Treat yo’self to help prevent youth suicide in the ACT

Youth in ACTion for Suicide Prevention will launch Treat yo’self, a local initiative to help prevent youth suicide by increasing self-care behaviour, on September 9, in time for World Suicide Prevention Day. Coinciding with the launch, Youth in ACTion for Suicide Prevention will light up Telstra Tower yellow from September 8-14, to help bring attention to the important issue of youth suicide prevention.

ABS data estimates that 5.1% of females and around 1.5% of males aged 16-24 are suicidal in any given year. With evidence suggesting that around half of people who have been suicidal in the past 12 months did not access mental health services, it is clear that there is a need for community initiatives to reduce suicide risk in vulnerable groups, including youth.

Effective coping skills, personal resilience and positive life events all help protect young people against suicide. These are the protective factors that Treat yo’self will promote as it encourages all Canberrans to take time out to have fun and relax; two key components of self-care.

Youth in ACTion for Suicide Prevention Chairperson, Maddeline Mooney, who will launch Treat yo’self with Andrew Leigh MP and Mick Gentleman MLA at University House, Australian National University at 6pm on September 9 said that Treat yo’self is an important first step towards Youth in ACTion for Suicide Prevention’s goal of creating a culture of self-care and help-seeking in the ACT.

“In launching Treat yo’self we’re asking the whole community to lead by example and help us create a visual library of self-care role models for young people, in hopes that young people will adopt self-care as a life-long practice to improve their wellbeing.

“For many people suicidal thoughts start when they lose sight of other ways to resolve their unbearable circumstances. Youth in ACTion for Suicide Prevention hopes that by creating a culture of self-care and help-seeking in the ACT, that young people will be better equipped to overcome such circumstances and our community will no longer lose young people to suicide” Ms Mooney concluded.