The launch sent a strong message that mental health issues and suicide are things that touch each one of us, no matter our age, geography, education or job description.

Not only did they hear from a local man, “Butch” Young who received a standing ovation when he shared his inspirational journey, battling to overcome the challenges he faced living with schizophrenia, but other keynote speakers also shared their personal experiences as they performed their set roles.

Southern Area Health Service coordinator, consumer and carer participation worker for Greater Southern Area Health’s mental health strategies unit, Anne Francis, said there had been huge shifts of expectation for the quality of life people with a mental illness could achieve over the last decades.

She said families were critical to this goal and did an enormous job, and services were only now coming to realise the role they played in effective care.

She said there was a lot of mythology about suicide – including the very act of asking someone if they felt suicidal as being harmful.

“Amazing little things stop people,” she said.

She said government services alone could not do it, but it had to be people in the community working together, with intimate knowledge of one another, and with the professionals who are around.

Greater Southern Area Health Service members were excited that the community had decided to set up its own network.

“We will be so excited to see these groups growing.”

She said people didn’t have to be experts but could learn the signs that someone was suicidal, learn what to do, what to ask and how to get professioanal help.

Member for Burrinjuck Katrina Hodgkinson also shared a personal story before officially launching the local network, which also encompasses Harden and Boorowa.

She said while people can’t drive down a highway in NSW without seeing a road safety message, suicide was a subject that many people in NSW were very uncomfortable talking about, yet between 1994 and 2004 there were more deaths from suicide than from motor vehicle accidents.

She commended everyone associated with the establishment of the suicide network in Young, and paid tribute to Greater Southern Area Health Service staff for their support and expertise.

Father Richard said it was difficult to get a suicide prevention network off the ground and he thanked the people of Young for their support.

“Half the people don’t want to talk about it, the other people want to talk about it passionately, so the passionate people have to start to outnumber the dispassionate in order that we get a positive message to the community.”