So apparently you guys in Australia have a day today that's dedicated to have a serious chat with family/friends/loved ones/anyone about how they're feeling if they're struggling with life.
I think lots of people on here have either been affected or know someone who has been affected by mental health issues, so yeah, it's a big deal, and people talking about it and getting support from others could make a massive difference.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing okay (today and everyday). My inbox is open if anyone ever needs someone to talk to.

https://www.ruokday.com/

It's a great initiative, anything that gets people talking about their problems and seeing that others care is a step in the right direction.

It's a good initiative, but people would probably listen more to people with legitimate problems if people would cut their whining about petty problems (of which I'm also guilty, just making an observation).

Yeah brah doin aight ay.

-PB

This is mostly a probably that arises from teens. I may be sounding very judgemental, but i think its true.

Youngsters see guidance counsellors because Zayn Malik got engaged and now their lives are over. Guidance counsellors then spend all their time trying to tell them that it is ok and their life will be fine and they dont need to cry and cut their wrists about it. We then give these people more attention on mainstream media etc etc etc.

Damn first year psych students...

You shouldn't need a day to ask if someone is doing ok.

The point of the day is to make people think "When was the last time I asked if is OK? Shit, I can't remember..." and, hopefully, promote more open communication overall.

Annie?

Exactly. We should be doing this everyday. :p

My mum sent me a text "R U OK? Not a gimmick, real question!"

This. It's like Valentines day. Why should you have just one day where you tell your other half how much you love them.


Valentines Dy should really just be renamed Hallmark day.

Won't you tell us, that you're OK, Annie?

While i think you are right in that it mostly arises from teens, it is certainly not just confined to that age demographic.

And i also think that 99% of people are seeing a guidance counselor because they actually have significant worries, not because their favourite celebrity is engaged. I'mseeing a guidance counsellor because I have depression, as I'm sure millions more people round the world are doing now.

Sitting in the sun at uni sinking Pure Blondes says that I'm in perfect health.

Aye Iz Okayyy

EDIT: a few tweets from Tara Rushton doesn't hurt other!

Edited by Eastern Glory: 12/9/2013 02:42:24 PM

That's the key. If someone says "R U OK?" and their mate turns round with, "Actually, now that you ask, no I'm not... I'm pretty far from ok, actually. My wife bores me, my kids annoy me, I hate my job, when I'm driving home I often think about steering into the path of oncoming trucks... By the way, do you ever cut yourself? I have to just to clear my mind..."

Shit. A. Brick.

Even worse when your best mate, who is a chronic liar, drops this shit on you...

Hard to call him on it even if you know it's bullshit.

Envious as fuck.

I think people (in general) underestimate the reach of mental health problems, and this is the point of R U OK? day- there are countless more like me who don't see anyone- I had depression for a solid block of three years and didn't talk to anyone about it (and it never actually goes away, I count that three years as the distinct period where it was solid black and I had no optimism.) To everyone outside my head I was perfectly happy and normal, but inside I was a wreck. If someone had asked me if I was OK things might have been different, I may have finally been prompted to get help and may have been functional a lot quicker.

There are a lot of people who won't make the first move to talk to their friends about their demons because they feel their problems are stupid or trivial compared to others (ie: with me, I had a deeply depressed and constantly suicidal friend and my go-to self flagellation was "why am I being such a baby, my friend has it worse than me" ) I whole-heartedly agree that it shouldn't be a one-day thing, but one day is better than none...

Fair enough. Agree it is probably better to have a day for it than nothing at all. I was more making the point to zimbos that people don't go to guidance councellors just because one of the !D guys is getting married. I hate attitudes like that.

You're talking about that more than Heiny talks about his girlfriend.

Facebook doesn't count.

Im not saying that there are people out there seeing a guidance counsellor or psychologist who dont have genuine problems. Ive also seen plenty of guidance counsellors and psychologists in my time. My cousin works in the field and she tells me about some of the cases she deals with. She has found that many of the teens or people under 17 or so tend to have silly issues. They broke up with a boyfriend because he didnt like 1D or something stupid like that. Often they think the world is over and when they go for psych tests and guidance counsellors they get treated like princesses.

The feeling of toughen up and grow up is almost non existent she says. Bear in mind that she is also from Zim and so has experienced the different side of things. In our schools if a prefect hit us and we complained to a teacher, teacher would tell us to grow up and if you got hit, why did you get hit? You obviously broke a rule. Dont break that rule again and it will be fine. If your parents wanted to see the teacher, then no problem, they would be allowed to without any questions.

Here, if you got hit, then it goes to child services and you can sue and you can through all these stupid silly processes that do nothing to help you. I remember when my parents requested to see my teacher once and they were told, "we need permission from your child to authorise this" What kind stupid shit is that. If my parents want to meet with my teacher, they should be allowed to. Who the heck am i to tell them what to do.

I sense im drifting off to the side a bit, but i think my point is made.

Fucking Jaffys in general.

It's more to do with middle aged blokes trying to keep their depression and unhappiness under wraps as they struggle to deal with work, family and various other pressures. And refuse to talk about it or seek help.

No, but it's to remind people that they should be checking up on others to see if they're okay, and to hopefully raise a bit of awareness. It's amazing the effect that a single person caring can have on some, so it's a day worth having.



Just so I'm clear here, do you think people like this don't deserve to be getting any help? I'm sorry but "toughen the fuck up" is the wrong attitude to have, especially about mental health issues where it's hard to speak up and get help for in the first place.

;)

Its hard for people with severe social anxiety, can really cripple your life and with a fear of doing things outside your comfort zone, it can be really hard to even ask for help, which eventually can lead to depression.

Edited by iridium1010: 12/9/2013 06:27:05 PM

Yeah, it would be hell to live with. I can't even imagine how much that would impact daily life.

Im not saying that we shouldnt help people if their is the need. But seriously, you telling me that something like this is an issue that needs guidance counselling and psychology. People were on twitter threatening to kill her if anything happened to Zayn. Heck they threatened to kill Gabriel Agbonlahor for his tackle on Louis Tomlinson. Thats just retarded. Thats not an issue that needs guidance counselling. Its an issue that requires a good hard look at our society and education system.

I completely agree that 12 year olds sending death threats is fucked up and pathetic, but I didn't think that was the point you were originally trying to make. As stupid or immature as a problem might be, if it is impacting the life of the person more than it reasonably should, then I believe it deserves to be dealt with.

Seriously though, if you are struggling, speak up about it - let someone know. It's a really hard thing to do, but it's so so worth it.

I think typically that is a pretty early teen thing. I can't say I know anyone who is seriously like that.

Getting upset about a one direction member getting engaged and crying about it is not an issue.

I agree some people have problems that seem immature but are actually have deep issues. If anyone knows about issues i know about it. I dont even have a best friend. I always think people find me weird and peculiar and try to avoid me. When we go to parties, people who sit next to me tend to give the feeling like they bored, not sure what to talk to me about it. It happens with my cousins too. I really only get on with a few of my girl cousins.

The point is though, we tend to over focus on issues and make it seem as if people have problems and issues. Not everyone has an issue or a problem, since when did our society become so focussed on issues and everyone has them.




I think im comparing western society to how things were in zim. In school we were taught to grow up and become adults in zim. Here they teach you to run to the guidance counsellor and if teachers shout you you can complain or call child services. Make it seem like the kids have more rights than the adults.

For a young girl with a crush on the members of their favourite boyband, crying about the engagement of one is not that outrageous. They will get over it, they will move on. That is not an issue. However, if the case is like in your original post, where a girl is self harming and in distress over it, that is a problem as it is affecting her life more than it should.

I'm really sorry dude, that stuff all sucks :( I understand the cousin thing, there's only one who I get along with rather well, but a lot of that is due to age difference. For the record, I don't think you're weird or peculiar, I think you're a good guy.

No, not everyone does have issues. Some are overexaggerated, some create problems for attention, etc (I'm sure we all know someone who makes up a whole lot of shit), but lots of people do have problems. Mental illness is more common than people realise.

The more today wears on the more I see people using this as a reason to validate their own narcissism the other 364 days of the year.

:-s ?

So many peepz on my facebook wall talked about this. Most be like "why do you need a RUOK day? Shouldn't you be asking that everyday?". I think the purpose of the day is you take it upon yourself to actually ask that everyday yourself. Even if it changes half a dozen people, the day was a success. It got people talking about something they normally wouldn't.

kutgw

'cause things are going swimmingly over there.

Now personally, if something is troubling me, talking to someone about it helps. A lot of my friends find the same approach works. Alternatively, listening to some heavy metal also helps depending on the situation. It is rather unfair to berate other people's coping mechanisms.

its a good initiative, i am not going to reveal too much but i had various issues throughout my life, social anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts etc and anything related to mental health has a massive stigma on it.

i believe(could be wrong here but i am fairly up to date) that the highest rate of death's is suicide for males between 15-25 or something and same with males between 40 to 60, something around that anyways and it is fast becoming one of the biggest health issues that society faces.

It's like there's one day a year for people to kid themselves that they're a 'good' friend by asking if their 'friends' are OK. You should be doing that all the time, not just because there's some day telling you to.

I'm all for raising awareness of mental health, but I think this trivialises it more than anything.

IMO what this day is meant to do is remind those affected to seek help and, more importantly, remind those of us lucky enough not to be to make connections with our friends who are suffering from depression and not simply assume they're ok.

It's not about just one day.

And forget about the narcissistic, nothing changes them.

Edited by thupercoach: 14/9/2013 06:57:04 AM

I think it'd be a better idea to invest more effort into Beyond Blue and helping people reach out than encouraging people to reach out to them one day a year in some token gesture that hides their ignorance.

It might help to stop people from being so ignorant.

This. It's just another way of highlighting the depression problem we have in this country.

Btw, Beyond Blue do a great job.

Like I said, I don't think it highlights anything, all it does is let people kid themselves that they care for 24 hours while they're self-centred dicks the other 364 days of the year.

](*,) ](*,) ](*,)

Ok