Cobar High School students have gotten a timely reminder to take care of their personal well-being and give a voice to the ‘blue elephant’ in the room with representatives from youth based mental health organisation Batyr making the trip from Sydney to hold sessions last week.
Batyr was specifically created to help youths deal with mental health issues and to create awareness and empowerment for the younger generation to reach out and get support if they feel they are struggling with general life matters.
“Suicide is a leading method of death for young people, so our sessions focus on having discussions around aspects of mental health and breaking the stigma of younger people being too shy to discuss their issues or problems,” Batyr’s Regional Community Coordinator Sarah Morris said.
“If one student walks away from our session and chooses to talk to someone or gets help if they need it, then that’s a real positive and the very reason why we continue to shine a light on youth mental health awareness.”
Batyr claims of every 30 students in Australia, seven are currently dealing with a men
tal health issue, only two of those will seek help, leaving the remaining five to suffer in silence because of the stigma attached to being embarrassed to get help.
In sessions such as “Look Out For Your Mates” and “Stressed Out Program” coordinators encouraged participants to talk about their lives, while students also shared how they are coping with current school and life matters.
Facilitators also shared tips, knowledge and skills for students to lead mentally and physically healthy lives as they negotiate their teenage years.
2021
Locals help to Splash the Stigma around mental health
A group of 10 locals has raised $5,000 and swam almost 30km over the weekend to help Batyr ‘Splash the Stigma’ surrounding mental health. Batyr has been working with Cobar youth since 2014 to provide a supportive environment where talking about mental health is encouraged and supported. The organisation […]
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