Gavin Larkin's father, Barry Larkin, died by suicide in 1996. Later, when Gavin Larkin experienced depression and was concerned about his mental health, he completed a course at
Landmark Worldwide. From this course, he chose to complete a project about suicide prevention to honour his father, to create a national day of action about contacting people who might be having a difficult time. This resulted in the eventual co-creation with Janina Nearn of
R U OK? in 2009. The first day was held on 29 November 2009, but the annual timing later changed to be on the second Thursday of September. The R U OK? slogan was established from extensive research proving that communication with people positively impacts their mental state. The message for the first R U OK? Day was "a conversation can change a life". On the R U OK? website Larkin has said that, "[G]etting connected and staying connected is the best thing anyone can do for themselves and for those who may be at risk." Since its inception, many Australian celebrities, community leaders and athletes such as
Hugh Jackman;
Naomi Watts;
Simon Baker; former
South Sydney Rabbitohs co-captain,
Roy Asotasi; former professional
rugby league footballer
Wendell Sailor, gold medal Olympian
Libby Trickett and community leader
Deepak Vinayak have enlisted as ambassadors and supporters in order to raise awareness. In 2009,
Yahoo!7's
Sunrise reported that 650,000 conversations took place as a result of the campaign. Founder Gavin Larkin died from lymphoma in 2011, but his family have continued to promote the campaign. In 2012, the annual Don Ritchie Suicide Prevention Award was announced in conjunction with R U OK? Day to recognise the "extraordinary acts of service and commitment to suicide prevention," said NSW Minister for Mental Health, Kevin Humphries. After his death,
Don Ritchie, the 'Angel of the Gap', was recognised for his "efforts in saving the lives of hundreds of people at risk of suicide" with the award continuing to recognise the efforts of others in this field. The 2013 organisational category of the award was won by R U OK?. A study on the effectiveness of the 2014 R U OK? Day campaign found that the broader population were aware of the day and that it had a positive impact. In 2017, R U OK? Day was featured on
Australian Story. The Woolgoolga community and Nichols had received that year's Barbara Hocking Memorial Award: Community category for their R U OK "Woopi Wears Yellow" promotions. R U OK? has collaborated with transport companies to host a separately-timed industry-specific Rail R U OK? Day in April each year. Train drivers and other rail workers are provided with trauma support options including the RailRes app.
Reception and impact R U OK? Day has been subject to criticism that while it is well-meaning, it has a superficial and simplistic focus of informal health promotion through encouraging professional referrals. Referrals are also suggested without acknowledgement of service wait times, service costs and the complexities of managing mental health. The day has also been reviewed as being promoted in a tokenistic way, despite the organisation's recommended guidelines of suggesting ongoing support to others. There are possible harmful impacts from people starting conversations for which they are ill-equipped or uninformed, with triggering language. There has also been a call for increased insight, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring to acknowledge mental health's slow onset and cyclical nature, rather than an annual day. R U OK?'s own reporting into their impact and media
sentiment analysis has been criticised for its low sample size and partial capture of experiences around the day. ==See also==