MCs fight anxiety head-on at Headspace Murray Bridge

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On an afternoon full of speeches, it was something unspoken that showed what mental health service Headspace means to young people in the Murraylands.

MCs Skeptik and Inquest – AKA Carl Eate and Isaiah Janiak – found themselves lost for words as they performed an original track at Headspace Murray Bridge’s official opening on Wednesday.

“This is anxiety right here,” Skeptik admitted on the mic.

Straight away, he was drowned out by cheering and applause from the crowd.

Understanding and support were there.

More than six months have passed since Headspace moved from its old premises at the Station to a building on Second Street.

The service has reinvented itself since then, offering care to young people in crisis sooner and better equipping them to keep going in life.

Wednesday was a day to reflect, manager Suzanne Fuzzard suggested, and to repeat the message to the community that help was there for anyone who needed it, including LGBTIQA+ youth and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.

“In our 13 years in Murray Bridge, we’ve provided over 20,000 episodes of care or occasions of service with young people and their families,” she said.

“We’re now well positioned to see young people in a very timely manner and respond to their immediate needs with our open-door clinic.

“Murray Bridge Headspace is leading the way in this work in youth mental health across Australia.”

As the nation prepared to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, looking after young people’s wellbeing was more important than ever, federal MP Tony Pasin said.

“Young people have experienced high rates of psychological distress, loneliness, they’ve had to deal with educational disruption, unemployment, housing stress and ... domestic violence,” he said.

“When people don’t access services early enough, they end up presenting with more complex and severe symptoms.

“Centres like this one in Murray Bridge offer a safe and welcoming place where young people can have non-judgmental, professional help and peer support so they can tackle their challenges.”

In terms of health care, Country SA Primary Health Network CEO Kim Hosking said, Headspace was every bit as important to the community as the soldiers' memorial hospital.

Headspace Murray Bridge’s move to Second Street was made possible thanks to a $686,000 federal grant to the Murray Mallee GP Network.

The new premises feature 12 consulting rooms, plus group spaces and offices.

• Get help: Visit Headspace Murray Bridge at 10 Second Street from 9am-5pm most weekdays, or 11am-7pm on Thursdays; call 8531 2122; follow along on Facebook or Instagram; or call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467. In an emergency, call 000.
• More information: headspace.org.au.

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