The Department of Health has launched a new national COVID-19 mental health campaign urging people to prioritise their mental health.
The Department said the campaign, How’s your head today?, sought to raise awareness about how to identify when something was wrong and encouraged people to seek help if their mental health had declined.
The Minister for Health, Greg Hunt said the campaign would be launched on television, radio, in shopping centres and venues, online and through social media.
“How’s your head today? encourages all Australians to check in with how they are feeling,” Mr Hunt said.
“Through animated characters, the campaign recognises the emotions many people are feeling and illustrates the actions they can take to help themselves feel better,” he said.
“COVID-19 has had a significant effect on the mental health and wellbeing of many people across the country.”
Mr Hunt said crisis organisations and suicide prevention services were experiencing higher demand during the pandemic, services such as Lifeline and Beyond Blue had reported a significant increase in the number of people seeking help.
“The mental health impact of the pandemic is also borne out by Medicare statistics, which show a significant uptake of mental health telehealth services,” the Minister said.
“I encourage all Australians to seek help if experiencing mental ill-health, talk to your GP, reach out to Beyond Blue or Lifeline, or visit the Headtohealth.gov.au.”
He said the campaign would be provided in 15 languages across radio and print including Vietnamese, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Greek, Italian, Korean, Spanish, Punjabi, Hindi, Khmer, Thai, Turkish, Persian and Macedonian.
Further information on the campaign, and where to get mental health support, can be accessed at this PS News link.
