October is Mental Health Month and Central Coast Council is encouraging the local community, especially men, to take time out to understand the importance of good mental health in our everyday lives and to encourage help seeking behaviours when needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Central Coast Council Director Community and Recreation Services, Melanie Smith said this year\u2019s theme is, \u201cLet\u2019s Talk about it\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnfortunately, the Central Coast consistently has some of the highest numbers of deaths by suicide in Australia*, and local mental health experts have identified men on the Central Coast as a high-risk group,\u201d Ms Smith said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo this month, we are really wanting to encourage mental health awareness and conversations locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn this past year, we have collaborated with the Central Coast Suicide Prevention Alliance to develop some targeted referral cards for men, which have included drinking coasters, business cards, posters and other material encouraging men to \u2018be heard\u2019 or \u2018just listen\u2019, with information about targeted support services that men can access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLocals and visitors to our region may have already seen these when out and about, as we\u2019ve continued to distribute and display these through the Brisbane Waters and Tuggerah Lakes Local Liquor Accord, at the Central Coast Stadium, through local support services, short term accommodation facilities and Legal Aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo further raise awareness and increase help seeking behaviour for Mental Health Month, the coasters will be distributed across the region at Council events, Council\u2019s Customer Service Centres, through the Liquor Accord and targeted licensed venues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You are not alone! Men seeking support or more information are encouraged to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Pick up the Phone<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Listen to a Podcast<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Jump online <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Council CEO, David Farmer said Council has a longstanding commitment of working in collaboration with local mental health services and the community, to solve a range of social and health issues that may impact local community wellbeing and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe join others across NSW this month to break down stereotypes and raise awareness about Men\u2019s mental health and wellbeing, including thinking about your own mental health and wellbeing and encouraging help seeking behaviours when anyone needs it,\u201d Mr Farmer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People can pick up at coaster by heading to the Chromebar during Chromefest at The Entrance (October 25-27), in Gosford CBD for \u2018Live and Local\u2019 (November 1-2 in collaboration with Tubular Festival presenting Gossy Weekender) or at one of Council\u2019s Customer Service Centres. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Local venues interested in receiving drinking coasters for their venues can contact Council on 02 4306 7900 or by emailing ask@centralcoast.nsw.gov.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October is Mental Health Month and Central Coast Council is encouraging the local community, especially men, to take time out to understand the importance of good mental health in our…","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-8222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-events"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/10\/men-mental-health.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/feed\/podcast\/coffee-with-a-coastie","embedCode":"\n
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Central Coast Men Urged to Prioritize Mental Health During Mental Health Month<\/a><\/blockquote>