Getting affordable second hand books is now a way to support mental illness research.
The Carlton Rotary Second-hand Book Fair event has attracted more than 100 people at Kathleen Syme Library Centre today.The book fair has offered more than 11,000 books and audio-visual products on wide range of topics all on sale for under 5 dollars. 50 percent of the fund raised in the event will go to support mental illness research.
Organiser and psychologist, Dr Tony Jorms, says people’s awareness of mental health is improved dramatically these days, but there is still a long way to go, and the biggest challenge for mental health research is fund raising.
The big problem for mental illness research in general is just getting funds. It’s very competitive. The main resource in funding in Australia is the natonal health and medical research coucil. And the success rate in applications are about 15.15 percent. So it’s very low.
University Student Mattie Allanby is a first time participant, and she says the event is more than what she expected and is willing to support mental health issues.
Mental illness is a huge issue. I think 1 in 4 Australians will have experienced mental illness put in their lives. So it’s a huge important issue. And the money they raised for the cureness is double bonus.
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