EACH year, close to one million Australian adults suffer from depression and more than two million have anxiety.
It's a topic the team from the Queensland Police Service Stock and Rural Crime Investigation Squad (SARCIS) are eager to raise awareness about, so they are supporting local Toowoomba business Genomix in their promotion of, and fundraising for, beyondblue.
Detective Inspector Mick Dowie said the stigma associated with mental illness should not be there, and it was important to remove this barrier to enable people to seek help.
He said with drought, financial strain and personal problems, it was important for rural Queenslanders to know "they are not alone and help is a phone call away".
"I hate to talk statistics when you are talking about personal tragedy but you cannot ignore that people in rural areas are more highly represented as a result of suicide associated with mental illness," he said.
"Suicide, as a result of people not taking advantage of services available to them, especially when they are suffering from depression, equates to double the amount of people killed on our roads in road trauma.
"Both are preventable; they are tragedies that don't have to happen."
Blue drafting 'waddies' will be on sale next week for $5 at Beef Australia 2015. Visit the Genomix or SARCIS stands during the event to buy a 'waddie' and help raise awareness for this worthwhile cause.
Melody Labinsky
Journalist for Queensland Country Life at Toowoomba.
Journalist for Queensland Country Life at Toowoomba.
