Mental wellness and
life beyond school
Here’s some tips on how you can stay well and how you can access help if you need it
What is good mental health and wellbeing?
Good mental health and wellbeing means feeling happy and positive about yourself, enjoying life and maintaining a healthy relationship with family and friends. However, it is quite common to struggle with life issues from time to time, which will affect how you think, feel and behave. The sooner you sort out these issues, the quicker your life will get back on track.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the quality of being present and fully engaged with whatever we’re doing at the moment — free from distraction or judgment, and aware of our thoughts and feelings without getting caught up in them.
The following mindfulness websites may be helpful:
https://www.headspace.com/mindfulness
Mindfulness for Teens Resources
Free Mindfulness Meditation Recordings Free Audio Resources for Mindfulness Meditation
Free guided meditation to help take you further into your mindfulness meditation practice.
Resilience
Resilience is the ability to ‘bounce back’ during or after difficult times and get back to feeling as good as before. It’s also the ability to adapt to difficult circumstances that you can’t change and keep on thriving. In fact, when you’re resilient, you can often learn from difficult situations.
SuperBetter App: A tool created by game designers to help you build resilience and get stronger, happier and healthier. Choose from over 25 power packs or design your own adventure for any area of life where you want to feel better. https://au.reachout.com/tools-and-apps/superbetter
Focus on your strengths
Think about your personal strengths and how you might use them in your everyday life. Are you a leader, playful, fair, curious or original? Do you have a good sense of perspective? Do you love learning? Are you genuine? Are you good at teamwork? Cultivate and use your strengths at work, in family life and in your leisure time. Character Strengths website can help you to identify your strengths.
Positivity resources
Action for Happiness – Mental wellness themed calendars eg: ‘Self Care September’, ‘Joyful June’, ‘Meaningful May’ https://www.actionforhappiness.org/calendars
Tips and strategies to improve mental health and wellbeing
https://headspace.org.au/young-people/health-and-wellbeing/
Year 12 Coming Back Stronger: Building motivation and reaching your goals
Other Resources
Medicare
You can have your own Medicare card if you’re aged 15 or older and enrolled in Medicare. For more information, go to https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/medicare/medicare-card/how-get-your-own-card-15-years-old
Find a General Practitioner (GP)
https://www.healthshare.com.au/directory/doctors-gp-in-vic/
Regional community health centres:
Vic Rural Community Health Centres Directory
Community Health Centre Directory Loddon Mallee
YouthLaw - A free legal centre for young people under 25. Email their lawyers, call or drop in to their clinics in person. Lawyers also visit regional locations across Victoria. More details available on their website. Phone (03) 9611 2412 EMAIL legal@youthlaw.asn.au http://youthlaw.asn.au/
Victoria Legal Aid - Victoria Legal Aid have 15 offices in metropolitan and regional Victoria. They also provide services at many courts, tribunals and other locations throughout Victoria. Legal Aid provides free legal advice. Via their website you can access free legal advice. https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/424 Hargreaves St, Bendigo VIC 3550 Tel: (03) 5448 2333 Toll free: 1800 254 500
Haven – Home Safe https://havenhomesafe.org.au/
10-16 Forest Street, Bendigo Ph: 5444 0501 or 1300 428 364
Anglicare
Bendigo - 10 Mundy Street Ph: 5440 1100
Echuca - 51-55 Haygarth Street Ph: 5482 0900
COBAW
Kyenton – 1 Caroline Chilshol Drive Ph: 1300 026 229
Youth Services Directory – Information about supports in the Echuca Area - http://www.youthservicesdirectory.com.au/
Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) service - https://ysas.org.au/programswest/ysas-bendigo Ph: 03 5444 2969
Eating Disorders Victoria - They connect those in Victoria who are affected by eating disorders with the services, people and hope they need for recovery. https://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/ Ph: 1300 550 236
SuicideLine - Free 24/7 telephone, video and online counselling service offering professional support to people at risk of suicide, people concerned about someone else’s risk of suicide, and people bereaved by suicide. https://www.suicideline.org.au/ Ph: 1300 651 251
LGBTIQA+ Information and support
Consider connecting with the LGBTIQA+ community through social groups and online communities.
Some online options include:
Qlife: Chat to a volunteer LGBTIQA+ counsellor over the phone or through web-chat every day from 3pm to midnight.
Qheadspace: Chat anonymously with other young people who identify as LGBTIQA+ and ask questions of our headspace queer peers.
ReachOut: Find an LGBTIQA+ support service or social network in your state.
Minus18 – this national organisation for LGBTI youth provides peer support and mentoring to young LGBTI people wanting to make a change
Victims of Crime - The official Victorian Government service offering free information and support for people affected by crime. https://www.victimsofcrime.vic.gov.au/ Ph: 1800 819 817
Sexual Assault Crisis Line - for victims of sexual assault (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) https://www.sacl.com.au/ Ph: 1800 806 292
Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA) - provides trauma informed counselling, advocacy and support for people who have experienced a recent or historical sexual assault. The service is also available for family and community members who have also felt impacted. https://casacv.org.au/ 71 Bridge St, Bendigo Vic 3350 (Mon to Fri, 9am-5pm) Ph: 03 5441 0430
1800 Respect (1800 737 732) as a 24/7 service sexual assault, domestic and family violence
Children of parents with a mental illness (COPMI) www.copmi.net.au
It’s normal at various times to feel sad, stressed, angry or anxious. But when these feelings last for longer than usual and start to affect your everyday life, it's important to find out what's going on and what you can do about it. Your General Practitioner (GP) could be a good person to talk to initially, see more information about this in the ‘Medical’ section.
Headspace
78-80 Pall Mall, Bendigo Ph: 5406 1400 headspace@bchs.com.au https://headspace.org.au/
Headspace supports young people, between the ages of 12-25, with mental health, physical health, drug and alcohol support and educational/vocational support. All services are FREE .
Resource Library including Fact Sheets
eheadspace provides free online and telephone support and counselling to young people 12 - 25 and their families and friends. If you’re based in Australia and going through a tough time, eheadspace can help.
Youth Beyond Blue
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/who-does-it-affect/young-people
Checklist - This simple checklist aims to measure whether you may have been affected by depression and anxiety during the past four weeks. The higher your score, the more likely you are to be experiencing depression and/or anxiety. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety-and-depression-checklist-k10
Kids Help Line
Counselling Kids Helpline is Australia’s only free, private and confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25. All young people can choose the gender of the counsellor they speak to. Young people are able to access the same counsellor if they wish to call back. Ph: 1800 55 1800
Lifeline
24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention strategies. https://www.lifeline.org.au/ Text and Chat options available. Ph: 13 11 14
Mental Health Crisis numbers
Police, Fire, Ambulance – Ph: 000
Bendigo and surrounds
Bendigo Health’s Enhanced Crisis Assessment Team (CAT) - Ph: 1300 363 788
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) – Ph: 5440 6506