeline has announced the creation of the Lifeline Foundation for Suicide Prevention aimed at building knowledge about how to reduce lives lost to suicide in Australia.

• how to best reach out and make the offer of help to people who are feeling suicidal
• how to equip people in the community to identify the signs of suicide earlier, and
• how to best support those who are experiencing the loss of a loved one to suicide.

Lifeline’s Stress Down Day will be held on Friday 22 July and we are encouraging all Australians to participate by having fun, stressing less and feeling better!

Last year over 1,000 workplaces and schools took part and we hope to make 2011 an even bigger event.

Support this great cause by wearing your slippers, pyjamas or a fun costume to work or school. Just make sure you take some time out from your busy lives to acknowledge stress and have fun while supporting a charity like Lifeline.

Every day Lifeline receives 1,250 calls from Australians in need of support. We receive calls from people experiencing anxiety, bullying, loneliness and depression. Sadly up to 50 of these calls are from people at high risk of suicide. By taking part in Stress Down Day you will be helping us to answer more calls and continue to save lives.

This year we’ve been lucky to be supported by Bach Rescue Remedy and together we have created a new slipper for 2011. 
Thanks to Bach Rescue Remedy 100% of the proceeds from the sale of these slippers will be given to Lifeline – truly a slipper with a cause.

Buy our exclusive 2011 Stress Down Day slippers for only $25 per pair.  

Register now for Stress Down Day 2011.

 The Motor Trades Association of Australia Superannuation Fund (MTAA Super) has renewed their sponsorship as the Official Superannuation Fund of the V8  Supercars championship for a further year.

Their continued association with the Championship will allow MTAA Super to continue promoting the ‘readthesigns’ campaign, a joint program between MTAA Super and Lifeline which is targeted at suicide prevention and mental health in younger males.

The program will see V8 Supercar legend Mark Skaife, drivers from Ford Performance Racing and Holden Racing Team, team up to partner and provide messaging around important mental health concerns for young V8 Supercar fans.  

“The readthesigns program is for apprentices and workers in the automotive industry. For MTAA Super this partnership provides a platform to promote mental health and suicide prevention,” said Leeanne Turner, Deputy CEO of MTAA Super.

“This multi-tiered partnership is an exciting extension to our sponsorship with V8 Supercars. We are committed to promoting the health and safety of the Funds younger male members.”

V8 Supercar great Mark Skaife has put his name to the cause by becoming the MTAA Super and Lifeline ambassador.

“My association with the readthesigns campaign is a positive extension to the MTAA Super Fund sponsorship in 2011. To be on board to promote key mental health messages is extremely important to me,” said Mark Skaife.

“Motor sport drivers are part of a team and throughout my career the support of family and friends has been vital in ensuring my ongoing success. The stats regarding mental health in Australia illustrate the need to promote suicide prevention and mental health.”

“Given the popularity of our Championship amongst males aged 18-54 it is vital that we continue to promote key health messages to our fans”

The readthesigns campaign will be on track at V8 Supercar Events throughout the year.  

 Check out Mark Skaife talking about Readthesigns on YouTube.