Youth Street Chat for mental health

Local youths’ mental health will be the focus of a community street chat held at Strathalbyn’s Church of Christ forecourt next month.

Hosted by the Strathalbyn and Communities Suicide Prevention Network, the all-inclusive barbecue coincides with Mind Your Mental Health Day on Thursday, April 7.

The ongoing COVID pandemic, drought, fire and flood catastrophes, and other devastating world events have impacted many people’s mental health and wellbeing.

That’s why the Strathalbyn Network’s Cliff Sweetman says it’s important everyone in the community “plays their role” by asking others, ‘are you okay?’. 

“The worrying part of our present, local and worldwide scenarios is a lot of what is going on around us is not within our control,” he said. 

“We are onlookers to the traumatic challenges and changes taking place. 

“We’re lucky that some of it is on the other side of the world.

“Although in saying that, it is still impacting upon us all in some way shape or form.” 

Mr Sweetman expressed concern for the cumulative impact of COVID-19, lockdowns, fires, floods, de-stabilised world peace, and the repercussions that have followed testing residents’ “universal capacities to cope with the grief and loss” associated with these major events. 

“These events are colliding and overlapping, and each one is not being fully resolved before the next one hits,” he said.

“This, on top of our day-to-day lives, is, I think, really having an impact on our mental health.”

Having difficult conversations is never easy, Mr Sweetman said, but can save a life. 

Residents are asked to look at reducing personal vulnerabilities, strengthening personal existing protective factors, and developing new and/or different protective factors in order to create positive, productive and painless conversations around mental health. 

More information on how to start the conversation will be provided at the network event, running from 10am to 2.30pm on Thursday, April 7 at the Church of Christ forecourt on Dawson Street. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing mental illness, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.