Get Real: Talking mental health & disability
Get Real presents frank and fearless conversations about mental health and disability, including people with lived experience, frontline workers in the sector, as well as policymakers and advocates. Get Real is produced and hosted by Emily Webb and co-hosted by Karenza Louis-Smith on behalf of Meridia, which brings together not-for-profit mental health, disability and employment services provider organisations including The Disability Trust, ermha365, OC Connections, Marriott Services, Bedford and embarc.
Get Real: Talking mental health & disability
Episode 18: Lived Experience series (Part 5), Yvonne Sillett: The Power of Sharing Your Story in Mental Health Recovery from LGBTIQ+ discrimination
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Discrimination, in all its forms, is unacceptable. People who discriminate, and the structures and systems that allow this to happen, must be called out. Discrimination causes people to lose their self-confidence, make them feel like outsiders – not part of the team; the anger that arises from being ‘othered’ can lead to depression and even suicidal thoughts.
In this fifth episode of our Lived Experience series, special guest Yvonne Sillett talks about the overt, systemic and intense discrimination she experienced as a lesbian woman in the Australian Army, which left her angry, depressed and at times suicidal. While significant reforms have occurred in the Army and society as a whole over the past two decades, LGBTIQ Victorians continue to experience inequalities. Of particular concern is data on increased rates of depression, psychological distress, self-harm and suicidal ideation. When compared with the rest of the population, LGBTIQ+ people are twice as likely to experience anxiety, and three times as likely to experience depression and related disorders, largely due to the inequalities they experience based on sexuality.
Listen to how Yvonne coped, and how she became even more resilient. Hear how sharing her story not only helped others, but also helped her heal. Yvonne has also participated in two books: Serving in Silence! (which her story is in) and also the recently released titled Pride in Defence, both written by Noah Riseman and Shirleen Robinson.
If you have found any of this discussion distressing, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
- For additional mental health support go to: ermha365 - https://www.ermha.org/mental-health-services/
- Lifeline: 13 11 14 https://www.lifeline.org.au/
- SANE Forums - https://ermha.saneforums.org/
Meridia represents the next evolution of a group of long-standing and trusted social service organisations working across disability, mental health, employment, community inclusion, social enterprise, allied health and clinical services.
Together, we bring organisations including The Disability Trust, ermha365, OC Connections, Marriott Support Services, Bedford and embarc into a more connected and future-focused structure.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14
QLIFE 1800 184 527
13 YARN 13 92 76
Suicide Callback Service 1300 659 467
Meridia acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
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