Sam Murphy search raises anxiety over safety

Ballarat East mother-of-three Samantha Murphy was reported missing on Sunday, February 4, 2024, after she failed to return from her morning run.

After five days, there has been no sighting of Ms Murphy, leading to concerns around safety from women on social media and in the wider community.

Ballarat Women's Clinic clinical psychologist Kylie McKenzie said it was important to recognise if you are feeling anxious.

"Reach out to your support network," she advised.

"If you find yourself worrying about what might have happened, remind yourself you live in a community that really cares."

Dr McKenzie has more than 20 years of experience in the field and said the unknown can create a lot of anxiety.

"When we don't know what's happened, we get very anxious going through all possibilities," she said.

In some Ballarat social media groups this week, women had discussed their own safety concerns, as well as concern for Ms Murphy and how they could help. .

Dr McKenzie said if the anxiety was impacted your day-to-day life to look for someone to talk to and check in with your friends.

"Call Beyond Blue or see your general practitioner," she said.

"There is a lot of effort in the search so check in with your community especially those who might be vulnerable."

City of Ballarat councillor Amy Johnson said Ballarat was generally a safe city but situations like this led to "increased concerns" around safety.

"Often women have concerns about safety when alone in public," she said.

"It stems from a range of factors including fear of harassment or feeling vulnerable in isolated areas - it's important we recognise these concerns are valid and more needs to be done to address these concerns.

"The fact that women feel the need to be hyper-vigilant about their personal safety and have concerns about exercising, obviously speaks to the need to prioritise community safety initiatives, like campaigns relating to developing a culture of respect, or improving personal safety and the safety of all people in Ballarat within our city is a high priority for council."

Affected by this story? There is help available.