STRONGER TOGETHER: Let’s Talk Tactics – Mental Health is a Team Sport

"STRONGER TOGETHER" is a weekly column where Tanya explores key issues. This week Tanya discusses how mental health, like sport, thrives on connection, and encourages us to show up for ourselves, each other, and our communities as teammates in wellbeing.

By IMPACT Community Services Managing Director Tanya O'Shea

If mental health were a sport, connection would be the winning tactic, and right now, it’s game day. Queensland Mental Health Week (4-12 October 2025), culminating in World Mental Health Day (Friday 10 October 2025), is our chance to step up, suit up, and support each other.

With this year’s theme Connect for Mental Health, we’re reminded that wellbeing isn’t just about individual effort, it’s a team game built on trust, support, and shared momentum.

And just like in sport, mental health requires training, teamwork, and time on the field.

Connecting with self is our personal prep: checking in, setting boundaries, and knowing when to rest.

Connecting with others is about being a good teammate: listening, encouraging, and noticing when someone’s struggling to keep pace.

Community gives us a sense of belonging and shared purpose.

And nature offers the recovery space we all need to reset and recharge.

These connections aren’t just concepts; they’re the everyday plays that keep us mentally fit and ready for whatever the game throws our way.

And they don’t have to be flashy or loud to make an impact.

Sometimes it’s the quiet check-in with a friend after a tough day. Sometimes it’s a workplace that genuinely values wellbeing. Sometimes it’s a community group that makes everyone feel welcome.

These are the small, consistent moves that build resilience and help us keep showing up, focused, supported, and ready to play our part.

And like any good team, we don’t win by going it alone. We win by showing up for each other: celebrating the wins, supporting through the losses, and staying connected through every quarter.

So, this Mental Health Week, let’s commit to connection. Let’s be the kind of teammates who lift each other up, pass the ball when needed, and keep the conversation going.

Because when it comes to mental health, we’re all on the same team, and we’re stronger together.