CANBERRA, Australia, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ - Mentalympians(TM) announced today, on this World Mental Health Day, its inaugural Advisory Group, consisting of twelve advisors based in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland and the United States of America. Profiles of the advisors are found on www.mentalympians.org.

Mentalympians has been created to develop an online community channel, to be operated through a network of mental health consumer groups. This world-first initiative will establish a 21st century peer support mechanism for raising awareness of recovery; inspiring hope; reducing self-stigma; and connecting individuals to local support groups and services. It is envisaged that Mentalympians will also foster the exchange of ideas and information between groups and individuals to create conditions favourable for social change.

"As President of the World Federation for Mental Health it gives me great pleasure to support Mentalympians as it is a very innovative project to promote both recovery globally and the reduction of discrimination for all people in the world experiencing mental illness," said advisor Tony Fowke, a member of the Order of Australia.

The brainchild of Canberra-based mental health advocate and social worker Keith Mahar, the mental health initiative is itself a testament to recovery, as Mahar's former Canadian broadcasting career was ended by severe mental illness.

"The collective knowledge possessed by members on this advisory group is both diverse and exceptional. However, this type of project cannot succeed without the involvement of a large number of people," stated Mahar. "Help is required from members of the public to develop Mentalympians to its potential."

The mental health community development project is currently recruiting online volunteers. Interested individuals are invited to visit www.mentalympians.org.

SOURCE Mentalympians