Too Many Lives Lost to Depression

PUBLISHED IN THE ‘ROWVILLE-LYSTERFIELD COMMUNITY NEWS’.   

“If we can prevent just one suicide, it will be worth all of our effort.”  This was the powerful message of Pauline Renzow at the Youth Mental Health Public Forum earlier this month. A participant at the Forum, this courageous Rowville resident spoke about losing two of her sons to suicide 6 years ago.

We will never get her sons back, but our efforts to reduce the stigma of mental illness and get more services in Knox to support young people will hopefully make a difference to other young people’s lives.

More than 150 people attended the Public Forum that I convened at Fairhills High in Knoxfield.

My aim was to raise the profile of youth mental health, as well as gather people’s views as to what more we should be doing. It was at times a very emotional discussion as people, like Pauline, spoke about their own experiences or those of their loved ones.

Unfortunately, depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses affect almost every family in our community. Our expert panel on the Forum, which included physicians and service providers, spoke of the fact that 75 per cent of all mental illnesses start before the age of 25. It is why we need to particularly target young people for support.

Local residents at the Forum highlighted the need to address the stigma which is unfortunately still associated with mental illness. Until sufferers can confidently be “loud and proud” as Cr Peter Cole suggested (who has bi-polar), then young people particularly may hesitate to get the help they need.

Forum participants also suggested that existing services are not well known and are sometimes not coordinated. There was also a consensus that we do not have enough services generally, particularly those tailored towards young people.
I now have some homework!

From the Forum, I have established a Youth Mental Health Committee, and together we are working to address some these issues, including campaigning to secure a Headspace Centre for Knox.

Our efforts are well underway, inspired by the words of Pauline, and in the hope that it will make a difference for those young people in our community who are sometimes suffering in silence.

If you are interested in being kept informed of developments of this important campaign, please drop me an email or contact my office on 9887 3890.