Thana Sompromtip

For 20 hours, I will sit inside a 2x2 metre square.

No talking.

No technology.

No books.

No distractions.

Just a pen, a journal, and my own thoughts.

If you know me, you’ll know this will challenge me more mentally than physically. I fill space with conversation. I process life out loud. I’m usually surrounded by noise, people, movement.

So choosing silence - deliberately - feels confronting.

But that’s the point.

Because silence is where many young people sit every single day.

Suicide remains the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15–44.

And yet only 2% of mental health funding goes towards prevention, while 98% is spent on crisis and intervention.

That statistic stayed with me.

We are reacting when it’s too late, instead of equipping young people early with the tools to cope, to understand themselves, to ask for help before they reach breaking point.

That’s what 20Talk is trying to change.

They provide proactive, relatable Mental Health Maintenance Courses for young Australians aged 16–30 - normalising conversations before crisis hits.

This challenge isn’t about endurance.

It’s about perspective.

For 20 hours, I am choosing stillness with purpose.

But for many young people, silence doesn’t feel chosen - it feels isolating.

And this cause is deeply personal to me.

In 2017, I was struggling with severe depression. I remember finally building the courage to tell my dad that I needed professional help. His response was, “I’m raising you to be a normal person, not a crazy person.”

Growing up in an Asian household, mental health wasn’t something we spoke about. If you were struggling, you were expected to be strong. To push through. To keep going.

But I couldn’t push through anymore.

There were breakdowns. Dark thoughts. A loneliness I didn’t know how to explain. Eventually, after seeing how much I was hurting, my parents began to understand. I was diagnosed with severe depression and started professional treatment.

Getting help changed my life.

It didn’t fix everything overnight. But it gave me tools. It gave me language. It gave me understanding. And most importantly, it gave me hope.

That experience shaped me. I went on to study psychology at university and wrote my dissertation on mental health and employability, because I realised stigma doesn’t just live at home - it follows people into schools, workplaces, everyday life.

That’s why youth mental health matters to me so much.

So many young people are still suffering in silence. Not because they’re weak. Not because they’re dramatic. But because they don’t feel safe speaking up.

Taking part in 20 Hours for 20Talk feels symbolic.

If silence once felt like something that trapped me, this time I’m choosing it with purpose.

I’m doing this because early support matters. Because access matters. Because stigma still exists. And because no young person should feel alone in their struggle.

If this fundraiser helps even one person feel less alone, it will be worth every uncomfortable minute.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far. It truly means more than you know.

And if you’d like to donate or share, I would be incredibly grateful.

Let’s make prevention louder than silence 💕