6 Teenage Girls Countering the Silence Around Depression

6 Teenage Girls Countering the Silence Which Stands Around Depression

The Young Enterprise Scheme business, ‘Small Talk’, is opening up conversations with thought provoking and inspiring messages for New Zealanders.

Depression is found more commonly in New Zealanders than many would believe, so we are shining the spotlight on it, stripping away fear of asking for help and opening up the conversation through our Young Enterprise Scheme business – Small Talk.

We are a team of six young, aspiring girls from St Mary’s College, participating in the Young Enterprise Scheme, 2016. We realised that a common issue in our society today is depression as it affects over half a million New Zealand adults, not to mention family and friends surrounding them. How can society work to its best ability when depression is taking over and surrounding New Zealanders with negative thoughts? Mapo Bridge in Korea was a common site where people committed suicide until one day; a company named ‘Chiel Worldwide’ lined the bridge with positive quotes, pictures of families, simple questions and motion-sensitive lights. According to ‘Chiel Worldwide’, after decorating the bridge with positivity, the number of suicide attempts from this bridge dropped by 77%. So we decided to take inspiration from this to help resolve the issue we face in New Zealand today.

In 2013, a total of 508 people died in New Zealand due to suicide. It is most common for youth aged 14-24 to commit suicide however the 2011/2012 New Zealand Health Survey shows that over half a million New Zealand adults have been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives. So how can we reach out to as many New Zealanders as possible and spread positivity around our communities?

We have created stickers with positive and motivational quotes on them to stick on the top of takeaway coffee cup lids, used by cafes around Wellington. Cafes are a very communal and common place for people to go to, especially in Wellington – the coffee capital of New Zealand. Through people seeing our stickers in their everyday lives, or even just when they go to treat themselves, we hope to spread positivity around Wellington and give everyone small pick-me-ups to help them through the day.

Our main goal is to raise awareness of depression and suicide rates around New Zealand, opening up the conversation between our fellow Kiwis. However, ‘Small Talk’ also supports Lifeline Aotearoa, 24hour helpline. We have been promoting Lifeline Aotearoa through our social media and our product. We also have a portal on our website to Lifeline Aotearoa, making it easier for anyone to donate to this worthy cause. On top of this, ‘Small Talk’ is a non-for-profit business, donating 100% of our profits to Lifeline. We believe they are a worthy charity as they are an organisation which is freely available for any New Zealander to contact when they are in need of help. Anyone who is feeling down or has any form of depression is able to give Lifeline a call at any time, any day, and receive the support they need and may feel like they won’t receive anywhere else.

Our social media is a base for raising awareness of the depression and suicide rates around New Zealand, which we aim to share with all New Zealanders so that as many people possible can be aware of the problem of depression which attacks our country. We also promote positivity on our social media through fun, positive photos and motivational words of wisdom from the Small Talk team.

In the 2012/13 New Zealand Health Survey, it was found that one in six New Zealand adults have been diagnosed with a common mental disorder at least once in their lives, depression being one of these disorders. We aim to lower these rates and spread positivity around New Zealand, one sticker at a time.

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