How do you keep mentally healthy? You Act, Belong & Commit
When it comes to our mental health, there are known and trusted actions we can take to help improve it, such as doing something active, connecting with others and doing things that are meaningful and important to us.
Being proactive and prioritising our mental health and well-being is key.
Did you know Buddy Up Australia is a recognised partner of Act Belong Commit? We are all about keeping our buddies in the well zone of mental and physical health and we do that by offering physical fitness, social activities and purposeful volunteering events for our members.
With us, our members can ‘ACT’ through physical fitness activities which improve sleep, helps them maintain a healthy weight, boost mood, manage stress and increase quality of life. We offer social activities to ‘BELONG’, to reconnect members and build relationships – to be a part of a team who has your back. And ‘COMMIT’ through purposeful volunteering which allows members to play meaningful part in their community, volunteering for events and organisations where they can make a difference.
What does it mean to ACT, BELONG and COMMIT?
Act: do something – keep active through physical fitness activities
Belong: do something with someone – keep connected through our social activities
Commit: do something meaningful – do something meaningful and important to you such as purposeful volunteering
1. Keeping physically active:
Participation in any physical activity is important for your physical and mental health. Improve your mental and physical well-being by finding a physical activity you enjoy doing. Doing it with someone else makes it more fun, and, combined with natural surroundings, it makes it even better for your health.
Studies show that those people with low cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength have a 98% higher chance of experiencing depression and 60% higher chance of experiencing anxiety. Also, psychological distress is reduced by 34% by participating in recreational sport 1-3 times per week.
We run regular physical fitness activities such as fun runs and walks, yoga, hiking, sailing and more. Join up as a Buddy Up Member to get involved!
2. Keeping socially connected:
Building social connections result in satisfying our psychological need for friendship and helping us to define who we are. Whether it is the family, work group, volunteer group, friends, or another, a sense of belonging contributes to our identity. Social connectedness can help release neurotransmitters, which can lead to improved sleep, concentration, and mood. People without social support are five times more likely to experience a mental illness.
Belonging to a group keeps you active and connected and is helpful to improve your mental well-being. We run regular social activities such as coffee catch-ups and family BBQ’s you can get involved with and make new friends.
3. Commit – doing something meaningful:
Volunteering gives you a sense of meaning and community. The main reasons people tend to volunteer are for personal satisfaction and to do something worthwhile; to help others and the community; and for personal or family involvement. Volunteering can help improve your outlook on life and mental health as 82% of volunteers were delighted, pleased or mostly satisfied with their lives, compared to 75% of non-volunteers. The impact of volunteering is significant with volunteers contributing approximately $14.6 billion worth of unpaid labour to the community per year. Details here.
We provide opportunities for volunteering, whether it be a clean-up day, tree planting, a backyard blitz for a person in need, helping out our veteran community and more.
Take the mental wellbeing quiz:
Take Act Belong Commit’s Mental Wellbeing Quiz to rate your involvement in mentally healthy activities. Take quiz.
Join us as a member:
You can improve your mental well-being by getting involved in our events as a Buddy Up member or supporter.
Membership options
Option 1: Current or ex-serving defence member, first responder or family member – free lifetime membership
Option 2: Supporter membership* - $49 per year
(*A supporter is someone who does not have an affiliation to ADF or First Responders, however, they love what we do and would like to support us by way of volunteering and/or donation. Please note, we would love for our Supporter Members to be able to attend all events however, where event attendance is capped, priority is given to our current / ex-serving members and their families).