Think outside the cube

Starting this afternoon, Brisbane local Louise Bellchambers will campout in the Queen Street Mall for 100 hours inside a 3x3 metre transparent cube to raise awareness about mental health issues.

The event is being organised by ClearThinking, an initiative of Queensland Schizophrenia Research Foundation (QSRF) and founded by honorary UQ Professor Stanley Catts.

The purpose of this innovative event is to raise community awareness about the urgent need for mental health research funding, especially for youth mental health, in order to ensure earlier treatment, prevent lifelong mental illness and prevent suicide.

“One in four young Australians experience a mental disorder in any one year, yet fewer than 20 percent of those affected receive effective treatment,” Professor Catts said.

“Although more than 40 percent of young people with a mental disorder are at risk of progressing to serious mental illness in adulthood, only three percent access specialist mental health services.”

Mother of one, and 20 weeks pregnant with her second child, Mrs Bellchambers will be giving up her privacy, camping out in the IKEA-furnished clear cube for the majority of the week.

She said she was protesting society’s pre-occupation with celebrity and neglect of serious issues, such as mental health.

“The statistics relating to mental health are horrifying,” she said.

“Every parent needs to know there’s a one in three chance their child will have a mental health problem by the age of 25 and right now there’s not enough research being funded to reverse these statistics.

“Mental health issues are not widely spoken about, yet there’s a constant stream of information on what celebrities are doing around the world. Why?

“I feel as though the only way to get people to listen and do something to change these statistics is to do something drastic. I hope it works.”

Mrs Bellchambers says she was motivated to make a stand following a lack of media and community interest in a ClearThinking initiative undertaken earlier this year.

She hopes the Queen Street Mall event will attract community, corporate and government funding for a youth mental health centre that ClearThinking aims to build in Brisbane.

“The youth mental health centre will bring together mental health professionals and researchers that will follow the progress of patients, ultimately leading to a reduction in diagnosis time and thereby making treatments more effective,” she said.

Mrs Bellchambers will be visited by a number of VIP guests throughout the week including Lady Mayoress Lisa Newman, Parliamentary Secretary for Healthy Living Murray Watt, Shadow Health Minister Mark McArdle and Professor Catts.

The event commences on the afternoon of 4 October, in the lead up to World Mental Health Day on 10 October.

Mrs Bellchambers will be blogging at www.clearthinking.com.au and posting interviews with Cube visitors throughout the week.

During Mental Health Week (October 10-17) there will be student counselors available at UQ Student Services for any students feeling stressed in the lead-up to exams.

For more information on the Student Services counseling service as well as online counseling and a range of mental health information, visit their website at www.uq.edu.au/student-services/counselling.

Media: Professor Catts (0421 610 090) or Janardan Kewin at UQ Communications (07 3365 2619, j.kewin@uq.edu.au)