What happened on the Mental Health Couch during Mental Health Week
Hi Everyone,
Well Mental Health Week has been here and gone. Last week, David, Caitlin and I spent some of our time volunteering at the Mental Health Couch at Hollywood Plaza, Salisbury South Australia.
We all agree that we really enjoyed our time at the couch and met lots of wonderful people wanting to discuss Mental Health.
Most of the people who came to the couch either were living with a mental health problem or wanted information for a friend or family member.
I am going to mention some specific people here but have changed details about them for privacy.
One lady came to the bench and told me that she was struggling with grief, her youngest child had died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome many years previously, she had then lost another child to suicide and her remaining child was living with a severe mental illness. We discussed how she was managing and I found that she had never received any support after the suicide of her second child. I was able to give her information about MoSH (Minimisation of Suicide Harm).
A young teenager came to our couch looking for information about depression because two of her school friends had depression. I was able to talk to her about suicide as well as give her the Beyond Blue resource What Works for Depression, Young People.
A gentleman came to the couch wanting to get assistance to help his wife. Talking to him it seemed that his wife possibly had an anxiety disorder. We discussed anxiety and where to get help. He didn't know about Mental Health Care Plans, available from the GP.
In all we talked to 65 people and gave out information to many more.
Thankyou to all the people who came to our Mental Health Couch and wanted to help others with their Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Thankyou to the wonderful staff at Hollywood Plaza who supported us during the week.
