Mental Health Awareness Month:

October 2019 is Mental Health Awareness Month which aims to promote awareness across all groups in our communities about mental health and wellbeing. The theme for this year is “Share the Journey”. Over the next couple of weeks, our school newsletters will include information specifically related to the mental health and wellbeing of our school community members.  

We all have mental health; just like we all have physical health. Our state of mental health changes constantly like our physical health. Our state of mental health can be different every day or even change constantly throughout the day. If we were to notice our own and others’ mental health like we do our physical health, we may be able to prevent and treat mental health illness early. For example, if we are tired for one day this may be due to a lack of sleep which is part of our physical health. If this continues over many days and we are finding it hard to go about our normal daily activities, we should go to the doctor/GP for a check-up. The same principles apply to our mental health. Our mood changes depending on many things we experience during a day, but if our mood and behaviour changes in ways that affect our normal day to day functioning (eg going to school or work) we need to seek help. Your doctor/GP is still the place to go for initial help for mental health concerns. 

Attached to the newsletter this month is a flyer from WayAhead – Mental Health Association NSW encouraging us to focus on our connection with others to promote all aspects of our wellbeing. Connecting with others can mean different things to different people, and is always about what we feel comfortable doing.  When we” Share the Journey” by connecting with others, we are improving our own health and wellbeing AND the health and wellbeing of others. 

There are many other places for information, resources and help. We will be providing these in our newsletters throughout the month. 

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner has recently updated the

ir website. Parents are encouraged to become familiar with this site. Click here to access the site and all the great resources for parents