Sunshine Coast sisters have teamed up to share their stories of mental illness, raise funds for ReachOut and organise a marathon to raise money for youth mental health.
Ashleigh Morris, 29, and her sister Jaine, 30, hope that by speaking openly about their own tough times, they’ll inspire others to talk about what they’re going through and get help.
Ashleigh left school at 14.
“For a long time I was down and out, didn’t have a place to live, I felt lost, derelict, an outcast,” she said. ‘It was my sister who told me she believed in me and inspired me to apply to uni to do what I love – environmental science.’
‘It took every inch of strength I had to show up and do the pathway course to get in. I went through uni and have been incredibly successful because I found what I loved.”
Jaine worked hard and played hard as a young adult.
“I was a party girl but always held respectable positions and was high performing in my job. But in my down times, I turned to alcohol and substance use as a coping mechanism,” Jaine said.
“I worked in an isolated community for a few years, became burnt out and being so far away from my family and friends, I turned to substances.
“I eventually asked my family for help, and I entered a residential rehab program here on the Coast. It changed my world. I now feel like I’m finally in a place where I’m starting to collect healthy coping skills and tools to deal with life and realise that I’m not a bad person.
“I thought I was defective. Turns out I was just unwell.”
Jaine and Ashleigh now want to share their stories to reduce stigma and let people know it’s OK to reach out for help.
Ashleigh and Jaine will run the Sunshine Coast Marathon from 18-20 August. Check out their fund-raising page at sunshinecoastmarathon2017.everydayhero.com/au/be-a-rainbow-in-somebody-else-s-cloud
