In 2010, deaths on Victorian roads totalled 288. The number of Victorians who died from suicide was 531.
“There is much attention given to reducing the road toll in Victoria, but what most people don’t realise is that the suicide rate is much higher, yet is rarely mentioned,” said Rivendell student social worker Wes Baimbridge as the organisation launched a mural to highlight Mental Health Week, 7 to 13 October.
Rivendell is a community mental health program based in Healesville that helps people with mental health issues develop skills, knowledge and support networks for recovery.
Mr Baimbridge said Rivendell participants believed the suicide figure could be much lower if more awareness was raised around mental health and suicide.
“Becoming educated is the first step towards making a difference,” said Mr Baimbridge who said creative expression through art or music was just one of many activities recognised to be beneficial for mental health.
The mural by members of the Rivendell art group reproduces some great works of art, featuring famous faces and portraits sending a message that mental health is universal, and is everyone’s business.
“Many of the subjects in the paintings or the artists who painted them were known to have mental health issues, but regardless of that, were still able to achieve great things,” said Rivendell art teacher Olene Simon.
“By connecting and working together we are able to create something beautiful,” she said last week as the mural was hung on Rivendell’s Badger Creek Road fenceline. Mr Baimbridge said Mental Health Week was a good time for people to reflect on their own mental health and how well they looked after it.
The mural, on display on Rivendell’s Badger Creek Road fenceline, provides a mental cue for the community.
