Mental health and wellbeing starts with communities looking out for each other. Year after year we have seen Queensland Mental Health Week (QMHW) events bring communities together, raise awareness, bolster a sense of belonging and help generate connections and conversations.

A QMHW event or project is a great way to encourage awareness of mental health, and social and emotional wellbeing in your community. It can also decrease stigma, and empower people to seek help, for themselves or others. It can even give people from your community the awareness and the courage to consider their mental health and wellbeing something that they can work on.

For easy-to-organise event ideas, how about:

• a morning tea or lunch get together
• a family fun day with bikes, pets, or a picnic
• an information booth at the local shopping centre, library, or community markets
• an art or photography competition, or even a cook-off
• community gardening day
• group meditation, yoga or exercise class.

As well as bringing people together to connect and share wellbeing information, you could also help shine a spotlight on mental health by helping turn Queensland purple and green! Decorate or light up your school, workplace, home or clubrooms in the official colours of the week. To help there is bunting available for download on our website that you can print out and hang up.

For more ideas and planning tips make sure you read our 2022 Event Starter Kit. When you've worked out what you want to do make it official by registering your event.

We hope you enjoy reading the rest of this month's newsletter! Below are details on QMHW events set to occur with important entry deadline information for the Recovered Futures Art Exhibition and Out From The Mist.

Artists interested in applying to exhibit at the 2022 Recovered Futures Art Exhibition delivered by Richmond Fellowship Queensland (RFQ) should submit their application now as entries close on 26 June 2022! An iconic QMHW event, the exhibition showcases the talents of artists with a lived experience of mental illness while raising awareness of mental health, recovery and wellbeing.

This year’s anticipated instalment is set to take place in Brisbane City Hall and King George Square from 8-13 October. Learn more.

While Deb’s formative years were peppered with love and comfort, there have also been deeply unsettling times when her life has been filled with danger and uncertainty. The journey of healing was long and tumultuous for Deb and her family, but painting has been a constant passenger and a great comfort.

Deb is delighted to have sold both her pieces at the 2021 Recovered Futures Art Exhibition. The exhibition, she says, is a vital fixture on the art scene and means so much to so many.

“I’m not a self-promoter, I wouldn’t be over here saying, ‘look at my art!’ Through the exhibition, we are given space to shine. I absolutely love the Recovered Futures Art Exhibition – you can always rely on it being there. It’s a constant for us artists.” Read more.

Out From The Mist is a photography, short movie, and music competition organised by the Mental Illness Fellowship Australia. The competition is about mental illness but is also about so much more. It’s about individuals facing challenges to their mental wellbeing and witnessing the various experiences and responses.

This year, the competition will be calling for musical entries, vocal and instrumental, for the first time.

Entries open on 1 July and close on 19 August. The awards night will be held on the Gold Coast on World Mental Health Day, 10 October. Learn more.

The Mental Health Select Committee tabled Report No. 1, 57th Parliament – Inquiry into the opportunities to improve mental health outcomes for Queenslanders this month.

The report is an important step in mental health reform in Queensland and will support ongoing efforts to improve the mental health and alcohol and other drugs systems in Queensland, as well as support better outcomes for people with lived experience, their families and carers. The report has identified many of the clear gaps in service provision, including the need for additional funding to alleviate demand pressures now and into the future. Read more.

Post-traumattic stress disorder (PTSD)  is the most common mental health disorder after depression. Trauma can have a devastating effect on people’s lives. Any one of us can be affected and the psychological impacts can be deep and complex.

Not everyone who experiences trauma will develop PTSD, but about 5-10% of Australians will suffer from PTSD at some point in their lives. That means that at any one time over 1 million Australians have PTSD.

PTSD Awareness Day is on 27 June and is about creating awareness of the disorder, looking at ways we can support those who are affected and to learn more about the signs. We know that when people recognise the signs of PTSD, they are better equipped to take that first step towards better mental health. Learn more. 

Do you live with chronic pain or know someone who does? Chronic pain affects over 3.6 million Australians. Please help Chronic Pain Australia ensure that all Australians living with chronic pain receive Triple-A standards of care: Awareness, Accessibility and Affordability  by completing their National Pain Survey here.

The 16th National Rural Health Conference will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 2–4 August 2022. The full program is now available online. Keynote speakers now include well-known journalist and author Stan Grant. Learn more.

Funded by the Queensland Mental Health Commission, Queensland Mental Health Week is coordinated by CheckUP and delivered by a strong cross-sector collaboration.

Each edition of this eNews will feature information on our different cross-sector partners.

24/7 Crisis Helplines

If you need immediate support, Lifeline (13 11 14) and the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467) are available 24/7. In an emergency, call 000.

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands from across Queensland. We pay our respect to the Elders, past, present and emerging, for they hold the memories, traditions, the culture and hopes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the state.

Contact CheckUP

Phone: 07 3105 8300
Email: info@qldmentalhealthweek.org.au
PO Box 3205, South Brisbane Queensland 4101