Today is World Suicide Prevention Day and in Australia it is R U OK Day, so I’m asking the question:

Are you okay?

I’ve shared my struggles with anxiety and those of my friends with depression and attempted suicide. People often look like they’re totally fine on the outside, but are fighting the biggest fight of their lives internally.

If you ever need someone to talk to, please reach out … even if you’ve never said hi to me before. You can find me on Twitter and send me a personal message if you’d rather say hi privately.

Me? I’m doing okay right now. I’m medicated for my anxiety. I’m seeing a professional to help me talk things through, and we’re also working on increasing my mindfulness. It all seems to be helping. I still have days that aren’t fabulous, and I do get insanely anxious about things that may not bother other people at all, but for now, I’m okay.

From Black Dog Institute‘s Facebook page:

Suicide is preventable, yet, sadly, 2,500 Australians die by suicide every year and more than 60,000 make an attempt.

An historic meeting of local and international experts, clinicians, community health services, workplaces and people personally affected by suicide resulted in a unanimous agreement that we can no longer watch lives being lost while a solution is available.

A new, evidence-based approach to suicide prevention has been developed. We estimate this solution will reduce the Australian suicide rate by at least 20% in just a few years. To find out more about the systems approach, check out our website.

We believe this approach needs to be implemented immediately.

We urgently call for the Federal Government to fund this life-saving systems based approach, initially in twelve locations and then across Australia.

How can you help?

Personalise this letter template and post or email to your local Member of Parliament.