Oliver Taylor

Why I signed up for 20Talk

I think every single person I have spoken to in my entire existence has gone through some kind of internal turmoil and struggle. Personally, I think that there is such a stigma around mental health and how we communicate about it with one another, particularly in young men. I’m undergoing this challenge to raise awareness for young adults about what taking care of your mental health looks like, remove harmful stigma surrounding mental health and to hold myself accountable in championing my and others’ emotional wellbeing.

I also think it is easy to devalue and criticise your self worth in the pursuit of a career in music, or any creative act that entails self expression. In my experience it is so easy to let our sense of perfectionism dictate the way we carry ourselves and pursue our art. This can’t be a sustainable way to live, especially in a world where the existence of creative industries seam to be increasingly threatened.

If you weren’t aware of the prevalence of mental health concerns in Australia, here are the stats.

• 1 in 3 university students experience significant levels of psychological distress - higher than any other population subgroup.
• 43% of Australia aged 16-85 years had experienced a mental disorder at some time in their life in 2020-2022.
• In 2024, 3307 lives were lost to suicide, with over 3 quarters of deaths identifying as male.

I'm completing the 20 Hours for 20Talk to turn these statistics around. Your contribution goes towards 20Talk's relatable prevention campaigns. They are a mental health charity that makes education cool and accessible, for young people by young people.

Your generous donations go towards:

• Every $120 puts a young person through a one day Mental Health Maintenance cours
• Expanding 20Talk's online resources and 60,000+ social media community
• Running large-scale interactive mental health events

By improving mental health literacy, removing harmful stigma, and encouraging professional help-seeking we are preventing people from getting people into crisis in the first place.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and for donating to the cause. Hopefully this small challenge can help change someone’s life. 

If you ever need to chat, I’m always here. Love you all and thanks again!