Amelia Chang

Why I’m doing this

Hi, my name is Amelia. I’m am 18 years old from the Sydney NSW area . Last year I had a total of 25 hospital admissions due to mental health and I have no real friends that actually cared for me in my past. I got diagnosed with anxiety and depression as well as Autism Level 3, at the age of 16 and I got prescribed with antidepressants. My parents sometimes cared for me while other times would put their anger and hate on me, making me feel really lonely. At the age of 14, I started hating myself especially my body. I got fat shamed many times and I tried my best to lose weight but that didn’t help. 

I still remember when I was around 15 or 16 years old I was really upset with my mother and I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the big kitchen knife and tried to kill myself. The next moment, the police arrived, and I was put in handcuffs. After that I was sent to hospital via ambulance.This was just one in many attempts that I tried to commit suicide. 

I am so glad that I survived from making those suicide attempts because if I had I honestly have no idea where I would be now- other than dead. Through my journey through mental health, I have met many people both young and old struggling with mental health whether it’s suicide ideation or just depression, help them get through this because we all go through bad times and that’s ok but we need to get through this.

Why am I doing the 20hoursfor20talk

Growing up, my family weren’t the best. Ever since I was 7, my mother would call me stupid since she believed that I wasn’t as smart as everyone else in my class. As I reached my teenage years, my mental health started to get worse and at the age of 14, I got admitted to hospital after going to the school nurse and admitted that I wanted to commit suicide. I didn’t act on this until I was 16. I remember having an argument with my mother and running to get a knife from the kitchen and threatening that I wanted to kill myself. I was all alone, no friends who cared for me, parents who didn’t have time for me. I felt so lonely and suicide was the only way to end all this. In August 2023, when I was 16, I got admitted to a youth psychiatric ward. I met other people around my age, like me also had mental health challenges. In 2024, I got admitted to hospital 25 times that year, all for, you probably guessed mental health, yes.