WORLD Suicide Prevention Day will once again acknowledge and remember those who died by suicide.
On Wednesday, September 10, Lifeline South East will encourage the community to walk nine kilometres, or as far as possible, to honour the nine lives lost to suicide everyday in Australia.
The annual Out of the Shadows Walk aims to honour and remember those who died by suicide while showing support for those experiencing emotional distress or mental illness.
Lifeline South East chief executive officer Leah Griffin said it was also about bringing conversations about suicide into the light which could play a big role in breaking down stigma.
“It is a community event and we will be talking openly and non-judgementally about mental health and suicide and stimulating a sense of belonging and connectedness because it is okay to not be okay,” Ms Griffin said.
“It is all about the community being involved, everybody having a role to play in having these conversations and openly and honestly, suicide does not discriminate, it can happen to anybody and anybody can be affected and about bringing those conversations out into the open.”
Ms Griffin said she was encouraging people to do a walk of choice in order to support the event with the ultimate aim being to bring attention to the case.
“We encourage anybody who is not feeling themselves to reach out to somebody, whether that be a family member of Lifeline and just be kind to one another,” she said.
“It is really important to just be kind, we never know what anybody is going through and we do not know what peoples stories are so we should be consistently kind to others and encourage others to keep seeking help.”
Donations will also be accepted with just $39 funding a life-saving call with a Lifeline Crisis Supporter while $50 can cover two text conversations and $100 can support a one-hour virtual face-to-face session with a trained counsellor.
In addition to the walk, this year participants can pledge to walk 63km between September 10 and 16 to remember and honour the 63 Australians lost to suicide each week.
The Out of the Shadows Walk will begin at the Railway Lands from 7.30am on September 10.
Those needing further assistance are able to contact Mount Gambier Medicare Mental Health Centre on 8724 7696 or a Lifeline Crisis Supporter on 13 11 14 or text 0477 131 114.
Lifeline support toolkits are available on the Lifeline website.
