Four talented young writers have taken the top prize in a National Youth Week writing competition supported by beyondblue.

This year’s theme for the WriteIt National Talent Competition was ‘finding your way back’. Entrants were invited to submit stories about finding hope following a diagnosis of depression, anxiety or a related mental health disorder.

beyondblue has supported the writing competition for the past two years to encourage young people aged 12 to 25 to put pen to paper and creatively explore their ideas.

CEO of beyondblue, Leonie Young, said the response to the competition was unprecedented. The judges received 315 entries from around the country compared to 170 last year.

“This year’s entries were very impressive and diverse,” Ms Young said. “It is encouraging to see so many young people are thinking about mental health and using their creative skills to get the point across that depression and anxiety disorders can be treated effectively and most people recover from these common illnesses.

“Stories about recovery can also inspire others to get help themselves. We thank everybody who took the time and effort to enter and congratulate our four talented young winners on their very significant pieces of work.”

National Youth Week writing competition 2009 winners

http://youthweek.com/2010/comps/finalists-09/writeit-junior-09

http://youthweek.com/2010/comps/finalists-09/writeit-senior-09

The winners of this year’s Youth Week National Talent Competition WriteIt category are:

http://youthweek.com/2010/comps/national-talent-competition/writeit-senior-2010-winners

http://youthweek.com/2010/comps/national-talent-competition/writeit-junior-2010-winners

beyondblue encourages young people to learn more about depression and anxiety and to look for signs of depression, listen and talk to their friends about tough times and seek help together.

Check out more winners from the National Youth Week 2009 National Talent Competition at www.youthweek.com.