R U OK? is an Australian
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
suicide prevention organisation, founded by advertiser Gavin Larkin in 2009. It revolves around the slogan "R U OK?" (
gramogram A gramogram, grammagram, or letteral word is a letter or group of letters which can be pronounced to form one or more words, as in "CU" for "see you". They are a subset of rebuses, and are commonly used as abbreviations.
They are sometimes used as ...
for "are you okay?"), and advocates for people to have conversations with others. The organisation has a dedicated R U OK? Day, held annually on the second Thursday of September, which encourages Australians to connect with people who have
emotional insecurity
Emotional security is the measure of the stability of an individual's emotional state. Emotional insecurity or simply insecurity is a feeling of general unease or nervousness that may be triggered by perceiving of Identity (social science), onese ...
, to address
social isolation
Social isolation is a state of complete or near-complete lack of contact between an individual and society. It differs from loneliness, which reflects temporary and involuntary lack of contact with other humans in the world. Social isolation c ...
and promote community cohesiveness.
R U OK? works collaboratively with experts in
suicide prevention
Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preventable, and the efforts to prevent it may occur at the individual, relationship, community, and society level. Suicide is a serious public health ...
and
mental illness
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
, as well as government departments, corporate leaders, teachers, universities, students and community groups. Its activities also align with the Australian Government's LIFE Framework.
Background
In a 12-month period, it is estimated that 65,000 Australians make a suicide attempt, with an average of 2,320 people dying by suicide every year.
The 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of adults estimated that around 45% of the Australian population in the 16–85 age bracket will experience mental illness in their lifetime, while 20% of the population experience a common mental disorder in the previous 12 months.
History
![Toodyay 290619 gnangarra-117](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Toodyay_290619_gnangarra-117.jpg)
Gavin Larkin's father, Barry Larkin, died by suicide in 1996. Later, when Gavin Larkin experienced depression and was concerned about his mental health, he completed a course at
Landmark Worldwide
Landmark Worldwide (known as Landmark Education before 2013), or simply Landmark, is a company, headquartered in San Francisco, that offers personal development, personal-development programs.
Landmark Education started in 1991 with the licensi ...
. From this course, he chose to complete a project about suicide prevention to honour his father, to create a national day of action about contacting people who might be having a difficult time. This resulted in the eventual co-creation with Janina Nearn of ''R U OK?'' in 2009. The first day was held on 29 November 2009, but the annual timing later changed to be on the second Thursday of September.
The R U OK? slogan was established from extensive research proving that communication with people positively impacts their mental state. The message for the first R U OK? Day was "a conversation can change a life".
On the R U OK? website Larkin has said that, "
tting connected and staying connected is the best thing anyone can do for themselves and for those who may be at risk."
Since its inception, many Australian celebrities, community leaders and athletes such as
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...
;
Naomi Watts
Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British actress. After her family moved to Australia, she made her film debut there in the drama '' For Love Alone'' (1986) and then appeared in three television series, '' Hey Dad..!'' (1990), '' ...
;
Simon Baker
Simon Lucas Baker (born 30 July 1969) is an Australian actor in television and film, as well as a director. He is known for his lead roles in the CBS television series ''The Mentalist'' as Patrick Jane and ''The Guardian'' as Nicholas Fallin a ...
;
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen pla ...
co-captain,
Roy Asotasi
Roy Asotasi (born 6 January 1982) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 2000s and 2010s. A New Zealand international captain, he also played for Samoa. Asotasi played in the NRL for Australian clubs Canterbury ...
; former professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
footballer
Wendell Sailor
Wendell Jermaine Sailor (born 16 July 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby footballer who represented his country in both rugby league and rugby union – a dual code international.
In rugby league Sailor was a member of the succes ...
, gold medal Olympian
Libby Trickett
Lisbeth Constance Trickett, OAM (; born 28 January 1985) is a retired Australian swimmer. She was a gold medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the world record holder in the shor ...
and community leader
Deepak Vinayak
Deepak Vinayak (born 8 November 1972) is an Indian Australian community leader from Melbourne. He was appointed as the People of Australia Ambassador by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard for two consecutive terms in 2012 and 2013.
Caree ...
have enlisted as ambassadors and supporters in order to raise awareness.
In 2009,
Yahoo!7
Yahoo! Australia (formerly Yahoo7 between 2006 and 2018) is the Australian subsidiary of global internet company Yahoo! Originally a 50/50 joint venture between Yahoo! and Seven West Media, it has been a 100% subsidiary of Verizon Media since ...
's
''Sunrise'' reported that 650,000 conversations took place as a result of the campaign.
Founder Gavin Larkin died from lymphoma in 2011, but his family have continued to promote the campaign.
In 2012, the annual Don Ritchie Suicide Prevention Award was announced in conjunction with R U OK? Day to recognise the "extraordinary acts of service and commitment to suicide prevention," said NSW Minister for Mental Health, Kevin Humphries. After his death,
Don Ritchie
Donald Taylor Ritchie, OAM (9 June 1926 – 13 May 2012) was an Australian who intervened in many suicide attempts. He officially rescued at least 180 people who had intended to attempt suicide at the Gap.
Early life
Ritchie went to Vauclus ...
, the 'Angel of the Gap', was recognised for his "efforts in saving the lives of hundreds of people at risk of suicide" with the award continuing to recognise the efforts of others in this field. The 2013 organisational category of the award was won by R U OK?.
A study on the effectiveness of the 2014 R U OK? Day campaign found that the broader population were aware of the day and that it had a positive impact.
In 2017, R U OK? Day was featured on
''Australian Story''.
After complaints about the 2019 R U OK? signage in
Woolgoolga
Woolgoolga is a town on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Pacific Highway (Australia), Pacific Highway, approximately 550 km north of Sydney and 365 km south of Brisbane. The closest city to Woolgoolga is ...
, the Chamber of Commerce decided to remove large letters spelling out the slogan, which had been installed along public roads. The complaints stated that it inaccurately portrayed the town as being "...full of people with a mental illness...", disregarding the message of the campaign. The vice president of the Woolgoolga Chamber of Commerce, R U OK ambassador Lisa Nichols, was hurt by the complaints given the nature of the day. The Woolgoolga community and Nichols had received that year's Barbara Hocking Memorial Award: Community category for their R U OK "Woopi Wears Yellow" promotions.
R U OK? has collaborated with transport companies to host a separately-timed industry-specific Rail R U OK? Day in April each year. Train drivers and other rail workers are provided with trauma support options including the RailRes app.
Reception and impact
R U OK? Day has been subject to criticism that while it is well-meaning, it has a superficial and simplistic focus of informal health promotion through encouraging professional referrals.
Referrals are also suggested without acknowledgement of service wait times, service costs and the complexities of managing mental health. The day has also been reviewed as being promoted in a tokenistic way, despite the organisation's recommended guidelines of suggesting ongoing support to others. There are possible harmful impacts from people starting conversations for which they are ill-equipped or uninformed, with triggering language. There has also been a call for increased insight, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring to acknowledge mental health's slow onset and cyclical nature, rather than an annual day.
R U OK?'s own reporting into their impact and media sentiment analysis has been criticised for its low sample size and partial capture of experiences around the day.
R U OK? Limited is on the Register of Harm Prevention Charities. The organisation has corporate sponsors, ambassadors and government funding. The
Department of Health
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
granted R U OK? funds of $824,945 for suicide prevention campaigns and web resources (effective July 2019 to June 2021).
See also
*
Suicide in Australia
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the age standardised death rate for suicide in Australia, for the year 2019, was 13.1 deaths per 100,000 people; preliminary estimates for years 2020 and 2021 are respectively 12.1 and 12.0. I ...
References
External links
*{{Official, https://www.ruok.org.au/
Organizations established in 2009
Charities based in Australia
Mental health organisations in Australia
Observances in Australia
Spring (season) events in Australia
Suicide in Australia