This RUOK Day, the Dalgarno Institute encourages you most definitely equip yourself with insights, ideas and interventions, but in building #resilience into each other, and therefore our community, requires a deeper dive.

In our social media obsessed culture, ‘relationships’ can easily be distilled down to a text or sadly, even an ‘positive’ emoji, believing it enough to keep us buoyed, but our humanity requires more, much more.

Social isolation, loneliness, and that missing real human connection that helps us better frame our sense of self and our decision-making is often what leads to engagement with substances. Rather than processing the ‘yuk’ in healthy ways, people – the young particularly – are being led to think they can self-medicate away the angst, but it fails them and fails them terribly

Whilst these may (or all too often) may not lead to a temporary alleviation of that ache, it will only rebound to greater distress in the short and long-term.

Asking the question RUOK is vital not just today, but in your everyday encounters and connections. Watching out for people, particularly young people who are engaging with legal or illegal substances and you ‘stepping’ in to give an out are not only important but profound acts of real care.

So, this RUOK?Day…

How are U in stepping out for your ‘neighbour’ and investing in building resilience in them?

Yes, it starts with RUOK, but relationship requires investment and real care can be spelt T.I.M.E.

This RUOK day look to what it means for you to invest more consistently in proactive and protective relationships with your peers, and not just follow the pop-culture promos that promise much, but deliver nothing in building their, your, and our communities OK-ness!

Check out

• DJ AM and MTV Intervention
• R.E.C.I.P.E. for Resilience Part One
• Giving a Damn
• I need to stop this – Help!
• World Resiliency Day – Building Resiliency Against Drug Use

To us at least, this is a No Brainer – Dalgarno Institute.