Mental Health Month · Together We Thrive

I've been quiet. Here's where I've been.

A slower, more honest issue: what happened when I stepped back, the numbers that reminded me I wasn't alone, and one small message you can send this week.

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Mik Simons

Founder, Make Good Choices

Hey, it's been a heavy month.

Depression took over for a while, and then the flu landed on top of it, so I stepped back to look after myself properly instead of pushing through. It's October, which is Mental Health Month, and this year's theme is "Together We Thrive". I've had a front-row seat to what that means.

So this issue is a bit different. It's honest, it's a little slower, and it's about what happens when we let people in.

What landed this month

The post where I told you how I was actually feeling. I shared that depression had come back around and that I was taking time away from posting to turn my energy inward. It was the most vulnerable thing I've put out in a while, and I nearly didn't.
Stepping back on purpose. Taking the time away wasn't giving up on MGC. It was practising what I keep telling you: you're allowed to be human, and a rest is a good choice too, even when it doesn't look productive from the outside.
The messages that came in after. Comments, DMs, little notes of support. I'll say more about those further down, because they're the part I'll remember.

Depression in Australia: what the numbers say

This piece was finished with the help of AI.

When your head is telling you you're the only one, numbers can be oddly comforting.

I'm not a doctor, and this isn't advice. These are just the figures that reminded me I wasn't alone.

21.5% of Australians aged 16 to 85, about one in five of us, had a mental health condition in the previous 12 months.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics' latest National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing (2020–2022, nearly 16,000 people) found that 42.9% of Australians have experienced a mental health condition at some point in their lives.

17.2% had anxiety in the past year, the most common condition

7.5% had an affective condition, the group that includes depression

38.8% of 16 to 24 year olds had a condition in the past year

Here's the number I keep coming back to. Of the people who'd had a mental health condition in the past year, 45.1% saw a health professional about it. So more than half didn't. I get it. When you're low, making the call can feel like climbing a hill, and I'm not going to pretend that's easy. But there's no shame in it, and no wrong time to start.

Then there's the loneliness piece. Beyond Blue's Mental Health and Wellbeing Check, released on World Mental Health Day last year, found that 30% of Australian adults had experienced distress from loneliness. Among them, 66% also had depression.

Rated their sense of community as poor or fair

People with mental health issues51%

Everyone else30%

That's an association rather than a cause, but it matches what depression felt like for me. It doesn't just make you sad. It makes you feel cut off, and it tells you that you're a burden.

That's why I think this year's theme is right. Connection isn't a nice extra. For a lot of us, it's the thing that keeps the door open.

If this brought something up for you, you don't have to sit with it alone. Lifeline: 13 11 14 | Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636

Sources:

ABS: Two in five Australians have experienced a mental disorder (National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing 2020–2022)
CathNews: Beyond Blue survey finds 30 per cent of Australians lonely (reporting Beyond Blue's Mental Health and Wellbeing Check)
Mental Health Australia: Mental Health Month 2026, "Together We Thrive"

Try this

The "no pressure" message

You don't need a big conversation. You just need a low-effort way to let one person know you're there.

This month, send one small message to someone you haven't heard from in a while. Keep it simple:

"Thinking of you. No need to reply."

That last line matters. It takes away the pressure, which means it's easier to send and easier to receive.

If you're sending one

Keep it short, skip the catch-up, and let it be enough on its own.

If you're the one struggling

When someone sends you one, a thumbs up counts as a reply. You don't owe anyone a paragraph. Letting them know it landed is enough.

A community moment

What you sent back

When I shared how I was doing, I wasn't expecting much. I was expecting a few likes, maybe a kind comment or two. What I got was so many of you reaching out with support and good energy. I'm still reading them.

Depression is very good at telling you you're alone. It's very convincing when you're in it. And then a stack of messages from people who care shows up and quietly says the opposite. I'm forever grateful. It reminded me that being honest wasn't a weakness. It was the thing that let you in.

So if you sent one: thank you. I mean it.

Coming soon

Kindness Cards

Something I've been working on, in between the harder days, is getting ready to put the Kindness Cards up for sale. They're small, easy to pop in a pocket, and each one carries the line that sits behind everything we do.

This month, more than ever, I get why that sentence matters. The cards are for slipping to a friend who's having a rough week, leaving in a café for a stranger, or keeping for yourself on the days you need to read it twice. They're a small way of doing exactly what those messages did for me.

No rush, and nothing to do right now. I'll let you know when they're ready.

An MGC Kindness Card reading: You are Extraordinary, you being here adds to the light around us.

Thank you for being here, and for making your own good choices, even on the weeks that don't let up. If this month is a hard one for you too, reach out to someone, even in the smallest way. Be gentle with yourself this week.

— Mik