A former Magpie has teamed up with Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson to raise awareness for depression and anxiety.
Chad Morrison, who played 21 of his 169 AFL games with Collingwood in 2005 and 2006, and wife Natalie are the creators of the Not Alone campaign, which is aiming to change the way society views mental health and encourage people affected to speak to someone.
“We’re very passionate about raising awareness for mental illness, as both Natalie and I have been affected by depression and anxiety” Morrison told Collingwood Media.
Together with Johnson, the team shot a campaign video to spread the Not Alone message.
The trio has also created a social media campaign, encouraging people to post a photo wearing their sunglasses upside down tagging #notaloneteam.
“The upside down sunglasses symbolise people that are living with depression and anxiety can feel like their world is upside down,” Chad explains.
“We want the sunglasses upside down to be a recognized symbol of support for people affected by mental illness”.
Morrison’s team has created a line of t-shirts, carrying the Not Alone branding, and is donating $10 from every shirt purchased to its partner, beyondblue.
Click here to purchase a Not Alone t-shirt.
“Our plan is to keep spreading the Not Alone message within the community, as we don’t want this to be a flash in the pan.
“Down the track we plan on spreading the message in other ways, including events.”
The Not Alone team is encouraging the community to join the cause online, by posting a photo wearing sunglasses upside down and using the hashtag #notaloneteam, and nominate their friends to do the same.
Since retiring in 2006, Chad has moved into personal training and Pilates, but the desire to raise awareness of mental health remains strong.
“Most of us are directly or indirectly affected by depression and anxiety, yet mental illness is very misunderstood in the community. We are passionate about changing society's view on mental illness as there still is a stigma.”
“Everyone’s aware of it but people don’t really talk about it, so we’re hoping that through our social media campaign and Not Alone t-shirt we get people talking.”
“People can feel proud about wearing the Not Alone t-shirts, and talk about it and feel confident in themselves.”
Click here to learn more about the Not Alone campaign.
Collingwood’s Darcy Moore, Jack Crisp and Adam Treloar turn their sunglasses upside down in support of the #notaloneteam, raising awareness of depression and anxiety.
