28 March 2010

Life's Worth Living!

| Megski
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You know when you come across something really inspiring and want to share it with as many people as possible… Well, here it is…

There is a guy out there in the Canberra community who has organised a music show to raise money and awareness for Suicide. He’s pretty amazing – and I think that it is a pretty awesome story.

David Briggs attended a course on Suicide Awareness and Intervention last year, then went home and wrote a song (the song is inspired from having attended the course, and is called “Life’s Worth Living”).

From that, he then decided that he wanted to raise money to raise suicide awareness in the community and has (of his own accord) put together this show on 30 April at Southern Cross Club.

He has also had a CD made of the artists that will be performing and all the money raised from the show and the CD sale will go directly to Lifeline Canberra, so the message can get out there about Suicide and what was can do for members for our people in community who may be having thoughts. Isn’t that sensational?

You can check it out on myspace and facebook – search for “Life’s Worth Living”.

While we’re on the topic of Suicide – this is the article that was on 7 pm Project on 17 March that you might be interested in seeing also. After the initial advertisement, the show starts with the Lifeline segment beginning at 6:39 minutes in.
http://7pmproject.com.au/video.htm?channel=7PM+Catch+Up&clipid=2689_7pm-seg1-180310&bitrate=300&format=flash

Lifeline also held a media launch for the Community Service Announcement in Sydney last week where John Brogden and Patrick McGorry again spoke, along with John Tierney, Lifeline’s National Patron. This campaign challenges old beliefs about not talking about suicide and the speeches highlighted that:
• For too long, we have been silent about suicide and the reality of the problem in Australia.
• For too long, it’s been said that people don’t die from mental illness, when in fact we know that suicide is the tragic outcome when people with mental illness don’t receive the support they need.
• For too long, suicide in Australia has been under resourced and not prioritised, and it’s time this issue gets the attention, focus and investment it deserves.
• It’s a tragic fact that suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians under the age of 44, especially when it can be prevented.

If you’re really keen, check out the Community Service Announcements via the following links:

http://lifelineonline.org.au/files/NOU/Dont_Do_Nothing_Man.mpg

http://lifelineonline.org.au/files/NOU/Dont_Do_Nothing_Woman.mpg

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I’m heading to Life’s worth living this Friday, I have a friend who is playing at the event, I’m really excited! It’s such a good cause 🙂
There are still a few tickets available 02 6283 7288

Music is a very useful tool to get people’s attention. I also noticed the 7PM Project sponsored by Beyond Blue or at least seeing advertisements by them. I think it will help some people even though I don’t agree with everything.
Suicide Prevention in Your Life

Eby said :

Waiting For Godot said :

How bout’ we just have these handy links instead shall we?

http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?
http://www.lifeline.org.au/

Waiting For Godot said :

You can never be cured of depression, especially manic depression (bipolar). It just keeps coming back. You think you’re over an attack and things go OK for a while but it’s always lurking in the background waiting to strike. I get sick of people saying to me “snap out of it” or “buck up”, you just have to wait until it goes. If you don’t suffer from it you’re lucky. I’ve had prostate cancer and been through root canal therapy at the dentist but depression is far worse.

Please be careful about making statements like ‘you can never be cured of depression’. Depression can have a number of very different causes, and be experienced by people in very different ways. Treatment (whether it be through counselling, medication, alternative therapies, or clinical therapies) works differently for every individual, and it’s important for people to find a treatment that works for them. When done effectively, many people are able to manage, and sometimes overcome, their depression or illness.

I just don’t think it’s right to send a message that depression cannot be cured, full stop. It’s important that people reading RiotACT who may be experiencing depression understand that there are treatment options, should they wish to pursue them.

Waiting For Godot5:21 pm 29 Mar 10

You can never be cured of depression, especially manic depression (bipolar). It just keeps coming back. You think you’re over an attack and things go OK for a while but it’s always lurking in the background waiting to strike. I get sick of people saying to me “snap out of it” or “buck up”, you just have to wait until it goes. If you don’t suffer from it you’re lucky. I’ve had prostate cancer and been through root canal therapy at the dentist but depression is far worse.

Hey Megski, thanks for posting. Urbanadventures, thanks for sharing. I wish there was something I could do to reach out to you but realise Riotact and similar online discussion boards are anonymous for a reason.

It truly is a national tragedy that suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians under the age of 44. Social cohesion is one very important element, a feeling of belonging, of being a valued and important member of society which is so hard in today’s cut & thrust modern world. I know that, for myself, getting involved in something I care about is a good way to stave off feelings of isolation and depression. I sometimes go to http://www.makeyourday.info/ a little website by a girl in Canberra, who inspires me everytime with her creative efforts. It reminds me that there are many good people in the world.

:o)

Congratulations to David Briggs for being pro-active and finding a way to reach out and raise awareness in the community on this issue.

UrbanAdventure.org9:57 am 29 Mar 10

Depression and anxiety are difficult and debilitating conditions. Having gone through both cancer and depression, I think depression was more debilitating and definitely harder to cure. If you have not experienced severe depression before then it is not easy for people to understand it. A lot of people think it is something that you should just be able to “snap out of it” or lift yourself up by your boot straps. Belive me, if it were that easy, as a society we just would not have such major issues with depression.

I think for me I probably started to suffer from depression as a young child. Having violent parents who were constantly putting me down was probably the start of it. Having a mother who tried to kill me when I was probably only 8 did not help it. Finally medical conditions which made me obviously “different” set me up for a life of bullying in school. Combine that with moving around a lot made me realise at age 7 that there wasn’t much point in forming friendships or social connections so I never gained those skills.

Despite that and other issues I worked on getting over a lot of that stuff. It wasn’t easy, and I still have a long way to go, but I have managed to stop worrying about some things. But other things have come along to replace those anxieties. Mostly job and money worries.

I guess though that I am lucky in that I never took up smoking, drinking or drugs. I am also lucky in that I know when and where to ask for help. When I know I am getting very down I do ask for help from counsellors, doctors and friends. Some people don’t. Some people don’t have family and friends to ask for help. Some don’t know to ask their doctors. Some don’t trust their doctors.

I do volunteer work where I assist people with mental health issues and am a member of a self help group for people with mental health issues. So I know a lot of people with mental health issues of varying degrees. There is a huge amount of stigma associated with it. It is strange that nobody seems to have an issue talking about a cold, but so many are afraid to talk about depression. People hide it. They suffer in silence. They don’t seek medical attention for it. Some, in the end seek to end it by ending their lives.

Just a few days ago during a “self health” presentation at the place I do volunteer work we had a presentation from a lady from Life Line. She explained that suicide is the leading cause of death for males under the age of 44. (http://www.lifeline.org.au/learn_more/media_centre/media_releases/2009/suicide_leading_cause_of_death_in_australia) It kills more people than smoking, heart attacks and traffic accidents combined. Yet, while millions of dollars is spent on anti-smoking, weight loss and road safety campaigns, much less is spent on suicide prevention. It seems almost as though those suicides are accepted, forgotten. That no one but the friends and relatives of those that kill themselves care about the loss.

I admit that I think about suicide a lot. I have no relatives and few friends in Canberra. I miss my home town a lot. I worry about not having a job, not having an income and never being able to afford my own home. What keeps me going is the knowledge that while I will have bad days, I will also have good days to come. That I have a few good, caring and reliable friends, and that while I am about to become unemployed, that if I keep looking for work I will get a job. Finally, that if I do get down, that I know when and where to ask for help.

I wish though that as a society that we were more caring, of ourselves, of our friends, and of each other in general. That we did not put down others for kicks, and that mental health was spoken about more openly, without the stigma it still has.

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