beyondblue and Multicultural Mental Health Australia team up

beyondblue Chairman, Jeff Kennett, and Patron of the beyondblue Perinatal Mental Health Program, Mary Kostakidis, launched a new series of multilingual resources with Vicki Katsifis from Multicultural Mental Health Australia (MMHA) at the Diversity In Health conference in Sydney last week.

beyondblue: the national depression initiative in partnership with Multicultural Mental Health Australia (MMHA) has extended its reach to people from non-English speaking backgrounds by producing a new series of multilingual resources on depression.

beyondblue and MMHA have produced the series into 24 lanugages. These include Arabic, Assyrian, Bosnian, Cambodian/Khmer, Croatian, Dari, Farsi, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Macedonian, Polish, Punjabi, Russian, Serbian, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Somalian, Spanish, Tamil, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.

The fact sheets, which have previously been only available in English include: The Depression Checklist, Understanding Depression, Living and Caring for a Person with Depression, How Can You Help Someone with Depression?, Depression and antidepressant medication and Emotional Health During Pregnancy and Early Parenthood.

beyondblue’s television, radio and print ads have also been translated into Greek, Italian, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Polish and Vietnamese.

beyondblue Chairman Jeff Kennett said: “We know that 40 per cent of Australians were either born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas. We hope these resources will help all those people living in Australia whose first language is not English. We need to let everyone in all communities know that depression and anxiety are common ailments, effective treatments are available and that if you get the right treatment, most people recover.

“It’s important everyone understands that there should be no shame in seeking medical help for depression… and that maintaining good mental health is just as important as staying physically healthy,” he said.

During the launch, MMHA advocate, Vicki Katsifis, shared her personal story of living with bipolar disorder. "My illness went undiagnosed for a year. I withdrew from my family and friends. I refused to come to the telephone when friends called. I basically watched TV all day. I did not wash or look after myself and stayed in bed for a lot of the time. However since my diagnosis, I have had a measure of stability. I have researched my illness, joined support groups and become a consumer advocate. I have also learnt ways of how to deal with depression," she explained.

"While I can now identify this, my carers (my mum and aunties) sometimes can’t distinguish what is really happening to me. They still have problems recognising these early warning signs are linked to an illness or what to do to help me. This becomes a real challenge for me in staying well. Considering English is not their first language, their access to this kind of information has been limited up until now. Therefore I’m excited to be a part of this launch today, as it directly helps them in supporting me."

MMHA Chair, Associate Professor Abd Malak AM said: “Culture can influence how a community responds to someone living with a mental illness like depression. In some cultures, a mental illness can bring shame to the family. Families and individuals can be ostracised by the whole community because of their illness. Sadly this prevents some people from getting the help they need."

“Language and culture are often huge barriers for people from non-English speaking backgrounds who live with a mental illness. We hope these resources will help break down the barriers, raise awareness of depression and ensure beyondblue’s information about where to get help reaches everyone – no matter what language they speak,” said A/Prof Abd Malak AM.

The new resources were launched at the Diversity In Health Conference at the Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre in Sydney and can be downloaded from http://www.mmha.org.au/mmha-products/fact-sheets or ordered directly from MMHA - 02 9840 3333.