Beenleigh’s Rotary Club will hold its first Lift the Lid walk for mental health awareness this month, joining dozens of Rotary Clubs across Australia.
Over the last year as Beenleigh Rotary Club president, Pravinita Singh-Pillay has focused on improving mental health outcomes in the community by providing spaces to talk about personal challenges.
“My passion is to give hope to people and to connect them to the right support services that are available for their mental health,” Ms Singh-Pillay said.
“I always say to my clients, ‘you need to be in counseling when a relationship ends, when someone you love passes away, or when you lose your employment.’ All of those are examples of mental health episodes we’re all going to have.
“I’ve lost my father in the last couple of years. That’s been a tragedy for me, and traumatic in that sense. So it touches us in many ways.”
The Lift the Lid initiative aims to shift social mindsets surrounding mental health, encouraging people to seek treatment.
“It’s actually a strength for you to be talking about what’s concerning you, and then getting the right help is what the focus should be,” Ms Singh-Pillay said.
Ms Singh-Pillay has worked as a family lawyer for the past 28 years and said mental health is strongly connected to domestic and family violence (DFV).
Experiencing DFV significantly increases the likelihood of developing long-term mental health issues, like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression, according to data released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Other research from the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists found that children who have witnessed DFV may experience high levels of anxiety and PTSD and lack an understanding of “how healthy relationships function.”
Ms Singh-Pillay said recent changes to Queensland’s family law would not have a dramatic impact, but recognise financial abuse and its impacts more substantially.
The new laws, which came into effect last week, have criminalised coercive control – defined by the government as patterns of physical or non-physical abuse which can include humiliation, intimidation, and isolation as a form of DFV.
If convicted, perpetrators face up to 14 years in prison.
Addressing DFV concerns early can improve mental health outcomes, Ms Singh-Pillay said.
“I can’t change people’s past in family law… but let’s work with the right team and move you forward into a future that you can have control over and manage on your terms.
“It’s not like one day we wake up and we’re feeling lost and useless and all that kind of stuff. There are a lot of contributing factors over time that add up to feeling that way.”
Funds raised by the Lift the Lid Walk will be donated to Australian Rotary Health to fund mental health research. The walk will be held at 10am on Sunday 8 June at Woodstock Farm, Tamborine.
