Tag Archives: mental health

Australian men were significantly more likely to have problems with drugs, alcohol and violence. They make up 90 per cent of prison populations and account for almost 80 per cent of suicides. University of NSW Associate Professor Judy Proudfoot said Aussie men are doing it tough. “While we know a lot about what is going wrong, we don’t know much ...

As part of 50th anniversary celebrations, L’Arche Brisbane hosted a jubilee dinner with guest speaker Eileen Glass—the first Australian International Vice Leader of L’Arche International. Her speech is a fascinating exploration of the challenges and opportunities presented by diversity. The weakest and most frail are not a burden, she says, they enrich our communities. Eileen begins: One of the significant challenges ...

The mental health ministry at The Gap Uniting Church in suburban Brisbane has struck a chord with the local community. Dianne Jensen reports. Mental health ministry coordinator Jeannie Ballantyne knows first-hand the impact that a small group of like-minded souls can have on their church and community. Jeannie and her colleagues Margaret Shield and Barbara Waltisbuhl have seen the ministry ...

This Anzac Day, remember those who continue to pay the price for serving their country. Dianne Jensen reports. “I still don’t see the people we killed in ambushes and stuff; I don’t see our guys who were killed or wounded yet I was there. It is like being in a car accident but you don’t remember anything about it.” Rev Jack ...

Dianne Jensen talks to Lifeline Darling Downs rural mobile counsellor Brian Steele, the only men’s counsellor in the Western Downs region. The telephone call came on the weekend. A young man who had only just made an appointment to see the sole men’s counsellor in the Western Downs region had committed suicide. Lifeline Darling Downs rural mobile counsellor Brian Steele ...

Southport Uniting Church has opened its doors and its heart to the busy world outside. Dianne Jensen reports. The young woman was a regular attender at the night services at Southport Uniting Church on the Gold Coast. An artist who lived alone, Anne suffered from depression and schizophrenia following childhood trauma. One night she self-harmed, and accidentally killed herself. Artist and Southport ...

I knew I was in trouble when I was sleeping poorly and my usually sunny nature gave way to a cloudy, stormy self. In 2009 a series of things converged in my life and I was diagnosed with depression. The triggers included being very tired because we lived next to a major road, I was away more than 100 nights ...

Mental health is not the absence of illness, but a way of living. Dianne Jensen reports. “One of the big things I’ve learnt from my son’s illness is not to be judgemental. You never know what people are going through.”—Lyndal Hutton. According to mental health charity SANE Australia, nearly half the Australian population will experience mental illness at some stage ...

Joan Beavis lives in West End, Brisbane where she ministers to the lost and vunerable people of her community. My mother Nellie would hold the hands of the lepers in the hospital on the tiny island of Ubuiua in the Milne Bay district of Papua New Guinea. My father, Bert Cuff, had built the hospital, commissioned by the Methodist Overseas ...