Mental Health Awareness Week 2019
Mental Health Awareness Week 2019
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week (6th – 12th October), with World Mental Health Day falling on the 10th of October each year. Mental Health Week in WA has been running for more than 50 years, and is coordinated by the Western Australian Association for Mental Health (WAAMH) with the support of the Government of Western Australia, the Mental Health Commission and Lotterywest.
The World Mental Health Day website describes that “1 in 5 Australians are affected by mental illness, yet many don’t seek help because of stigma”. The focus of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week will be on “how we live, learn, work and play - realising it's a combination of factors which impact our mental wellbeing”.
Here at CCI we believe that everyone should have access to the help they need for mental health problems. Our team have developed a number of evidence-based resources over the years to support people experiencing mental health problems to reduce their symptoms and improve their overall quality of life. These handouts, worksheets, and guided self-help modules are all freely available on our website. This is one way of assisting people to easily access information and resources, and begin the process of seeking help.
It has been clearly demonstrated that behavioural activation (increasing your level of activity) is a key part of effective treatment for depression. It’s the crucial combination of work and play (balancing a sense of pleasure and achievement!) that helps to reverse the vicious cycle of depression. Becoming more active helps our mood and energy levels improve, and helps us think more clearly. You can find a helpful handout on behavioural activation on our website and we have also come up with a list of 365 fun activities (‘Fun Activities Catalogue’)… just in case you or your clients are stuck for ideas of activities to try!
To find out more about WA Mental Health Awareness Week, you can visit: https://mhw.waamh.org.au/. And to find out more about World Mental Health Day, you can visit: https://1010.org.au/.
Last Updated:
13/07/2021