It's okay to ask for help

Have you ever felt like you were a lone sailor?

Imagine you are in a situation where one day you are out enjoying your sailing in the middle of the ocean, when an unpredicted storm erupts. You are surprised by this storm and the situation escalates to a point where you need to make some important decisions — what do you do?

Sailor 1 - Sharon

Sharon was out sailing, a pastime she was passionate about. Suddenly a ferocious storm erupted. She used her years of sailing experience to assess the current situation and did not hesitate to activate her emergency beacon to seek support.

Sailor 2 - Barry

Barry was also out sailing that day in the same storm. He made the decision to navigate through the storm, as he felt he had the expertise to safely ride it out and remain safe. Barry hesitated in engaging his emergency beacon because he was fearful of the judgement of others and loss of respect, particularly from his sailing club. Barry ultimately felt that reaching out for support by activating his beacon would indicate a sign of weakness and lack of expertise.

The storm worsened in intensity and both families were quite worried. Which sailor do you think fared better - Sharon who asked for help or Barry who didn't?

• we do not need to be sailors caught in a storm to experience life stressors
• life demands and stressors are often unexpected or unpredictable
• there are times when our stressors will increase in intensity
• seeking support is important and not a reflection of weakness or inexperience
• hesitating to seek support as early as possible may result in our health deteriorating further
• our health concerns can impact directly on those we care about the most, and
• looking after your health, and the health of your patients is what really matters.

Why not use our service finder to find out about some of the services available.

Our service provides free and confidential support 24/7, to nurses, midwives and students Australia wide. If you would like to speak to someone call 1800 667 877, or you can request support via email.

If you would like to know a bit more about the service before getting in contact — take a look through accessing support.