2007 No 3 - Young Voices

This edition of Synergy reflects on the struggles that young people face – especially those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

It taps into their stories of trying to be accepted, the challenge of caring for a parent living with a mental illness and the various initiatives that have been developed to provide these young people with a safe space where they can be themselves.

Young Vouces was inspired by the winners of MMHA’s inaugural national art competition, I Identify – My Identity.

All three winners were young women who had recently immigrated to Australia. In coordinating the media coverage of the competition, I learnt about their personal struggles and how they successfully rose above these.

While these personal challenges could have impacted on their mental health, all three have proven to be very strong spirited people with healthy outlooks on life.

Their sheer resilience is highly admirable and somewhat overwhelming, and celebrated in this edition by a special four-page liftout of the art competition.

I hope the young voices and issues featured in this edition inspire you and help give other young people from CALD backgrounds a louder voice.

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Online Articles

Mental Health in a Changing World
Senator Brett Mason

The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day (WMHD) was: “Mental Health in a Changing World: The Impact of Culture and Diversity”. It provided an opportunity to highlight how culture can directly affect a person’s mental health and wellbeing. During WMHD celebrations in Canberra, MMHA held a special awards ceremony for its National Multicultural Art Competition. It also invited Senator Brett Mason, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health & Ageing, to launch MMHA’s new series of mental health fact sheets. Here is part of the Senator’s speech:

Consumer Perspective

His family and friends describe him as a gentle giant. Santiago Chavez* is only 15 years old and already stands six-feet tall. But what actually triggered this warm, friendly and easygoing young man to be expelled from school and attempt to take his own life?

In My Opinion
Cross-Cultural Psychologist at the North Metropolitan Area Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in Western Australia, Vishal Maharaj.

inmyopinion is a feature column where we invite individuals from a range of backgrounds and disciplines to address a particular issue. In this article, Vishal Maharaj shares his thoughts on mental health and young people from CALD backgrounds. Vishal Maharaj is a Cross-Cultural Psychologist at the North Metropolitan Area Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in Western Australia. He works with CALD families living in Perth’s north metropolitan area that are experiencing severe mental health problems.

Child Carers Speak Out
Paola Mason from COMIC tells all

“My earliest memories of mum’s illness was a lot of confusion, sadness and at times a lot of fear.” Paola Mason was only six when she hid under her parents’ bed as men in white coats took her mother away. “I was really quite scared and I remember hands trying to pull me out from under the bed and someone just kept saying that mum was not well and she was going to hospital.”

A Carer Perspective
Young Carer: Julie

Imagine being a 15-year-old school student and caring for a parent living with a mental illness. That’s Julie’s story.

Young Refugees – Identity and Wellbeing
Eugenia Tsoulis OAM, Executive Director of the Migrant Resource Centre of South Australia

 

Book Review: The Bi-Polar Express reviewed by Vicki Katsifis
Vicki Katsifis

 

Reconnected through HomeBass
Youth Worker, Diana Smith

HomeBass Youth Café in Sydney’s Canterbury-Bankstown area has been welcoming young people through its doors for nearly 10 years.

A Cultural Celebration

Winners of MMHA's Inaugural Multicultural Art Competition 2007