Young and depressed - there's hope!
You're not alone. There's help out there
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Submitted by: joker | 1 comments 
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The growing problem of mental illness
I think there are so many people out there who feel unloved and no one cares about them, and are afraid to speak out or seek help. I have read that 1 in 5 Australians suffer from depression at some point in their life. In a recent newspaper article, people believe this rate will rise as the social demand for productivity and efficiency puts strain on "work happiness" and relationships.
Why are people afraid to seek help?
As someone who has struggled with mental illness for part of my life, I am aware of the unfortunate stigma existing today. To be honest, I think it is completely unacceptable and unnecessary. Often people feel embarrassed or ashamed to talk about it.
Over the past decade, I think there has already been a major shift towards the de-stigmatisation of mental illness which has been great and the continued openness about it can only be good.
What can be done?
I feel that the a way to break this negative perception towards mental illness is by talking about, education is the key.
If we want to end the stigma which faces those with "mental illness" then it is important to help others discuss it openly, be open minded, learned, and encouraging as we, people who deal with it on a regular basis, should be.
If you're currently feeling down and out?
Never feel like you’re alone. (easier said than done...but seriously you're not). There’s so much help out there:
- Kids Help Line.
- ReachOut!
- Ybblue
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Asking for help is the first step towards changing your life for the better.
How do I know this?
www.beyondblue.org.au/ybblue
www.reachout.com.au
www.beyondblue.org.au
This work is licenced under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.
© joker 2006. First published on actnow.com.au
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