25 Sep 2020

Documentary tackles youth mental health

From First Up, 5:45 am on 25 September 2020

It's Mental Health Awareness Week, and to mark the occasion one Kiwi has released a very personal documentary which highlights why it's so important to take mental illness seriously. The Girl on the Bridge follows mental health activist Jazz Thornton as she learns about the life of her friend, Jess, who took her own life in 2015, aged just 16. Jazz is also a co-founder of Visions of Hope, a charity trying to break the stigma around mental illness. She told our reporter Louise Ternouth she's fighting to change how society and the system are dealing with young people.