Every October

Mental Health Month is celebrated across NSW, the ACT and Victoria. It is a chance to promote activities and ideas that can have a positive impact on our daily lives and the lives of others. These events and messages are tied together with a specific theme, and this year’s theme is “Tune In”. Let’s take a look at how we can all “Tune In” this October.

Tune In To Yourself

What can you sense right now? What can you feel? How is your environment effecting you?Tuning in to yourself can help to identify things that help or harm your own mental health. For example, doing exercise may help improve the way you feel while working in a job that you hate is going to have a negative impact. Try to make time to check in with yourself.

Tune In To Others

Does someone you know seem a bit down? Can you imagine what other people might be feeling and why? Asking others how they are feeling is a simple way to start tuning into others. A simple conversation can provide the opportunity for someone to express that things are getting a bit tough. Simply listening can provide an outlet and that can often have a very positive impact.

Tune In To Community

Can you challenge negative ideas around mental health? We can all do our bit by considering the groups and networks that we are apart of and the activities that take place within them. Are there ways to be more inclusive of community members who might be feeling isolated?

Tune In To Stigma

Are you willing to speak up if others are engaging in stigma-promoting behaviour? You can help to increase the understanding around mental health and wellbeing issues by encouraging the type of conversations that can prevent them from being taboo topics. Tune in to stigma by considering the misconceptions, prejudice or barriers that are faced regarding these issues. Be brave and find a voice to defend those who need it the most.

Positivity

Building positive social connections is something that we can all try to do, simply listening to someone in need of an outlet can make all the difference. An effort to reach out to someone who might be feeling a bit lost or finding a way to connect with others when you need some help may be all it takes to readjust and find a more positive direction.

For more information on Mental Health Month download the factsheet from

https://wayahead.org.au/download/tune-in-factsheet/

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