Sister’s suicide leads to rural mental health initiative.

Content warning: This article is about suicide.

Jess Walker was the girl every guy wanted to date, and every girl wanted to be.

At least, that’s how her younger sister Victoria saw her.

“She was athletic, smart, pretty, outgoing and charming,” Victoria says. “I always looked up to her because in my eyes she was so perfect and cool.”

The sisters, who grew up on a farm in Yass with their younger brother and parents, had an “idyllic” upbringing but eventually went to boarding school.

When they got home, things started to change for Jess, Victoria recalls.

Watch: Is Social Media Negatively Impacting Teens’ Mental Health? Article continues after the video.

“After school she started dating a boy and in the four years after school she started to distance herself from her friends, and also from her family.

“But because Jess was so creative, it was like she was going through a phase,” says Victoria.

Although Jess did some unusual things (Victoria recalls getting an extreme haircut that seemed cool at the time but in retrospect was out of character), her family never suspected she had mental health issues.

Then one night Jess’s parents got a phone call from her partner. She was acting strange, he had said, so Jess’s mother jumped in the car and drove from Yass to Sydney to check on her daughter.

“My sister, who was 22 at the time, was walking around outside with minimal clothing on, and there was writing all over the apartment. Her thoughts seemed disorganized.”

Jess was taken to hospital by ambulance, where she remained for eight days.

“My mother was there every day, but she was not given any education about mental health or about my sister’s situation,” says Victoria.

“But they sent her to Yass, to live with our parents. I think they saw a very supportive family, a family that had some money, and Jess turned out well.

“I think my mother was stunned, but we trusted what the medical professionals said.”

Jess and Victoria Walker. Image: Supplied.

‘It all happened so suddenly.’

Jess had been out of the hospital for three days when she told her parents she felt ready to go back out into the world. She wanted to go for a walk, do some drawings, she said.

“The night before, she was up all night on the computer. My parents were worried about her, but Dad didn’t want to be overbearing.

“With daddy’s permission she left at 8am and by 10am she still hadn’t returned. Mommy was worried so daddy went to the farm to check but he couldn’t see her so they called the police.

“Later that afternoon, the police came to report that Jess had died.”

When Jess was discharged, she was given four days of medication and her parents had little understanding of mental health at the time. While her family will never know if they could have prevented Jess’ death, Victoria says that a better understanding of mental health may have led to earlier identification of any issues and possible earlier treatment.

“I also had no understanding of mental health. Jess was the last person you would ever think would take her life.”

Jess was 22 when she committed suicide. Image: Supplied.

CPR for your mental health.

Victoria studied nursing and after the death of her sister she chose a career in mental health care, where she is still active.

In the 20 years since Jess’s death, Victoria has often wondered what would have happened if her family had had more insight into mental health.

“Jess didn’t get help until she became acutely ill, and at that point she couldn’t get help,” says Victoria.

“All the doctors at work say it is very difficult to predict risk, so I don’t blame the hospital for what happened to Jess.

“They have to go by what they see at the time. But what I think should have happened is that more education should have been given to my sister and my parents. Especially because they were the ones who had to take her home. The last thing they ever expected was for her to take her own life.”

Jen McCloy and Victoria Walker. Image: Supplied.

Give the country a hand.

Determined to help other families in the same situation, Victoria and her best friend, Jen McCloy, put their heads together and developed Hand on the land, an initiative aimed at improving mental health education, particularly in rural and regional communities where access to support is scarce.

Launched in collaboration with the Land Education Foundation (CEF certificate), Hand on the land has raised $300,000 to launch a practical program that gives friends and family the skills to support their loved ones when they are dealing with mental health issues.

“These mental health courses give people more insight and the feeling that they can help themselves better.

Early detection, obviously working with teens, early intervention is super important. What works for you and your kids may not work for you and your kids.

“If family and friends, and even the school, had been better informed, I think many of the signs and symptoms would have been picked up much earlier,” says Victoria.

“Often the first responders to a mental health crisis are the people around you. These programs are about safety planning, what to look for when you’re concerned about someone’s safety. If we had that, I think we could have done something much earlier in Jess’s mental health journey.”

Victoria describes the programs as “mental health resuscitation.”

“As we get older, we face more and more challenges, so I think having that general understanding would make a huge difference for everyone. Not everyone wants to go to a psychologist and not everyone needs it. But if there was a general understanding across the board, maybe we would see a shift.”

The programs are offered both in-person and online, which Victoria says is important, especially in rural areas where there is less access to mental health services than in capital cities.

“And even with access, there is still that idea of ​​being afraid to get help. They don’t know where to get help, and they don’t know how to get help.

“With mental health, you can’t see it from the outside, and there’s still shame around it. People are getting better at it, it’s the last thing we often work on.”

Hand on the land recently raised over $225,000 to deliver the 12-hour program. The program can be completed in person in Sydney, remotely online, or a combination of both.

For more information or to complete the course, visit https://www.handtotheland.com/

If you think you may be depressed or have another mental health problem, contact your GP or healthcare professional. If you live in Australia, 24-hour support is available through Lifeline on 13 11 14, beyondblue on 1300 22 4636 or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467. In an emergency, call 000.

Main image: Delivered.