When Winona started high school, she noticed she was having a tough time with her mental health. Despite knowing there was something not right, being in a rural town in NSW meant that seeking support for her mental health wasn’t easy.
“The closest town with a mental health service was one-and-a-half hours away, and we had no public transport service either,” Winona said. “I was surrounded by a small-town mentality, and I didn’t fit – I felt like an outsider and quite alone.”
It wasn’t until Winona moved to Orange that she found headspace.
“It was so helpful to have a space that was designed just for youth,” Winona said. “As soon as you walk in, there’s a welcoming face and you can sit in silence with a staff member if that’s what you need. I could take things at my own pace. headspace is a service that takes young people’s needs into consideration and helps them to find ways through.”
Winona now works as a peer worker at headspace Orange, where she uses her lived experience of mental ill-health to support others in the community. She says people come to headspace for a whole range of reasons.
“It might not be mental health services that a young person needs – it might be careers counselling, or just chatting online - not necessarily in person. At my local headspace, we have gaming groups where people can just come in and build community and connection.”
Winona is now a passionate advocate for creating greater accessibility to mental health services for young people in rural areas.
“The younger version of me didn’t have her voice heard and now I want to help others who might be feeling the same way and let them know that they are heard, and support is available.”
headspace is Australia’s National Youth Mental Health Foundation, providing early intervention mental health services to 12-25 year olds.
Read other stories of people just like Winona who have been touched by mental illness here.
