{"id":15007,"date":"2021-09-09T10:00:59","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T00:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/?p=15007"},"modified":"2025-08-28T14:44:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T04:44:26","slug":"are-they-really-ok-ask-them-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/2021\/09\/09\/are-they-really-ok-ask-them-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Are they really OK? Ask them today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today is R U OK? Day and this year the message is: Are they really OK? Ask them today.<\/p>\n<p>Do you know how the people in your world are really going? Life&#8217;s ups and downs happen to all of us, so chances are someone you know might be struggling. Your genuine support can make a difference whatever they&#8217;re facing, big or small. Don\u2019t wait until someone\u2019s visibly distressed or in crisis\u2014make a moment meaningful and ask them how they\u2019re really going.<\/p>\n<p>Are they really OK? Ask them today. Your conversation could change a life.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to ask \u2018Are you OK?\u2019 from ruok.org.au<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Before you ask:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Learn more about the signs and when it&#8217;s time to ask R U OK? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruok.org.au\/signs\">here<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Roleplay an R U OK? Conversation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruok.org.au\/how-to-ask\">here<\/a> or use the \u2018RUOK Mate\u2019 action on Google to roleplay scenarios and get tips on how, when and where to ask R U OK? Say, \u2018Hey Google, talk to RUOK Mate\u2019 to get started.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Getting ready to ask:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Before you can look out for others, you need to look out for yourself. And that\u2019s ok. If you&#8217;re not in the right headspace or you don&#8217;t think you&#8217;re the right person to have the conversation, try to think of someone else in their support network who could talk to them.<\/p>\n<p>To help you decide whether you\u2019re ready to start a meaningful conversation, ask yourself:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you\u2019re ready\u2014are you in a good headspace, able to give as much time as needed and willing to genuinely listen?<\/li>\n<li>If you\u2019re prepared\u2014do you understand that if you ask if someone\u2019s ok, the answer could be no? Do you understand that you can\u2019t fix someone\u2019s problems, and can you accept that they might not be ready or willing to talk to you?<\/li>\n<li>If you\u2019ve picked your moment\u2014have you chosen somewhere relatively private and comfy, figured out a time that will be good for them to chat, and ensured you have enough time to chat with them properly?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Asking R U OK?:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By starting a conversation and commenting on the changes you\u2019ve noticed, you could help that family member, friend or workmate open up. If they say they are not ok, you can follow the R U OK? conversation steps to show them they\u2019re supported and help them find strategies to better manage the load. If they are ok, that person will know you\u2019re someone who cares enough to ask. The steps are:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Ask R U OK?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen with an open mind.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Encourage action.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Check in. <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>(RUOK, 2021)<\/p>\n<p>For more information about R U OK? Day and resources to help you have the conversation and make a moment meaningful, visit the R U OK? website <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruok.org.au\/\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today is R U OK? Day and this year the message is: Are they really OK? Ask them today. Do you know how the people in your world are really going? Life&#8217;s ups and downs happen to all of us, so chances are someone you know might be struggling. Your genuine support can make a<a href=\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/2021\/09\/09\/are-they-really-ok-ask-them-today\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;Are they really OK? Ask them today&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":18381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,3],"tags":[161,162],"class_list":["post-15007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-researchers","category-students","tag-events","tag-general"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Vanessa Gatt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2021\/09\/blog-r-u-ok-1000x0-c-default.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}