This year, THE-LOWDOWN.com Presents: Showcased 2013 coincided closely with World Suicide Prevention Day 2013. The theme for this year was Stigma: A Major Barrier for Suicide Prevention and as a lead up to the day and in an effort to help break the stigma associated with suicide, we created our ‘What Drives You?’ campaign. As...

It’s funny how quickly time passes. I still vividly remember the first car event I ever attended, just over 6 years ago back in 2006 as an excited 13 year old at Sydney Olympic Park. The sights of bright lights and flashy cars from an era that now seems so distant, the sounds of reverberating...

Story Submission by Chris, Age 19 I started feeling depressed about 6 years ago. I was young and I had no idea what was going on. I was terrified. I didn’t want to tell anyone because I thought I was a freak, so I hid it. I tried and I tried to force it back...

“There’s the pretty popular misconception that depression is just being sad when something in your life goes wrong.” – Kevin Breel We know depression needs to be talked about, but we don’t. We don’t because it’s not happy, fun or light. For Kevin Breel, his confession was hard to talk about. It’s hard for everyone...

Story Submission by Austin, Age 17 I’ve battled with depression on and off throughout my life. One and a half years ago I met my good friend Euan, who I’ve never gotten to meet in person due to us living countries apart. Euan has also battled with depression for his whole life, but much more...

If you are close to people who choose to cut or burn themselves, it can be really tough to cope with, and hard to understand. The reasons people harm themselves are complicated. Self-harming usually does not mean that a person wants to commit suicide or that they are looking for attention. Usually when people harm...

This Friday’s TLD x TSI Megameet coincides with Self Injury Awareness Day. Cars For Hope aims to break the stereotypes surrounding self-harm and educate the community about this common but often misunderstood condition. On March 1 at the Megameet we ask you to wear an item of orange and show your support for those who...

Story Submission by Sean, Age 17 I have a friend who I’ve known now for 5 years. We are both the same age, seventeen. She had been my best friend ever since we met. But about a year ago I found out she had been diagnosed with a type of depression called Dysthymia. When I...

Shane Koyczan was bullied a lot when he was a kid. So he took that pain and made this stunning video with the help of some amazingly talented people. He wrote “To This Day”, a spoken word poem, to further explore the profound and lasting impact that bullying can have on an individual. He believes...

Story Submission – Anonymous, Age 26. To be honest, I think this is the first time in over 3 years I’ve admitted that I have depression. I’ve felt like I was on edge, always angry with people that hadn’t done anything. 4 years ago I got news that I had a chronic pain of the...

Feeling alone in a battle against depression is something we want no one to ever have to experience. So to remind those in need we want to create an album of photographs to remind them that their life matters and to show the love we have for them. We ask that those who wear our...

Story Submission – Zoe, Age 19 So in an effort to start anew, as the new year often suggests we do, I’d like to point out some things as a way to apologise to those I may have once offended or hurt. A few years back I was diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety. Unfortunately,...