0This guest post today is by our friend Hugh Stephens, who is campaigning to raise awareness for youth mental health issues. Hugh will be a panel member at our next Wellbeing Series and is running the Hard Knock Life youth conference in September with another Lantern friend Briony Walker. In December this year Hugh and his friend Tom are planning to cross from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole, so …Over to Hugh
I’m preaching to the converted here, but it’s about time that we do something on a larger scale to advocate about youth mental health issues. Identified multiple times as a priority area for youth health, mental health just hasn’t gotten onto the national agenda and into the minds of young Australians. With 1 in 4 young people experiencing mental illness, it’s time to get more people in the spotlight to fight the stigma that leads to so many not reaching out for help early.
There have been some great successes, and I’ve been proud to be a part of Ehon Chan’s “Soften the Fck Up”, a campaign targeting the ‘harden up’ attitude about men in Australia.
One Step Further is my project. Tom Blunt and myself are crossing from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole at the end of this year. 1300km over 30 days in sub-zero temperatures. Just on cross-country skis with sleds – no supply drops or assistance outside an emergency. Why? To raise awareness for youth mental health, through creating something that the media can report on that is directly linked to social change.
What is our message? Simple. Don’t be afraid to speak up. Find a trusted person, and talk to them if you’re worried.
I’ve learned first-hand how important it is to have someone tell you to go and get help. Not everyone has the courage and self-awareness to know when things have gone beyond being a bit down (or up, or sideways, or backwards) for a while. But to get there, you need to open up and be open to listen to someone else’s advice.
The expedition will provide access to a specialist online mental health screening tool that assesses a wide range of mental illnesses and interacts directly with GPs who can take further action if necessary. We’re also planning a conference in September before the expedition to talk about youth issues and how to participate and create meaningful change in communities: local, national and international.
We’ll also launch after the expedition a special funding program for small community youth mental health projects or programs. Details will be announced soon on our website.
We’d love to hear from you, or you can follow the expedition on our website http://onestepfurther2011.com.au or our Twitter (@osf2011) and Facebook pages (http://facebook.com/onestepfurther). Soon we’re launching our sponsor a kilometre scheme to let anyone sponsor a km of the trek – so follow our website or sign up for our email list to find out more!
Hugh Stephens, August 2011.
