Youth camp normalises mental health
More than 120 youth took time out of their school holidays to attend zero2hero’s Camp Hero this month.
Over the past decade, more than 1,300 teens have attended the WA-based mental health organisation’s flagship Camp Hero LEADERSHIP program.
Throughout the five-day camp, the students are immersed in nature and empowered to learn how to support themselves, their peers and the world around them.
At the end of the week, they emerge equipped with the tools to be a mental health leader to ultimately help to prevent suicide in their communities.
John Williams, a business development manager, attended as a camp mentor which is a role to hold space for the camp attendees to support them through their journey.
“With suicide being the leading cause of death in the 15–44-year-old age group, it is essential that we normalise the conversation around mental health as early as possible,” he said.
“The camp experience creates an incredible safe space that facilitates a deeper learning than is possible in participants’ everyday worlds, so the impact it has on the young people is very powerful and they leave camp forever changed by the experience.”
The program is set up to give teenagers the skills to be mental health ambassadors in their communities and teaches them practical skills to identify the warning signs when those around them are struggling.
“The program delivers exercises specifically designed to slowly open them up and promote team bonding. Combining this with resilience challenges and sharing exercises builds bonds of trust with their fellow camp mates and the mentor team, which allows the young people to lean into their authenticity and empathy without fear of judgement and expectation,” John said.
Participants also take part in a nationally recognised program called safeTALK, which allows them to identify risk of suicide in others and guide them to the appropriate support.
“So, it’s not only having a positive impact on them, but the people in their friendship circles and communities too,” John said.
“As a mentor I always leave camp with the most profound sense of hope that these young people will make the world a fundamentally better place for having had the camp experience.”
Surveys show that around 80 per cent of young people aged 15–25 are more likely to talk and open up to their friends than a parent or primary caregiver.
“If we can normalise the conversation about mental health with our young people, then they won’t be afraid to put their hand up and ask for help when they are struggling,” John said.
“Putting young ambassadors into the community that have the skills to direct their friends to help is essential to help turn around the devastating number of young people we are losing to suicide every year and the effect that is having on our community.”
David Barry, a mentor who previously attended the camp as a student himself, said Camp Hero is unique in that it normalises conversations about mental health and suicide.
“While much of the narrative on mental health has changed in recent years, we often only see surface-level attempts to spark discussion and get young people engaged,” he said.
“The Camp Hero program gives a much deeper understanding of how to approach this conversation on mental health and suicide while also providing young people with the resiliency and confidence needed to have those difficult conversations,” David said.
“Most importantly, though, Camp Hero develops that knowledge in ways that actually sticks with the students. When you swap the classroom for a self-built raft in the middle of a watering hole, they tend to remember more.”
David said that Camp Hero “bursts that bubble” that young people create around their comfort zones with social media and their social networks. “Whether it be within a community on social media or through the same friends they’ve surrounded themselves with for years, they often stick to one routine or one identity as they begin to grow,” he said.
“Camp Hero encourages these young people into a new routine, to socialise with new people and to challenge themselves in ways they never thought they could.
Georgia, 16, who attended the camp this month, said she was able to “really connect with” the other people in her group.
“Camp Hero provides you with such a supportive environment where you can truly be yourself and let go of all the pressures from outside,” she said.
“It is a lifechanging experience in the best way possible, where you get to push yourself mentally and physically. You meet the best people who all have similar interests of genuinely wanting to help people and make the world a better place. I had an amazing time and would gladly go back in a heartbeat, and I would definitely recommend this camp to everyone.”
Georgia applied for this camp to learn about suicide prevention after she lost her uncle to suicide in 2017. “My family and friends have also struggled with their mental health so I really wanted to be a figure in their lives that they could go to,” she explained.
“Through the safeTALK course I learned to spot signs of when people may be struggling mentally and whether it may seem big or small, to always check if they’re having thoughts of suicide because that one question may be able to save someone’s life. This also taught me that you don’t always need the answers when you’re helping someone, you just need to be a safe space for them.”
Georgia said the program also enabled her to learn about herself and have a safe space to be vulnerable. “I didn’t expect to be as vulnerable as I was and how empowering and releasing it is to be vulnerable and let everything go. As I am someone who keeps everything bottled up and struggles to share my feelings, it was so refreshing to be able to do that. I felt like I have now found myself again and I am so much lighter and freer,” she said.
“This camp was the one of the biggest positive experiences of my life. The people you meet, the bonds you share with everyone, the person you find and release within yourself and the memories that will last lifetimes.”
To find out more about Camp Hero, please visit www.zero2hero.com.au.