5 - 12 October 2014To kick-start a national conversation about mental health across the wider community, the ABC is launching Mental As... The biggest ever cross-platform programming event conducted by the ABC, for Mental Health Week, 5-12 October 2014.

Across ABC TV, radio, online and mobile ABC Mental As... will take a look at mental health from all angles and perspectives, from comedy to documentary, entertainment to debate, as we aim to help join the dots on mental health in Australia.

The week will culminate in a two-hour, live, TV fundraising event Friday Night Crack Up on World Mental Health Day, Friday 10 October. Australia’s biggest personalities - comedians, actors, sportspeople, and musicians – will show their support for Mental As... and encourage Australians to take action, start talking, and give to mental health research.

ABC Director of Television Richard Finlayson said, “Mental health challenges are huge and touch so many Australian families, yet we still struggle to talk about it openly. Our week of ABC Mental As... programming will challenge stigmas and taboos; promote discussion, support and education; and inspire Australia to donate to mental health research.

“From the unique and ground-breaking documentary series Changing Minds and one-off special Felicity’s Mental Mission; to new comedy and entertainment including Timothy, The Agony of the Mind and Friday Night Crack Up; along with distinctive episodes of Q&A, Good Game, Gardening Australia and many more.”

ABC Mental As... will be supported by a number of high profile Australians across all networks including actress Deborah Mailman, Network Ten presenter Jessica Rowe, TV personality Rove McManus, designer Alex Perry, advertising guru Todd Sampson, musician Missy Higgins, actor Shane Jacobson and ABC presenters Jeremy Fernandez and Emma Alberici, who will act as ambassadors to raise awareness of the initiative and stimulate conversations.

abc.net.au/mentalas#mentalas

Why is the ABC supporting Mental Health Week?Mental illness affects every Australian. Half of us will experience a mental health issue directly while many others - as carers, families, friends and colleagues - will live with or witness its impact. It is an issue for us all.

ABC Managing Director, Mark Scott said, “The ABC has an important role in not only reporting national issues but also in leading discussion, debate and community awareness on the issues and challenges affecting Australians.

“Mental health is a significant matter affecting many Australians and the ABC would like to engage in a national discussion about this complex and wide-reaching topic.”

Mental Health in Australia – Facts and StatsAlmost half the total population (45.5%) experience a mental health disorder at some point in their lifetime.*1

One in five or 20% of the Australian population aged 16-85 years experienced a mental disorder in the previous 12 months [at the time of survey]. This is equivalent to 3.2 million Australians.*1

At least one third of young people have had an episode of mental illness by the age of 25 years.*1

The prevalence of mental disorders declines with age: from 1 in 4 young people (16-24) to 1 in 20 (75-85 years).*1

Depression and anxiety are the most prevalent mental disorders experienced by Australians. Depression alone is predicted to be one of the world’s largest health problems by 2020.*1

Around one million Australian adults and 100,000 young people live with depression each year. On average, one in five people will experience depression in their lives; one in four females and one in six males.*1

In the last census, 2,273 deaths by suicide were registered in Australia. This compares with 1,543 deaths by motor vehicle accident for the same period.*2

In the last census, suicide accounted for more than a quarter (27.8%) of all deaths amongst young men aged 15 to 24.*2

1. Mental Health Australia - Statistics on Mental Health Fact Sheet. http://mhaustralia.org/fact-

sheets/statistics-mental-health-fact-sheet

2. Life – Fact Sheet 3 Statistics on Suicide in Australia http://www.livingisforeveryone.com.

au/uploads/LIFE_fact_sheet_3_final.pdf

No-one’s life is untouched by mental illness and the more we talk about it the better equipped we all are to help those around

us. The isolation, fear and stigma around mental illness is the first thing that needs to go and the ABC’s Mental As... initiative is a

great, practical way to help.

“

“Rove McManus

Friday Night Crack Up

Put on your dancing shoes, frock up and get ready to laugh when you join us for a wonderful evening of entertainment coinciding with World Mental Health Day on October 10.  Our two hour live-to-air variety show, Friday Night Crack Up, will bring you singing, dancing, comedy and personalities - from across all the Australian TV networks - doing things you never expected they could, or would! Hosted by Eddie Perfect, this night of fundraising fun will feature a fabulous line-up of Australia’s biggest personalities, comedians, actors and sportspeople with games, music and big band action.

Broadcast live in front of a studio audience, Friday Night Crack Up is the main event in a week of compelling programming for Mental Health Week as ABC goes Mental As... All the funds raised during the program will go to support mental health research. 

At some time in our lives it’s highly likely we’ll be touched by mental illness, either directly or indirectly, so getting together and taking action now is extremely important.  Friday Night Crack Up wants to be part of a nationwide conversation about mental health and will encourage viewers to donate to mental health research. Plan a big night in! Be prepared to be surprised and entertained by this one-off TV fundraising event.

Friday Night Crack Up screens during ABC Mental As... A week-long initiative in support of Mental Health Week which aims to encourage Australians to start talking about mental illness and to give to mental health research. Visit abc.net.au/mentalas to show your support and make a contribution.

Production details:An ABC TV production.

FRIDAY 10 OCTOBER 7.30PM ABC ENTERTAINMENT (1X120’)

For more information contact:

Cat Bocking

P: 02 8333 4250

M. 0405 949 854

E: bocking.catherine@abc.net.au

abc.net.au/mentalas#mentalas #crackup

Changing Minds

For the first time in Australian television history, a documentary series has been filmed inside one of the busiest mental health units in the country.

Brave, raw and sometimes funny, the three-part series Changing Minds goes behind the locked doors of Liverpool Hospital’s Mental Health Unit to meet the patients and staff who are challenging the stigma and taboos that exist around mental illness. Patients agreed to be filmed while mentally unwell and then consented formally once they recovered their health. Their stories reveal the realities of 21st century psychiatric care.

Over the series we meet… Patrick, a high flying IT specialist who clung to the bull bar of a speeding truck for 20 minutes during a manic episode; Sandra, the loveable grandmother who loses her grip on reality after the death of her brother; Rebecca, who’s convinced she needs a psychic not a psychiatrist to help her; and Steven, as he prepares to undergo possibly psychiatry’s most misunderstood treatment: electroconvulsive therapy.

Changing Minds follows these patients as they, with the help of the staff, work towards regaining their health. By following Clinical Director Dr Mark Cross and his team, taboos are challenged, stigmas confronted and the message is clear – help is available. Mental illness is just that, an illness, not a defect of character.

Changing Minds screens during ABC Mental As... A week long initiative in support of Mental Health Week which aims to encourage Australians to start talking about mental illness and to give to mental health research. Visit abc.net.au/mentalas to show your support and make a contribution.

Production Details:Eye Spy Productions. Executive producer: Karina Holden.

TUESDAY 7, WEDNESDAY 8 AND THURSDAY 9 OCTOBER 8.30PM ABCDOCUMENTARY (3X60’)

For more information contact:

Chris Chamberlin

P: 02 8333 2154

M. 0404 075 749

E: chamberlin.chris@abc.net.au

abc.net.au/mentalas#mentalas #changingminds

Mental illness is very real and its effects can be enormously debilitating and devastating.

People need to keep talking, they need support, understanding

and validation. Feeling isolated is horrible and a common symptom

of the disease, that’s why Mental Health Week is so valuable in our community. Let’s face it. We’re all a bit mental so we all have

something to add!

“

“

Justine Clarke

Timothy

Melinda (Denise Scott) and Colin Garrett’s (Peter Rowsthorn) 35-year-old son Timothy (Stephen Curry) has returned to Wollongong. Unfortunately, his homecoming is under less than stellar circumstances, the result of bankruptcy and a mental breakdown in his former life as a corporate high-flyer in Hong Kong.

Apart from permanently sporting an old dressing gown, Timothy doesn’t show many signs of the breakdown that landed him back in Wollongong. Timothy’s therapist, however, insists that he is very fragile.

He drives his mother Melinda up the wall, rearranging her entire household, including the items in the kitchen according to buoyancy. He practices martial arts on the clothes line and only eats freshly killed Silver Carp which has to be procured on the Asian black market.

As much as Melinda would like the therapist to be wrong, she discovers that whenever she tries to gently “nudge” Timothy to change his ways, he is indeed worryingly delicate.

The road to recovery is long. That is, if recovery ever comes at all. And the road is paved with relapses, murdered Silver Carp and grandchildren who may never be able to visit again.

Timothy screens during ABC Mental As... A week long initiative in support of Mental Health Week which aims to encourage Australians to start talking about mental illness and to give to mental health research. Visit abc.net.au/mentalas to show your support and make a contribution.

WEDNESDAY 8 OCTOBER AT 9.30PM ABCCOMEDY (1X30’)

For more information contact:

Tracey Taylor

P: 03 9524 2313

M. 0419 528 213

E: taylor.tracey@abc.net.au abc.net.au/mentalas#mentalas #timothy

Production details:Quail Television. Executive Producer: Greg Quail. Director: Erin White (It’s a Date, At Home with Julia). Producer: Michelle Hardy (Emmy winner for #7DaysLater). Writer: Tristram Baumber.

Agony Of The Mind

Last time our Agony Aunts and Uncles took us through The Agony of Modern Manners – charting our behavior at work, at home, dinner, traveling, online, weddings and funerals. It was a funny, bombastic and controversial examination of human behavior.

Now the team has regrouped and refreshed its play list and is back for a one-off special episode to examine the Agony of the Mind. From maintaining happiness, to dealing with anxiety, addiction and stress, our Aunts and Uncles will be asked to reveal their mental weaknesses as well as their techniques for overcoming them. This is not a show that deals with crippling disorders. Instead, it looks at how we get out of bed every morning – our tricks for being successful, how to get back up after a fall, and affirmations for staying on track.

The Agony Aunts and Uncles include  Jack Charles, Tom and John Elliott, Dawn Fraser, Jess Harris, Dave Hughes, Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Andrew Knight, Pat McGorry, Lawrence Mooney, Fiona O’Laughlin, Dave O’Neil, Sam Pang, Tim Ross, Yumi Stynes, Chrissie Swan and Julia Zemiro.

Agony of the Mind screens during ABC Mental As... A week long initiative in support of Mental Health Week which aims to encourage Australians to start talking about mental illness and to give to mental health research. Visit abc.net.au/mentalas to show your support and make a contribution.

Production details:A co-production between High Wire Films and the ABC.

THURSDAY 9 OCTOBER 9.30PM ABCENTERTAINMENT (1X60’)

For more information contact:

Yasmin Kentera

P: 03 9524 2629

M. 0418 813 071

E: kentera.yasmin@abc.net.au

abc.net.au/mentalas#mentalas #agonyofthemind

“Mental illness is something that I, my family and countless close friends

have struggled with over the years. It is one of the most common, yet most untalked-of, things in our society and

that has to change. ABC’s Mental As... is encouraging a dialogue about it, and I

think that’s excellent. There is no shame in depression, or anxiety, or any mental illness. It is not a sign of weakness, only that you are human. Let’s get rid of the stigma and replace it with compassion.

“

“Missy Higgins

Felicity’s Mental Mission

In Felicity’s Mental Mission multi-award winning comedian Felicity Ward takes up the challenge of breaking down the stigmas around mental health. It’s a subject that Felicity feels well equipped to explore - she lives with anxiety and a few years ago wrote about it in her comedy show Honestly.

Teaming up with The Mental Health Council of Australia, Felicity bravely takes on a mission to get 3,000 promises on their online ‘promise wall’. If her campaign is successful, she promises to face her fears and fly upside down in a stunt plane.

Along the way, we meet some of her comic friends such as Celia Pacquola, Rhys Nicholson and Sammy J & Randy, as well as talking to musician Missy Higgins and Rapper 360 who have both had their own experience of mental illness. Felicity also finds out about, and even participates in, some of the latest research around mental illness.

In Felicity’s Mental Mission we witness how anxiety affects Felicity first hand with the filming taking place in the middle of her hectic national comedy tour and her comedy routine is intercut throughout. Her cheeky observations and interactions take us on an entertaining, candid and thought-provoking journey into the world of mental illness.

Felicity’s Mental Mission screens during ABC Mental As... A week long initiative in support of Mental Health Week which aims to encourage Australians to start talking about mental illness and to give to mental health research. Visit abc.net.au/mentalas to show your support and make a contribution.

MONDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 8.30PM ABC2DOCUMENTARY (1X60’)

For more information contact:

Bridget Stenhouse

P: 02 8333 3847

M: 0466 541 642

E: stenhouse.bridget@abc.net.auabc.net.au/mentalas#mentalas #mentalmission

Production details:Created and executive produced by Jennifer Collins from Screentime. Produced and directed by Heather Nash

My Great Big Adventure

Kayne Tremills is back for another exciting series of My Great Big Adventure and this time he’s bringing some friends along. Steph, Takaya and Nancy join the My Great Big Adventure team and their first big challenge is to understand mental health and what it means to young Australians.

My Great Big Adventure drops in on a group of 10 to 14-year-olds discussing mental health, with no grown-ups around. These young Australians share their personal insights into mental health and discuss the big questions: What is mental health? Does it mean you’re crazy? Who can help? What do I do if my friends or family members are suffering? And what can I do if it happens to me? Inspired by their courage and honesty, Kayne sets himself an overarching challenge to break the silence surrounding mental health and get more young Australians talking about it.

With the help of one of Australia’s top musical acts, Kayne decides to organise a teenage Flash Mob at a local high school. He’s convinced that with the right song and the right dance, the event will go viral and send a powerful message that talking about mental health is healthy. But can the My Great Big Adventure team pull it off?

My Great Big Adventure screens during ABC Mental As... A week long initiative in support of Mental Health Week which aims to encourage Australians to start talking about mental illness and to give to mental health research. Visit abc.net.au/mentalas to show your support and make a contribution.

MONDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 5.20PM ABC3KIDS (1X30’)

For more information contact:

Amy Reiha

P: 02 8333 3874

M. 0404 026 039

E: Reiha.amy@abc.net.auabc.net.au/mentalas#mentalas #MGBA

Production details:Fred Bird Entertainment

Mental Health is as real as physical and nutritional

health. You just can’t see it like the others, but if you listen hard enough, you

can definitely hear it!

“ “Kayne Tremills

Tempest At The Drop In

Narrated by Eric Bana, Tempest at the Drop-In follows mentally ill and socially isolated members of the community as they stage a professional production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest alongside professional actors John Bolton, Brian Lipson, Bagriana Popov and Joseph Sherman.

Filmed over 12 months, Tempest at the Drop-In is an intimate and unique insight into the daily lives of Pat, Marlene, Abdul, Matt, Brian, Stewart, Chris, Mark, Mary Grace and Jenene who all live with a mental illness and attend drama classes at the St Kilda Drop-In Centre. We also meet Sharon Kirschner, a young psychologist and drama teacher with big hair and an even bigger heart.

Tempest at the Drop-In follows this unusual cast as they rehearse and finally mount their production. Despite the hardships, the walkouts, nerves, misunderstandings and the tears, there’s an enormous amount of laughter and fulfilment on this roller coaster of a ride.

Tempest at the Drop-In explores the complex and often misunderstood subject of mental illness with honesty, humour and hope.

Tempest at the Drop-In screens during ABC Mental As... A week long initiative in support of Mental Health Week which aims to encourage Australians to start talking about mental illness and to give to mental health research. Visit abc.net.au/mentalas to show your support and make a contribution.

SUNDAY 12 OCTOBER AT 10.30PM ABCARTS (1X80’)

For more information contact:

Kim Bassett

P: 03 9524 2580

M: 0409 600 456

E: bassett.kim@abc.net.auabc.net.au/mentalas#mentalas #tempestatthedropin

Production details:Director/Producer: Sue Thomson. Editor: Uri Mizrahi. Co-Producer: Brian Nankervis and Associate Producer: Marnie Foulis.

“

“Jeremy Fernandez

Mental wellbeing is something to be cherished and fostered

by all of us. For too long, good people have suffered the effects of mental illness in silence and shame. We all have a stake in

reaching-out and bringing this issue to light, that we may strive

for wellness with open eyes.

Sunday Best: Diaries Of A Broken Mind

Lifting the lid on teenage mental health, Diaries of a Broken Mind tells the first-hand experiences of 25 young people as they navigate the rocky road of growing up with mental health issues.

Intimate and thought provoking, this bold documentary follows 25 young contributors as they use handheld cameras to film themselves over six months, telling their stories in their own words. The result is a collection of unique journeys showing the everyday challenges of relationships, education and social stigma.

Their illnesses are wide-ranging – from multiple personalities to agoraphobia and anorexia – and they take a mindboggling number of pills to tackle them. “These are all the tablets I’m currently taking… there’s quite a lot!” says one. With side effects including cancer and sudden death, many dream of a life without medication.

Diaries of a Broken Mind screens during ABC Mental As... A week long initiative in support of Mental Health Week which aims to encourage Australians to start talking about mental illness and to give to mental health research. Visit abc.net.au/mentalas to show your support and make a contribution.

SUNDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 8.30PM ABC2DOCUMENTARY (1X90’)

For more information contact:

Bridget Stenhouse

P: 02 8333 3847

M: 0466 541 642

E: stenhouse.bridget@abc.net.au

Production details:Firecracker Films for BBC Three.

abc.net.au/mentalas#mentalas #brokenmind

“

“Todd Sampson

Just as the brain demands to be respected because of its unfathomable capability, so

does mental illness. It’s simply the other side of the coin that is equally scary, wondrous and

important.

STUDIO 3Monday to Friday at 5.00pm ABC3

Throughout ABC Mental As... Studio 3 hosts James, Tim, Grace, Liv and Ivy will confide to the viewers what they do to make themselves feel better. They then carry out their preferred activity with a bunch of new friends.

RAGESaturday 4 October at 11.20pm ABC

Celebrating music as something that helps people through tough times, Rage is inviting a wide variety of people from all walks of life to choose songs that have seen them through a difficult period in their lives.

AUSTRALIAN STORYMonday 6 October at 8.00pm ABC

I Am Jack is the heart-warming story of radio and TV personality Ian ‘Dano’ Rogerson and his wife Nicole, who gave up their home, careers and an exciting lifestyle for the love of their son, Jack. Back in 1999 when Jack was diagnosed with autism, there was little help available, but the Rogersons were determined to do whatever they could to enable their son to lead a mainstream lifestyle and now those efforts are being richly rewarded. Now at 18, Jack is graduating from high school and looking forward to a career in the hospitality industry.

Q&AMonday 6 October at 9.35pm ABC

Mental health services – like all services – are less accessible to people living in rural and regional Australia but the problems are just as serious: in fact they can be exacerbated by loneliness, economic uncertainty and limited access to all sorts of support and services. This special episode of Q&A will give Australians outside the big cities the chance to put their issues on the national agenda.

GOOD GAMETuesday 7 October at 8.30pm ABC2

Videogames are often a scapegoat when it comes to explaining anti-social behaviour, but there’s increasing evidence to show that games can play a beneficial role in our mental health.  ABC2’s Good Game will be taking a look at the transformative power of videogames as a medium that connects people and helps us develop the potent mental tools we need to tackle our own personal problems in this special episode for ABC Mental As...

THE BOOK CLUBTuesday 7 October at 10.00pm ABC

Jennifer Byrne, Marieke Hardy and Jason Steger plus two special guest panellists discuss new Australian novel, The Wonders by Paddy O’Reilly. This new release promises to challenge our ideas about celebrity, disability and the value of human life. Jennifer brings along a favourite, Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time which is narrated by Christopher John Francis Boone, a young boy whose symptoms and behaviour suggest he has a mild form of autism. However, Haddon has written that “Curious Incident is not a book about Asperger’s... if anything it’s a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way”. 

CATALYSTThursday 9 October 8.00pm ABC

Friendship. From before we can even speak, we seek the companionship of others. But why – why is this drive so powerful? And how come out of all the people we meet in our lives, we fall in friendship with some and not others? In this big-hearted, personal and often surprising Catalyst special, reporter Dr Jonica Newby dives deep into the complex world of our friendships.

GARDENING AUSTRALIASaturday 11 October 6.30pm ABC

This special episode of Gardening Australia takes a look at gardening as therapy. Jane Edmanson visits a garden project creating social connections and employment opportunities for refugees in Melbourne’s West. Angus Stewart visits a small business where workers are encouraged to spend some time working with plants to help prevent stress in the office. And Tino Carnevale looks at how veggie beds in The Patch, at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, provide a healthy outlet for diverse community groups.

COMPASS: RIVER TO RECOVERYSunday 12 October 6.30pm ABC

Follows an ambitious scheme helping people with mental health issues to build confidence, self-esteem and trust, and turn their lives around. Over two years the students on the “River to Recovery” course built their own boats and rowed them down the River Murray, learning about individual rights, the ability to be assertive, the compassion to care for each other and listen, and the strength to find their own voice. Now the students have become mentors themselves as they introduce a new group of people living with mental health issues to the joys of messing about on the River Murray.

ABC NEWS 24: MENTAL HEALTH MINUTESABC News 24 will broadcast a series of Mental Health Minutes throughout ABC Mental As...  Dr Norman Swan will give tips on how to stay mentally healthy by dealing with day to day stress using mindfulness, resilience, goal setting and exercise.

Around the ABCABC OPEN: SPEAK YOUR MINDabc.net.au/mentalas

With one in five Australians experiencing mental health issues each year, it’s vital that personal stories of survival and resilience are told.

In 2014, the ABC Open Speak Your Mind project invited people living with mental illness to share their stories. By opening a conversation about mental health, the project aimed to show that we’re all in this together.

A selection of the stories submitted to Speak Your Mind were produced into short video documentaries for the ABC2 and iview series also titled Speak Your Mind, airing during ABC Mental As...

ABC RADIOabc.net.au/mentalas

Throughout ABC Mental As... Radio National’s Life Matters and triple j’s Hack programs take deep dives into a diverse cross-section of mental health topics, covering everything  from exercise and mental health to discussion surrounding disclosure of mental health at work.

All in the Mind looks at new research into schizophrenia and what we still need to discover.

Classic FM creates a playlist to relax the mind and soothe the soul while Local Radio has Tony Delroy’s Nightlife and Overnights with Rod Quinn dedicating segments during the week.

Each day ABC Radio brings you a mentally healthy habit presented by a Mental As... Ambassador.

More great ABC Mental As... radio programming to be announced close to date.

ABC NEWS ONLINEabc.net.au/mentalas

An ABC Mental As... special for ABC News Online. What happens to a person’s identity when the person they used to be doesn’t exist anymore?  Kumi Taguchi sets out to tell the story of a hospital in Melbourne with a unique set of patients: returned soldiers who are suffering from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

It took a while to gain access to the facility, but after dozens of emails and phone calls over the space of a year, Kumi found herself spending the best part of a fortnight being a fly-on-the-wall in the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital. She spoke to clinicians and psychologists and spent time in Ward 17. She took part in an art therapy class, discovered the Kokoda gym and sat in a quiet chapel. And she waited for patients to tell their stories.

Eventually, she spoke to six men aged between 29 and 50, who shared their nightmares and journeys with PTSD.  What Kumi learned along the way was unexpected: that underlying this illness is a search for identity and meaning, and perhaps a re-think of what ‘sacrifice’ means in the context of war.

Kumi Taguchi’s work will be an online piece, a medium she believes is ideal for the intimate subject matter, and to preserve the privacy of those who were kind enough to share the most defining moments of their lives with her.

ABC SPLASHabc.net.au/mentalas

ABC Splash is putting a call out to students to participate in the initiative ‘Lend a hand for Being Me’ during ABC Mental As... It is a project about self esteem, to encourage a conversation in both primary and secondary education about the importance of valuing who you are beneath all you do.

The project asks for students to draw a picture of their hand, around their hand, do a photocopy of their hand or even draw on their actual hand, and all the things they think make them ‘them’. The challenge of the focus will be to differentiate between who they are and what they are good at.

When they are done, if they take a picture of their artwork and send it to ABC Splash we’ll display their artwork on our amazing wall of Being Me!

ABC HEALTHabc.net.au/mentalas

ABC Health will explore online:

What is mental health? (feature article)You probably know what it means to be physically healthy. But what is good mental health? And how do you know if you have it?

Mental health myths (series of articles)When it comes to mental health there’s no shortage of misinformation; we take a look at a number of mental health myths and ask the experts to help us separate the fact from the fiction.

Talking the black dog (online graphic novel presentation)Would you know what to say to a young person with depression? We take a whimsical look at the things you should (and shouldn’t) say to someone who you think might be struggling with depression. This is collaboration with the ABC News Interactive Storytelling Unit.

Support Mental Health ResearchMake a donationThe ABC wants to fuel conversation, challenge stigma and help join the dots on mental health in Australia. Almost half the total population (45.5%) will experience a mental health disorder at some point in their lifetime and the rest are likely to feel its impact.

Make a donation and support the quest for better mental health solutions. Help support leading researchers in developing breakthroughs in preventing, diagnosing and treating mental ill health, make a contribution to fund mental health research today. Visit abc.net.au/mentalas.

Art AuctionHigh profile Australian and New Zealand artists Ben Quilty, Fiona Lowry, Richard Bell, Dan Boyd, Reg Mombassa, Robert Malherbe, Leah Fraser, Tim Sharp, Euan MacLeod and del Kathryn Barton have also thrown their support behind ABC Mental As... Each has provided an artwork that explores the theme of mental illness for an online auction. Money raised at auction will go towards mental health fundraising efforts. You can find out more about the artists and their works, and make a donation by visiting abc.net.au/mentalas and clicking on Art Auction.

Where the funds will go...The ABC is working with Patrick McGorry (2010 Australian of the Year for his services to youth mental health) in his role as President of the Society for Mental Health Research, the national peak body for psychiatric and mental health research in Australia and New Zealand. The goal is to help raise fund to support mental health research in Australia.

Professor Patrick McGorry said, “We need a national research effort to match cancer and cardiovascular disease. The funds raised through ABC Mental As... will be invested in mental health research, funding Australia’s next generation of emerging research leaders to seek breakthroughs, progress and cures.”

Calendar

Monday 6 October10am

5pm

5.20pm

8pm

8pm

8.20pm

8.30pm

9.30pm

BTN Mental Health Special

Studio 3

My Great Big Adventure S2 Special

Australian Story: I Am Jack

MY: 24 Lyndsey and My Great Big Adventure S1: Happiness

Speak Your Mind 5min ABC Open Interstitial

Felicity’s Mental Mission

9.35pm Q&A

Sunday 5 October8pm

6.30pm

8.30pm

MY: 24 Fablice and My Great Big Adventure S1: Identity

Compass: The Moral Compass

Sunday Best: Diaries of a Broken Mind

Saturday 4 October11.20pm Rage

Sunday Best: Diaries of a Broken Mind (encore)

Suicide and Me

10pm

Calendar

Thursday 9 October

8pm

8pm

8.20pm

10.30pm

Catalyst

MY: 24 Mikey and My Great Big Adventure S2 Special (encore)

Speak Your Mind 5min ABC Open Interstitial

The Sunnyboys

9.30pm Timothy

Wednesday 8 October

8.20pm Speak Your Mind 5min ABC Open Interstitial)

Tuesday 7 October5pm

8.20pm

8.30pm

8.30pm

9.30pm

9.30pm

10pm

Studio 3

Speak Your Mind 5min ABC Open Interstitial)

Changing Minds

Good Game: Mental As

At The Movies

Please Like Me

The Book Club

8pmMY: 24 Madeline and My Great Big Adventure S1: Body Image

5pm Studio 3

8pmMY: 24 Coen and My Great Big Adventure S1: Disability

8.30pm Changing Minds

5pm Studio 3

8.30pm Changing Minds

9.30pm Agony of the Mind

Calendar

Sunday 12 October

6.30pm

10.30pm

Compass: River to Recovery

Tempest and the Drop-In

Saturday 11 OctoberFriday 10 October5pm

8.20pm

Studio 3

Speak Your Mind 5min ABC Open Interstitial

7.30pm Friday Night Crack Up

6.30pm Gardening Australia

8.20pm

12pm Landline

Friday Night Crack Up(encore)

6pm Landline