As I start to write this article, I can see a sign in our office window advertising a Recovery Café. The poster quotes Johann Hari: “The opposite of addiction is not sobriety; it’s connection”, and the strapline is “We Are With You”. The sign reminds me of what Soot Semee listeners had to say about the importance of connection. Listeners I met when I visited the Soot Semee project in Northern Uganda, told me that Soot Semee helped them with trauma recovery by encouraging listeners to build connections with others.

I have to admit, I sometimes struggle to imagine how community-led radio could be effective in such a complex topic as trauma healing. I’m probably not alone in that.

So when this listener told me her story, I was encouraged and also a bit curious …

“Before Soot Semee, I was one person who could just be sitting on my veranda and I could just be crying. But now, I started listening to Soot Semee, and I heard messages that were able to help my heart.”

You couldn’t help but feel moved by her story. I also wondered how the radio programmes had had such a deep effect.

You can certainly imagine a radio programme being effective in other areas of health. For example a presenter can provide parents with instructions on how to treat children’s diarrhoea using home-made oral rehydration salts. But a radio presenter cannot similarly say, “today we tell you how to make a medicine that heals trauma.”

Trauma is described as:

“events or circumstances experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening, which result in adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and well-being”.^[1]

It is deeply individual, and often sub-consciously experienced. One person may try to feel better through substance misuse, another may withdraw from social interaction. Still others may show no external effect until something or someone triggers the same feelings of fear or harm as in the original event. South Sudanese refugees have faced community violence and war which in itself leads to many different causes of trauma. Many South Sudanese women have been subjected to rape or other sexual violence by armed groups^[2]. Others may have witnessed the murder of friends. Forced separation from family and an unwanted move to a new country also causes trauma. The broad range of causes and effects can make trauma recovery very complex. Despite the complexity, the listeners shared some observations from their recovery journeys.

The woman above continued her story:

“And I could now be joined by other people. Initially I was that person who used to sit alone but now, with the coming together as a group I work together and this helps me so much. Initially I always prayed is there someone who will sometime listen to some of the issues that we go through.”

Another man spoke and said:

“All these years I have been staying here, just like a tree that is not having leaves. I am one person when I sit at my place, just alone, I feel there is nothing anymore, I am just alone. But when this radio* came, I felt like I saw Jesus with my eyes. I used to have a lot of thoughts and trauma, but now, all these thoughts have vanished.”

As I say, I was curious. What was it about the radio programmes that they had this effect? After the group finished sharing their stories I came back to this question. The first woman told me:

“Some of the programmes have advice about trauma, and others call the people to come together and share their issues as a group. When you are alone it is very hard, but when you hear from someone’s experience it helps a lot.”

I heard other stories from the listeners who tried to cope with trauma using alcohol, or violence. Each of them told a story of feeling like they were alone, but through the radio programmes, or being invited to join a listener group, they began to reconnect with people and feel valued.

People working in trauma-informed practice talk about the importance of safety, trust, collaboration and connection in supporting people suffering from trauma^[3]. Soot Semee’s Council of Reference, the listener groups, and our partners Community Development Centre, who helped Omugo community create the Soot Semee programmes, are working hard to create this safe environment for reconnecting.

I’m learning that trauma recovery is a journey, perhaps best travelled with others. It seems like the Soot Semee folks are also living out the strapline “We are with you”.

Getting to know a Soot Semee listener group, Omugo 4, Uganda. Feb 2023

* Soot Semee provides weekly programmes as MP3 files. Listener groups listen to the programmes on Speakerboxes, or digital audio players. The Omugo community members call Soot Semee a radio programme, and call the speakerboxes, radios.

The post Connecting people aids trauma recovery appeared first on Amplifying Voices.

Image: Local Geraldton mum, Chelsea, with her 12 week old baby, who was involved in the project. HCR, 2022

This update was originally posted on the HCR website.

The post World Maternal Mental Health Day appeared first on Amplifying Voices.

HCR is helping the Geraldton Suicide Prevention Action Group to share their personal stories about mental health to raise awareness in the region, as well as promoting a big project they are working on (the videos below say it all). By utilising social capital in the community, the story is spreading with more and more people hearing about the project and the reason behind it. As the project continues those involved are gaining confidence in spreading their story, which is empowerment in action.

To follow this journey, check out the Geraldton Suicide Prevention Action Group Facebook page here.

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Our HCR team, Dane Waters and Celeste Larkins, based in Geraldton, travel to communities in the Mid West, Murchison and Gascoyne and support the community to address local issues through community media. They know too well that mental health and suicide prevention is a main issue in all the communities they work, particularly for Aboriginal people.

Along with the continuing work HCR do to raise awareness of mental health and suicide prevention in rural and remote WA, in the lead up for Mental Health Week, Dane and Celeste assisted the local Geraldton suicide prevention working group to develop community service announcements (CSAs). These were broadcast through Radio MAMA and Meeka FM.

HCR also supported an event held in Geraldton, and were part of an outside broadcast put on by Radio MAMA. Community members and service providers participated in the broadcast. This ensured information not only reached Geraldton, but also Mullewa, Meekatharra and Carnarvon.

If you want more information on mental health visit: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ or see your local GP.

The post Mental Health Week appeared first on Amplifying Voices.

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. It is estimated that 45% of Australians will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime.  In any one year, around one million Australian adults have depression, and over two million have anxiety.

The odds are high that during our lifetime we will be affected by mental illness, either through friends and family, or by experiencing it ourselves.

Research shows that there are similar rates of mental health issues in rural and remote areas of Australia, when compared with metropolitan areas.  However, the availability of mental health services in rural/remote areas and the ability for people living in those areas to access these services differs significantly from metropolitan areas.

HCR and partner Radio MAMA in Geraldton, Western Australia, have been working on a grass-roots project with the Mid West community to reduce stigma and break down barriers to seeking professional mental help.  HCR has been recording the stories of community members who have a lived experience of managing and recovering from mental illness.  These stories are broadcast on Radio MAMA, throughout the Mid West, aimed at connecting with listeners and giving them a greater understanding of the complexities of mental illness.

Listen to this inspiring interview with Cathy, who shares her story of living with bipolar and her journey to recovery.  It is by sharing these candid stories and encouraging an honest dialogue about mental health that community radio can give hope to those touched by mental illness.

If you think that you or any of your friends/family are experiencing symptoms of mental illness, please seek professional medical advice from your doctor.  For more information on mental health, call Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or visit their website: http://www.beyondblue.org.au/

Sources:

1.Beyond Blue (2015).  The facts: Depression and Anxiety are Common Conditions.  Retrieved from, http://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts

2.The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (2013). Mental Health in Rural Areas.  Retrieved from, https://www.ranzcp.org/Publications/Rural-psychiatry/Mental-health-in-rural-areas.aspx

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