Byron Bay articles of interest.

Working With Voices – Essential Skills Workshop Byron Youth Activities Centre, 1 Gilmore Crescent Byron Bay, NSW 2481 Australia - Friday 14th October 2011, 9.00am – 4pm: Programme~ The “Working with Voices“workshop will equip participants with a tool kit for working with voice-hearers. It is suitable for front-line mental health staff working in the health, social service and voluntary sectors. ..Using MP3 technology (supplied), experience the world of a psychiatric disability through a simulated experience of hearing voices that are distressing. ..Gain a better understanding of the challenges that people with a psychiatric disability face. ..Identify the difference between voices that are distressing and other voices. ..Voice profiling ..Working within belief systems ..Developing coping strategies ..Facilitating consumer peer support Workbook included [...]

The Northern Rivers Youth Advisory Council are a voice for young people in the Northern Rivers. They have developed a survey to find out info about young people in the Northern Rivers – who they are, what they do, where they live & what matters to them. Just like the national census, but instead created by young people in the Northern Rivers! They want to hear from all young people, so there are two great prizes on offer to help get the word out. First prize is an Apple IPAD, and 2nd prize is a ticket to the Byron Bay Blues Festival! Link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YOUTHCENSUSnorthernrivers Why is the Youth Census important? The Youth Census is a chance for young [...]

Arana Pearson from Keepwell will be in Australia in October for Mental Health Week and will be facilitating two workshops in Byron Bay, at the Youth Activities Centre on October 13 & 14. Hearing Voices That Are Distressing – A Simulated Training Experience- Thursday 13th October 2011, 9.00am – 12.30pm This is a fantastic opportunity to attend this powerful and effective half day workshop. (There is another workshop being offered on the following day, only for those that have completed this Hearing Voices workshop – ‘Working with Voices’ – please refer to the end of this event page for more information) Experience the world of a psychiatric disability through a simulated experience of hearing voices that are distressing. Using new [...]

IT’S World Suicide Prevention Day tomorrow, a day which aims to raise awareness about a cause of death that claims more lives than skin cancer and car accidents. Lifeline Northern Rivers Counselling Centre Manager Niall Mulligan said six people on average take their own lives each day. “That means that each year more people are dying by suicide in Australia than on our roads or from skin cancer,” he said. He said these subjects rated highly on the public agenda but suicide remained a taboo. “That’s why lifeline is looking to break down the stigma associated with suicide,” Around 2200 people take their own lives each year but figures are thought to be 20-30% under reported due to different reporting [...]

LET’S GO FOR A WALK ~ Young Women’s Health Conference Wednesday 24 August 2011 ~ 9.30am – 3pm ~ Bangalow A&I Hall For young women 13-25 years of age. Why a Young Women’s Health Conference? The idea to run a conference for young women came from two different groups of local young women. The aims of this conference are: • to offer a safe space to get together express concerns about destructive relationships and behaviours around peers, young men, families, sexuality and substance abuse; • to provide relevant and useful information for young women to empower them to make positive choices that lead to healthy success relationships; • to help young women to develop and explore skills and strategies to handle [...]

Nicqui Yazdi the BUDDI (Byron Underage Team Drinking and Drug Initiative) Team Leader will conduct a Mental Health First Aid course as part of Drug Action Week. WITH the national Drug Action Week due to kick off this Sunday, one local youth worker plans to make it much more than a token effort. Byron Underage Drinking and Drug Initiative (BUDDI) Team Leader Nicqui Yazdi will run a Mental Health First Aid course specifically designed to address the most-pressing issues facing the Byron Shire and the wider region. Already a “Master Trainer” in the Australian-designed course, having run more than 30 courses to assist volunteers at events and festivals like Schoolies Week and Splendour in the Grass, Ms Yazdi said it [...]

Adult and Youth MHFA Courses are being conducted by the MindRight Institute in Byron Bay in June. FOUR in 10 Australian professionals don’t feel comfortable working closely with a person experiencing depression. A new report, commissioned by national depression initiative beyondblue, has found that “Only 51 per cent of professionals are comfortable managing the work performance of someone with depression or an anxiety disorder, and only 61 per cent feel comfortable working with a colleague who has a mental health condition,” beyondblue deputy chief executive officer Clare Shann said. “The results of the survey show quite a high awareness of the nature of depression and its impact on work, which is great, but we don’t see that same pattern around [...]

A report by the NSW Auditor General reveals that Byron Shire and Lismore LGAs took the second and third spots for highest number of cannabis possession offences in the State. TWO local government areas (LGAs) on the Northern Rivers take some of the top spots for the most cannabis offences in the State, a crime which costs the NSW economy $700 million a year, a new report states. The NSW Auditor-General yesterday released his findings on the effectiveness of police issuing cautions to people in possession of minor amounts of cannabis (less than 15 grams). Eight per cent of the NSW population are cannabis users, the report found, a large proportion of which are on the Northern Rivers. The Byron [...]

Federal Labor’s Justine Elliot has hit out at state MP Don Page and asked to explain what policies he can deliver on health services. ‘With only a week to go until the State election, many locals have raised with me concerns that Don Page and Barry O’Farrell have failed to outline their specific commitments for our local hospitals. ‘I call upon Don Page to detail what funding commitments he has secured for the North Coast. ‘In particular, will he commit funding for the new Ewingsdale hospital? ‘Also, what funding has he secured for Byron and Mullumbimby hospitals? ‘On top of their lack of policies, the biggest threat is that Don Page’s leader Barry O’Farrell will renege on the health agreement [...]

The MindRight Institute will be presenting two Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training courses for community members, parents, carers, teachers and community service professionals, at the Byron Youth Activities Centre in March and April. The YMHFA program offers the chance for participants to increase their understanding of mental health issues with our youth. A two-day course in Youth Mental Health First Aid teaches the signs and signals of all the common mental health problems in our youth and gives participants the skills needed to support a young person in a mental health crisis or who is developing a mental health problem. The courses run for two full days, from 9.30am til 5pm over two consecutive Mondays. There are two [...]

Hometown support: Former Australian Idol contestant Ngaiire will return to Lismore to perform at the In Good Company Open Air Music Festival next Saturday. WHEN Ngaiire came to Lismore as a 16-year-old, she was more concerned about the lack of people on the streets than the ones who were. Joining the list of performers donating their time to the In Good Company Open Air Music Festival, Ngaiire will help raise money for mental health and homelessness. Having moved from Papua New Guinea with her family, Ngaiire said that Lismore was a definite culture shock. “It was really full-on actually, probably more so for my brother and sister,” Ngaiire said. “I sort of understood the change. “One thing I didn’t understand [...]

Rural mental health consultant Andrew White (left),Niall Mulligan and Nicholas Kostyn get ready for tomorrow’s motorcycle ride. NORTHERN Rivers bikers will be out in force tomorrow to promote mental health awareness and raise money for Lifeline. The social ride, Compression against Depression, is open to all motorcyclists and starts at 9am from the car park at the corner of Dawson and Woodlark streets in Lismore and finishes at the Eltham Hotel at 3.30pm. Lifeline Northern Rivers Counselling Centre manager Niall Mulligan organised the run in conjunction with bike magazine northernrider–.com.au and said the ride would highlight the positive role everyone can play in de-stigmatising and responding to mental health challenges. “The participation of motorbike clubs, with their ethos of mateship [...]

What is R U OK?Day? Thursday 7 October, 2010 Thursday 7 October, 2010 is R U OK?Day. A national day of action that aims to prevent suicide by encouraging Australians to connect with someone they care about and help stop little problems turning into big ones. Today we want everyone across the country, from all backgrounds and walks of life, to ask family, friends and colleagues: “Are you OK?”. Because staying connected with others is crucial to our general health and wellbeing. Feelings of isolation and being alone are major contributing factors to depression and social issues that can ultimately result in suicide. Regular, meaningful conversations can protect those we know and love. It’s so simple but in the time [...]

Nicqui Yazdi, director of the MindRight Institute, holds a candle in support of the mentally ill at last night’s Mental Health Vigil at the Byron Bay Youth Activity Centre EVERY year one-in-five Australians will suffer a mental illness, a vigil in Byron Bay was told last night. Nicqui Yazdi knows first-hand the tragic consequences if people aren’t properly treated by medical professionals. Less than a month ago, when her uncle realised his son was depressed, he took him to a GP. Recognising the symptoms the GP referred him to a phycologist. However, due to lack of services, Ms Yazdi’s cousin could not make an appointment for a few weeks. The following day, the 30-year-old took his own life. It wasn’t [...]

Byron Shire Citizen of the Year, Nicqui Yazdi, with Australian of the Year, Pat McGorry at the first International Youth Mental Health Conference in Melbourne Byron Shire Citizen of the Year, Nicqui Yazdi and Australian of the Year, Pat McGorry got together in Melbourne last week along with 1000 others from all around the world to talk about youth mental health issues. ‘Heads Up’, the first International Youth Mental Health Conference was a resounding success, according to Nicqui. She said “Youth mental health is a big topic all around the world. Young people are our future and their mental health and well-being is the most important issue in health today. This conference allowed those of us that are working with [...]

The $277 million would be funnelled into four key areas: frontline services, direct prevention, crisis intervention and mental health services (AAP) Prime Minister Julia Gillard has promised $277 million for suicide prevention if Labor wins the August 21 federal election. Labor targets Abbott over health care Abbott demands more details on health Giving a speech to the Community Economic Development Association in Brisbane, Ms Gillard said the money would support communities, schools, healthcare services and carers to do more to prevent suicide. The $277 million would be funnelled into four key areas: frontline services, direct prevention, crisis intervention and mental health services dedicated to men and children. “I want to make it clear that mental health will be a second-term [...]

Byron Bay to host a GetUp Candlelight Mental Healthcare Vigil for lives lost to mental health. On Tuesday August 10, GetUp Mental Health Candlelight Vigils will be held across Australia to bring attention to the mental healthcare crisis in our country. These vigils will raise awareness for those who were lost, those still lost and those we will lose in the future in the woefully underfunded mental healthcare system in Australia. Australian of the Year Prof. Patrick McGorry will host a vigil at the Gap in Sydney and Byron Bay’s Vigil will be hosted by local mental health advocate and 2010 Byron Shire Citizen of the Year, Nicqui Yazdi. Prof. McGorry and Ms Yazdi have a lot more in common [...]

Byron Youth Service director Di Mahoney (right) and Kate Reed, the new co-ordinator of the service’s Project U-Turn. Working with traumatised women and their children in the violent slums of Nairobi for five weeks this year revealed to counsellor Kate Reed just how deep she could “dig”. It gave her, she said, a new sense of perspective of what in life might ‘rattle’ her and how to deal with different situations. Part of a Healing Hands team, Kate said some of the stories she had heard from women in the slums were ‘indescribable’. “The stories the women told me will stay with me forever,” she said. “There is so much violence over there. They are in physical danger every day. [...]

‘new’ 2 Day 2nd Edition Standard Adult Program – Byron Bay Services Club July 15 & 22 Nicqui Yazdi, 2010 Byron Shire Citizen of the Year and the Director of The MindRight Institute will be conducting a ‘new’ 2nd Edition Mental Health First Aid Certificate Course at the Byron Bay Services Club over two consecutive Thursdays, July 15 & 22. Nicqui said that “MHFA training is now becoming mandatory in many community services roles and is helpful in supporting people who either suffer from or may be developing a mental health problem.”  The First day of the MHFA training will mainly concentrate on depression and suicide prevention, with a focus on direct questioning techniques and the importance of early intervention. [...]

With mental health being the number one health burden in our society today, many people want to know what they can do to help. Byron Shire Citizen of the Year, Nicqui Yazdi has the answer, Mental Health First Aid training. Nicqui is the Director of Byron Bay based training organisation, the MindRight Institute and specialises in mental health and well-being courses. The MindRight Institute will be conducting a ‘NEW’ 2 day Edition 2 Standard Adult Mental Health First Aid Certificate Course for interested community members, in order to help support people who either suffer from or may be developing a mental health problem. The first day of the Mental Health First Aid training will mainly concentrate on depression and suicide [...]

‘Aliens, 1, justice, 0′ says victim’s widow Damian James Amos was found not guilty because of insanity. Inset: The victim’s wife, Dawn Evenis. A GOLD Coast man who claimed he was in psychotic state when he caused a fatal accident at Broadbeach has been vindicated by a jury who took 13 hours to find him not guilty. The Southport District Court jury were not unanimous, but 11 jurors entered a majority verdict finding Damian James Amos not guilty on the grounds of insanity. Mr Amos had claimed his dangerous driving was due to him experiencing a psychotic episode in which he believed aliens were talking to him. As the verdict was read out, the 32-year-old Broadbeach sat stunned in the [...]

Mental ill health is the leading killer of Australians under 45 — and the leading cause of disability for all Australians. But with the biggest health reforms in decades up for negotiation on Monday, mental ill health may be forgotten – unless we act now. In just 48 hours, the Prime Minister and the leaders of every Australian state and territory will sit down in Canberra to negotiate a new plan for health care across the nation. In their offices across Australia, our state Premiers and territory Chief Ministers are working all weekend in preparation for Monday’s meeting. They are deciding where to push hard, and where to compromise. We’ve found the office fax number for NSW Premier, Kristina Kenally [...]