Mental Health Victoria welcomes the announcement of the Hon Gabrielle Williams MP, who was sworn in today as the new Minister for Mental Health.

People in crisis are already under great pressure. Not only are their emotions and thoughts in turmoil, they’re likely to be suffering physical symptoms as well. Reaching out via a crisis line may be the only action they have energy to do.

The musical Hamilton describes the death of a child as a “a suffering too terrible to name”. For over 40 years the Compassionate Friends Victoria (TCFV) have been confronting that suffering head on.

People who hear voices can face an especially acute degree of stigma. They might be viewed as potentially angry or violent, driven to dark places by demons that whisper in their ears. “That’s not the case at all,” says Mind Australia’s Kate Drinan.

Mental Health Victoria commends the Victorian Government for extending funding for the Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs.

Nicotine is a highly addictive substance — so addictive, in fact, that use of quit-smoking aids such as patches or gum can cause an addiction. It’s no wonder, then, that people who are coping with mental ill-health put ‘quit smoking’ at the bottom of their to-do list.