Taylor Hannigan

This is close to home

In order to raise funds for mental health charity 20Talk, I'm going to take on the challenge of sitting in a 2 metre square box for 20 hours with no technology and no talking. This challenge will be a small look into the day of someone struggling with mental health. All I will have is my own thoughts, a journal and a chair to sit on.

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So why am I doing this?

In 2013, I lost my beautiful Mum to suicide. 

As far as I know, she never received the kind of professional support she needed. I suspect the shame she felt was overwhelming. 

Outwardly, she was polished, vivacious, hard working and proud. Inside however she carried a lifetime of unresolved trauma that eventually took her from us.

Today, I am the result of many years of therapy and I know first hand how absolutely life changing doing "the work" can be.

Mental health and care has shed much of its stigma in the last decade but there's more work to do. 

We have all been touched in some way or another by the reality of mental ill health. It can be dark, lonely, and confronting. 

Structurally, the statistics are still alarming..

• Suicide still remains the leading cause of death for young people aged 15-44. 
• Only 2% of mental health funding goes towards prevention (Mental Health Commission 2022)

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! 

p.s. call your therapist ;)