We recently had the opportunity to meet with Milly Banister, a member from Surry Hills, to delve into her contributions to the Mental Health and Wellness space. Milly is actively working on reducing the national youth suicide rate by implementing Australia's first digital, peer-to-peer mental health first aid program on a widespread scale across the country.
Surry Hills member, Milly Banister (accompanied by her sweet Frankie the Chihuahua), is the passionate founder and director of ALLKND. A not-for-profit organisation focused on reducing the national youth suicide rate by teaching Australia’s first digital, peer-to-peer mental health first aid program at scale around Australia, called Brain Pilot.
Her journey to resilience from a young teen to adult is what sparked the launch of her company with the belief in the #knowmoredomore effect, with a mission to inspire compassion, smash the stigma that follows mental health and save young lives. After her own challenging and isolating experience as a 15-year-old supporting a close friend through suicidal ideation and self-harm, and consequentially developing her own mental health issues, she figured it was time Aussie youth were empowered with evidence-based, preventative, peer-to-peer mental health first aid education.
“You need to learn resilience, or you’ll never make it in the real world.”
According to Black Dog Institute, one in five (a large 20%) Australians suffer from Mental Illness and will at one point in life or another, let alone know of a family member, friend or colleague struggling. The most common forms in which mental health displays are through depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorders. Which makes it all the more important to implement evidence-based protective mental health and wellbeing interventions, support and education programs, like Brain Pilot in workplaces. Increasing communication, resilience and overall well-being among individual employees, employers and all job titles in between can ensure individuals are equipped with the knowledge and skills to be resilient, and to provide compassion among peers.
Check out more printable resources from ALLKND here.
ALLKND’s online peer-to-peer mental health training program Brain Pilot, was created for youth between the ages of 15-30, crafted with evidence-based research written by their Developmental Psychologist. The program offers mental health literacy, resilience, self-efficacy and confidence in providing support to peers. Built with accessibility in mind for individuals or groups, Brain Pilot is a digital product with the affordable cost of $25, with a complimentary companion app, MAYDAY for continued support post certification completion.
Be sure to get your Mental Health First Aid in check, with ALLKND.