When Becky was referred to Mind Australia’s Youth Outreach Recovery Support (YORS) program she was struggling to get out of bed in the morning.
The 25-year-old from Corowa near the New South Wales-Victoria border said she had no motivation or purpose in her life.
“I didn’t even want to go to sleep in fear of the next day coming around,” she said.
“I was feeling a bit suicidal and I moved into my parents’ place because I was afraid of being alone. I also had to stop university because of my health. I got in a bad place mentally and I just felt useless from being sick.”
Becky was referred by the local headspace service to Mind where she joined YORS – a program designed to help young people better manage their mental health, develop practical life skills, engage in the community and make the journey to the life they want.
Becky, who has a diagnosis of autism, anxiety and a heart condition, said her support worker Rachel helped get her life back on track.
“I got a friend that helped me,” Becky said.
“We worked on some goals together and we identified things that were important to me and my sense of self-worth. Rach helped me by setting up a routine, tweaking it a bit and then she helped me stay on track with it.
“Rachel and I would meet up every two weeks, but if I wasn’t feeling up to doing activities we would just talk and have a cuppa. There aren’t many [mental health] supports in our community, so having Rach come to me was why I was able to do this program and get better.”
Becky’s goals included contributing more at home by learning strategies to help with cooking and cleaning, as well as finding a suitable job and improving both her physical and mental health.
To help Becky achieve these goals and improve her mental wellbeing, she participated in one-on-one Mind Recovery College® courses. The Mind Recovery College bridges the gap between mental health services and education programs, assisting people to develop knowledge and skills to use in their mental health recovery journey.
“One of the courses was on stress, how it affects the body and the things you can do to help combat stress. That made a big difference for me; learning about sleep, eating properly and how much stress impacts your health,” Becky said.
“I also learnt about anxiety, self-care, self-worth, confidence and navigating healthy relationships. The thing I liked most was learning about myself and how I can take actions to make a relationship healthy and better.”
Becky no longer needs support from Rachel or YORS, and she credits the turnaround in her life to the outreach she received from Mind.
“I’m feeling good. I know I don’t have to do this or that to be a valuable person. I’m enjoying my life and helping my husband around our house,” Becky said.
“Mind helped me get a job and supported me through the application and interview process. Rach talked me through what having a job is like, how to handle different work situations and how to communicate in the workplace.
“I’ve since moved on from that job and I’m looking for my next opportunity, but Rach has been a great support to get me to this position. She even helped me plan my wedding.”
Young people accessing the YORS service have reported significant improvements across a range of mental health and wellbeing indicators between entering and exiting the service.
Mind’s outcome measure data shows YORS participants improve their overall wellbeing by an average of 21 percent.
If you would like more information about Youth Outreach Recovery Support visit the Mind website, or phone 1300 286 463.
If this article raises concerns for you, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islanders can also call 13 YARN (13 92 76) a 24/7 national crisis support telephone service staffed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
If you would like more information, please contact us.
1300 286 463
[email protected]
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