October is Mental Health Month in Australia – a time to shine a light on mental health and wellbeing in a bid to reduce stigma, spark converstions and help people get the assistance and support they need.
According to Mental Health Australia, 1 in 5 Australians are affected by mental illness annually, yet many don’t seek help because of stigma.
We know that many of the young people seeking treatment for drug and alcohol addiction have experienced mental health conditions (both diagnosed and undiagnosed). It is often the stigma surrounding these conditions that stop young people and their families from reaching out for the help they desperately need.
World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year, with the objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilising commuity, political and policy action to raise awarenes and drive action to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.
In Australia, the theme of World Mental Health Day 2020 is “Look after your mental health, Australia.”
Get involved!
There’s lots of ways to get involved in World Mental Health Day and Mental Health Month, with many national and state-based organisations hosting a range of events and initiatives. This includes:
Reset Challenge: Sir David Martin Foundation has extended the Reset Challenge to run throughout Mental Health Month – encouraging the community to reset their lives and establish a new healthy habit, in support of young people in crisis. Learn more about Reset Challenge and our work to help young people in crisis
The Big Event for Mental Health is a global online advocacy event hosted by the World Health Organisation on 10 October. You can tune in from one of WHO’s social media channels Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok
Mental Health Australia: Each year Mental Health Australia hosts World Mental Health Day on 10 October and their 2020 theme is Look after your mental health, Australia. They have a range of resources (including factssheets, posters and social media tiles) to download and are also inviting individuals and workplaces to make a mental health promise
Mental Health Foundation Australia (MHFA): hosts National Mental Health Month to advocate for and raise awareness of Australian mental health. Their theme in 2020 is Mental Health Matters.
WayAhead NSW: hosts Mental Health Month NSW. Their theme in 2020 is Tune in
Western Australian Association for Mental Health (WAAMH): WA Mental Health Week kicks off on 10 October. This year’s WA Mental Health Week theme is Strengthening Our Community – Live, Learn, Work, Play.
Stay up to date
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It’s been amazing to see so many people involved in the inaugural Reset Challenge – setting new goals and restting their lives to form new habits and support young people in crisis.
The good news is there’s still time to get involved.
As part of Mental Health Month this October we have decided to extend our Reset Challenge and keep the momentum going.
Visit www.resetchallenge.org.au to follow the progress of our participants, show support via a donation, or better still, sign up and start your own challenge!
Together we can make a difference for young people in crisis!
Our Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AO QC, Governor of New South Wales formally launched the Evolve 2020 research report this evening at a special virtual event commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Sir David Martin Foundation.
You can view Her Excellency’s full video message above
A new report released today by Sir David Martin Foundation reveals there is high demand and widespread unmet need for treatment services and support for young Australians with drug and alcohol addiction.
‘Evolve 2020: Are we doing enough for young people with drug and alcohol addiction?’ makes seven key recommendations calling for a nationwide expansion of youth-specific services to prevent vulnerable young people being caught in a debilitating and lifelong cycle of addiction.The report shows that almost 40% (76,000) of all those requesting help for drug and alcohol addiction in Australia each year are under the age of 30. However, a lack of youth specific treatment options leaves many of these young people in adult programs not tailored to their needs.
“Young people have the strongest recovery rate of any age group if given the opportunity,” explained Helen Connealy, General Manager of Sir David Martin Foundation.
“But their needs are different and varied than other stages of life. Many have suffered trauma, mental illness or suffered domestic violence. Family are so important in their recovery but not always available. Often these young people haven’t had the space to grow up and mature in the traditional sense.”
Sir David Martin Foundation has been helping young people in crisis for 30 years, and is the primary funder of Mission Australia’s Triple Care Farm in the NSW Southern Highlands, a best practice, holistic treatment centre for young people affected by drug and alcohol issues. In that time, over 3,000 young people’s lives have been saved, with 200 students each year now supported through the program’s Rehabilitation, Withdrawal and Aftercare components.
“This report (which is the first of its kind in Australia) shows that although there is good work happening, collaboratively the sector needs to do more if we are to reach more young people.”
A lack of adequate rural and regional treatment options was a key finding of the research.
“The report found that young people living in rural and regional areas in all Australian states and territories are more likely to experience disadvantage, engage in harmful substance use and have poorer access to essential programs. Yet almost 60% of treatment agencies are located in major cities and only 6% in remote or very remote areas.
Find out more…
Read the Media Release here
View the full Evolve 2020 Report here
For more information contact Communications Manager, Natalie Peck on 0400 627 260 or via [email protected]
Today marks 30 years since the death of our beloved founder, Rear Admiral Sir David Martin KCMG, AO, RAN, 34th Governor of NSW who died on 10 August 1990.
Sir David was indeed the “People’s Governor” and touched so many with his humility, service and kindness.
As we honour Sir David’s outstanding life and legacy, we also celebrate 30 years of helping young people in crisis through the Sir David Martin Foundation.
You can read more about Sir David and the Martin Family here and also learn more about Sir David’s distinguished Royal Australian Naval carer here
If you would like to help us continue Sir David’s vision to bring “safety, hope and opportunity” to young people, please consider making a donation to Sir David Martin Foundation
Together we can make a difference!
This week (2 – 8 August 2020) is National Homelessness Week.
The theme of this year’s campaign is Everybody Needs a Home – which takes on added significance as the COVID-19 led economic crisis is expected to leave even more vulnerable young Australians without a safe place to call home.
Without the safety of stable accommodation, these young people are at risk of violent crime. But they are also at risk of suicide. Life can feel overwhelming and as they are still evolving into adulthood they may not have the necessary resilience and life skills to cope. Addiction to alcohol and drugs are often a result of searching for a method to cope with their situation, to self-medicate.
We know that many young people who attend Triple Care Farm’s best practice youth drug and alcohol programs have already experienced homelessness in their lives. Learn more about how Sir David Martin Foundation offers support to help young people to create brighter and safer futures here.
Together with your support we can help young Australians break the cycle of addiction and create a safe place to call home.
Read more about National Homelessness Week 2020 and access the latest findings from Mission Australia’s Youth Survey Report Staying home: A Youth Survey report on young people’s experience of homelessness.
This September Sir David Martin Foundation will launch the inaugural Youth Recovery Month to create community awareness and greater understanding of the complexities faced by young people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
We know that prevention and getting the right help early gives young people a much better chance of going on to lead a full and healthy life. Leaving judgement aside, the respectful promotion of this health and social problem will inform and educate the public and spread the word that investing in our youth is vital for our future.
During Youth Recovery Month we will:
Challenge views
Our new online fundraising campaign, Reset Challenge, seeks to challenge and broaden perceptions about youth recovery by highlighting the importance of forming new and sustainable behaviours. We know it takes 30 days to form a healthy habit. What part of YOUR life can you reset this September?
Inform and educate
Collaborate
The Foundation will bring together key players in the field of youth drug and alcohol treatment in a series of roundtables to discuss what more can be done to address the needs in our community.
** This event has now concluded. See here for upcoming events**
Join us for a Virtual Winter Country Lunch on Thursday 30th July, hosted by Anna Beaumont from Sir David Martin Foundation.
This is your unique opportunity to ‘visit’ Triple Care Farm and meet some of the amazing individuals who provide life changing care and support for our young people in crisis.
You will be joined online by Triple Care Farm program manager, Gabriella Holmes and Nurse Educator Clinical Leader, Beth Horne from the David Martin Place Withdrawal Program. Together they will share latest updates and insights from the Farm and engage in a lively Q&A with attendees.
About Triple Care Farm
Triple Care Farm is a unique, holistic drug and alcohol treatment centre, which gives vulnerable young Australians, aged 16-24, a safe place to get well and prepare for new opportunities. The program includes withdrawal, rehabilitation and aftercare services.
Winter Country Lunch
DATE: Thursday, 30th July 2020
TIME: 12pm –1pm
ATTEND: simply fill in the Registration Form below. Once registered you will be emailed a link to join the event via Microsoft Teams on the day.We look forward to ‘lunching’ with you all!
Please register below:
‘Quit your job now. Sam will need full time care for the rest of her short-lived life.’
The doctor spoke again:
‘She will never gain employment, or live independently.’
Sam, 19, was in acute psychosis.
Covered in blood and unable to tell staff if it was hers or someone else’s, she was scared. Incoherent and confused, her body (liver failure) and mind were breaking down.
Involuntarily admitted into a frightening mental health ward, Sam was at a crossroads.
She reflects:
‘My weight dropped to 55 kilos. I knew I wasn’t well.’
In three short years, Sam’s life had unravelled following a spinal injury when she was just 16. An opioid addiction (from prescribed pain killers) had escalated into frequent binge drinking, cannabis consumption and ‘whatever drugs were around’. A diagnosis of schizophrenia followed.
‘I had no life. I didn’t want to be the person I was.’
“The hardest thing I ever had to do.”
Triple Care Farm is for brave young people who ask for help.
‘When I say the three months at Triple Care Farm were the hardest times of my life, I’m not even close to exaggerating.’
The impact of the farm program has never left Sam.
‘I cried, I begged to go home. A life of drugs was far easier than anything on the farm.’
Arriving at the farm with plastic bags on her feet to ‘avoid the germs getting into my brain’, a beanie, sunglasses and an oversized jumper, she hid from the world. Hearing voices and paranoid, it was the counselling sessions that were the hardest.
‘Letting people in – that was impossible. I feared being judged. I was desperate not to be the person I was.’
But one winter’s morning, sprinting across the frosted grass, Sam burst into the farm offices with unbridled excitement. She desperately wanted to ring her mum.
‘I had woken up, and for the first time that year, I wasn’t hearing voices. I wasn’t paranoid. My head was clear!’
This is the power of your support.
Sam’s bright future.
We are so proud of Sam.
This April, she is 12 years free of drugs.
Since leaving the farm, she has completed a certificate in Youth Work and Mental Health, a diploma in Mental Health Drug and Alcohol and a degree in Paramedicine. Next year Sam hopes to begin post graduate studies in Chronic Disease Management.
Today she works full time, helping mentally unwell people control their weight, physical health and fitness.
Remember, this is the same girl whose family were told she would need full time care for the rest of her short-lived life.
‘I graduated university in 2019. Mum watched on, tears streaming down her face – tears of pure joy, tears of pride’.
This is the power of your generosity.
To support the work of Sir David Martin Foundation, please donate online today.
Read Will’s article in The Sydney Morning Herald.
As we celebrate 30 years since the Foundation began its important work, we thank Lady Martin and the family for their service and contribution to vulnerable young Australians.
“Having grown up in a Naval family, ANZAC Day carries a very personal meaning for Will. His father, the late Sir David Martin, was Governor of New South Wales in 1989 and passed away shortly before establishing Sir David Martin Foundation in 1990. He had developed mesothelioma, a disease caused by breathing in asbestos on a Naval ship, HMAS Sydney, in 1951-2, during the war in Korea. Looking back at the previous generation, Sir David Martin was only eight years old when his father, William Harold Martin, was killed in a battle at sea in 1942.”
Will Martin is a Board Member of the Foundation, and continues his father’s legacy of “safety, hope and opportunity for all young Australians.”