This article contains references to suicide and self-harm.
When Minnie Knight was growing up in a small town in northern New South Wales, they said they found themselves in a "dark, deep pit".
"There was a lot of things happening in my family," they told SBS News. "There were multiple family members that had passed away in a couple of years as well. And my dad also went to jail when I was about nine."
Meanwhile, Minnie said they were bullied and teased, and were struggling with school work. Struggling to find support, they began to self-harm and had thoughts of suicide.
"It felt like I had nowhere to go and I felt I was quite stuck in this like dark, deep pit that I couldn't get out of," they said. "I felt quite alone and I wasn't sure what to do and how to like, get out of this place."
Minnie said a year advisor at school helped them to reach out to Youth Insearch, an Australian youth trauma recovery organisation.
The group has launched its 'End Youth Suicide Week' campaign, now in its fourth year, which aims to destigmatise mental health and save lives by encouraging conversations about suicide.
For Minnie, having someone to talk to made all the difference.
"I always felt like, growing up, no one would listen to me because I'm the youngest in the family," they said.
"When I got to Youth Insearch, I realised people actually want to listen to me and want to help me be a better person. Even if someone related to the tiniest thing, it made me feel like I'm not really like alone in my life."
Suicide is the leading cause of death among Australians aged 15 to 24, according to the Australian Insitute of Health and Welfare. It accounts for about one-third of deaths in this age group.
Clinical lead for Youth Insearch Leanne Hall said there are several contributing factors among youth people.
"Part of the reason why these things emerge in those early years, developmentally, there's a lot of brain development that's still going on. There's this thing called neural pruning - we know the brain sort of starts to prune and go through lots of changes," she said.
"And also, young people at that age are going through lots of change in their circumstances as well. They're moving schools, they're forming peer relationships, some of them more romantic relationships, and conflicts with family often comes in as well when they're going through those teenage years."
Marginalised groups are disproportionately affected
According to Lifeline figures, suicidality disproportionately affects marginalised groups, with the LGBTIQ+ community experiencing significantly higher rates of suicide than the rest of the population.
The suicide rate in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is twice that of those who are non-Indigenous, while people living in rural Australia are twice as likely to die by suicide.
Ms Hall said not enough is being done to support these groups, who may also "distrust" the system.
"Part of the reason, not the whole reason, but part of the reason the statistics are inflated in those groups is because they just don't have access to the services and the support they need," she said.
"But most importantly, it's often because they have a distrust in the system. For many people from those groups, they've had an experience or they've heard of an experience from a friend that's not gone well, and so they just don't trust the system."
Budi Sudarto is the director of Ananda Training and Consultancy, which specialises in inclusion and belonging. He has about his experience as a Muslim gay man in Australia.
He said intersectionality is a big factor when it comes to mental health.
"Members of our community feel that they have to choose which aspect of their identity that can safely disclose to mental health practitioners," he said.
"And that's mostly because of the previous experience of having to educate mental health practitioners instead of actually getting the support and the help that they needed."
Mr Sudarto said the sector requires system change in order to support these groups.
"We are living in a multicultural society, so we actually need to continue to expand our knowledge, instead of expecting people with intersecting identities to conform to the Western model of mental health and to the Western model of health in general," he said.
"That will take time, it will take courage, it will take the willingness to interrogate the system and to start implementing systemic change.
"But in doing that, we are actually benefiting a lot of members of our communities who are struggling ... and we really need to focus on them. We really need to focus on how can we change the system to benefit them, instead of expecting them to fit in with our system."
'Keep the conversations happening and stay connected'
Ms Hall said when it comes to reaching out for help, having a conversation with someone in your support network is the best place to start.
"It can be anyone you know - it can be a friend, a teacher, a family member," she said. "We know from research that particularly young people will talk to a friend before they'll talk to a professional and there's all sorts of reasons for that.
"But most importantly, it's being able to guide people to the right places for support and seeking the advice of professionals."
Given the stigma and cultural sensitivities surrounding mental health, starting open conversations can be challenging.
Ms Hall said there is a perception that asking and talking about suicide could risk increasing suicidal tendencies.
"It's okay to actually ask someone if they're okay. And it's okay to ask someone if they're thinking about suicide. There's no research or nothing that suggests that asking someone if they're thinking about hurting themselves is actually going to cause them to do so. So, the biggest thing we can do is keep the conversations happening and stay connected."
Headspace, a non-profit organisation for youth mental health, also outlines there is no evidence that talking to a young person about suicidal thoughts or behaviour is harmful.
"Over 30 years of crisis hotline experience and 20 years of schoolbased prevention programs have failed to document any cases of stimulating suicidal behaviour through the discussion of the topic," a
Monday 14 February marks the beginning of Youth Insearch's 'End Youth Suicide Week', a campaign aimed at encouraging Australians to start open conversations about suicide among friends, families and communities.
The organisation runs weekend workshops and support groups for people aged 14 to 22 and operates in Queensland, NSW and Victoria.
The forums are run by young people with lived experience of mental health problems, according to Ms Hall, and extra clinical support is provided. She said having access to a peer support person can "save lives".
Minnie Knight has spoken of their own experience and how Youth Insearch helped them. Source: AAP
"A lot of those young people will perhaps not necessarily see much of a future. They'll come to our program. They'll see young people that have come through and they're at the other side of that, and it gives them hope," she said.
"And I think that sense of hope is the critical ingredient that having a peer support person can give a young person who is suffering."
Youth Insearch says it has helped nearly 32,000 at-risk young people and hopes to expand nationally but ongoing funding is uncertain.
'We are all not alone'
Of the people the organisation supports, it says two out of three had planned to die by suicide in the past, and half had attempted suicide. But after completing its program, their risk of suicide reduces significantly.
After struggling in school, Minnie is now pursuing a career in the creative industries and studying a Bachelor of Secondary Education.
They shared an important reminder.
"We are all not alone. It may feel like it but there's someone out there that will listen to us, and relate to us, even if it's the smallest thing. Just taking that big step into reaching out for help will definitely make a difference."
With Emma Brancatisano and AAP.
Readers seeking crisis support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged up to 25). More information and support with mental health is available at and on 1300 22 4636.
supports people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
