As part of The Deniliquin Mental Health Awareness Group (Deni MHAG) campaign “ We care about your Mental Health “ campaign , this week, we focus on some online and digital resources .
These resources provide information about mental health conditions, mental wellbeing and information about services; not only in Deni but across the Murrumbidgee region and nationally.
Information on these sites include mental health conditions; services and includes specialised services, such as substance use disorder.
With some of the websites provided, you can type in a postcode and see what services are available closest to you. However, if you do not want to use local services, or if they are not present in our community, the information enables you to find a service at a nearby location.
“This is a really good place to find more information, read up more about mental health and avail yourself of services that exist and how to access them”. Lourene Liebenberg, member of Deni MHAG said. “ I was absolutely blown away by how much information is available and how well this information is presented so we can find what we are looking for. “
“We really want to encourage people to take the time to look at this information, even if they do not need this information right now. We find people tend to not look for services, until they have a problem or need them. However, when the problem is then presenting itself, there are challenges for people to then start finding that information.”
“Availing yourself of what is available and where to find it and gaining an understanding of mental health conditions, can in fact even help us to recognise early signs and take action”.
According to the Black Dog Institute : “ Mental illness is very common. One in five (20%) Australians aged 16-85 experience a mental illness in any year. The most common mental illnesses are depressive, anxiety and substance use disorder. These three types of mental illnesses often occur in combination. (https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1-facts_figures.pdf)
It is quite likely that we all know someone, or have a friend or a family member or a work mate that has or is likely to have a mental illness, and having this information means we are aware of where to help looking for services or provide information. Knowing the signs and symptoms can also contribute to early help seeking behaviour.
We continue to work towards reducing stigma in our community and having knowledge and an understanding of what mental illness and mental health is, can reduce stigma greatly.
Our Deni MHAG website is a great resource, but both these resources published today, also has fantastic information for anyone needing help or wanting to learn more about mental health and the services available.
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