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In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

From my research,and things I have seen in the past,stigma is still very present from Hospital staff and/or Ambulance workers towards people with Mental Illnesses, particularly Hospitals in more suburban areas outside of the main cities.
They are still treated very poorly and spoken to disrespectfully, and bystanders will say nothing out of fear of retribution or fear of ridicule.
I don't think any of the recent attempts to end stigma has "touched" these Hospitals at all as they are oblivious that these anti stigma campaigns even exist.
For example,these staff members are more likely to watch forty on TV as opposed to watching Abc Mental As programme or the Q and A programme about depression etc.

What ideas do you have that Sane could do to help expose and address the stigmatising/discrimatory attitudes that still exists at these suburban Public Hospitals?

My idea is that Sane could create a detailed survey questionnaire that would ask people who have been patients of these hospitals to rate out of 1-5 how respectfully they were treated,what tone they were talked to,what their experience was etc...
But Sane should give these surveys out in the hospitals grounds and not just online so they could reach people's views who may otherwise not go online or have access to or cognitive ability to use the internet.

That way,organisations like Sane would have a greater idea into what problems still exist,and in what areas,and be able to create a plan to counter them because sometimes I feel the only people that are tuned into "anti stigma campaigns" are people that either have a mental illness,their families or people that already believe mentally ill shouldn't be stigmatised against,but the "perpertrators" themselves are actually tuned out,if this makes sense.

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In response to: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

I 100% agree with you Terry.

An apology letter,instead of change,is far from acceptable.

I also agree that the abusive methods need to become illegal,without that a mental health complaints commision could become lip service.

Regarding seclusion-Perhaps, a quiet/peaceful room that a patient voluntarily goes into to be free from sensory overload would be acceptable,but anytime a place like this is FORCED on patient/s involuntarily not by choice and is used as seclusion-for punitive action or patient behavioural control purpose-should be illegal as it is demeaning and counter intuitive to trying to better mental health.

Ironically,I've herd some mental health workers state they believed seclusion helped patients because they came out more quiet and "calm".I guess they never considered the patient/s might be like that now because their spirit is broken,they feel humiliated and afraid of being put back in there etc..

I hope you will be able to use your experiences to bring about change Terry.

Maybe you could contact Abc to give your story on mental as or the 7.30 programme, (perhaps they could blur out your face if you didn't want to show it for privacy?) or alternatively lobby politicians that are receptive, and tell the Mental Health Commision your story and ideas etc.

Sometimes it could help to somehow film what's going on in those hospitals also.

In response to: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Hi Appleblossom, thank you. I am sorry that you have experienced abuse at the hands of people with mental illnesses. As there is no necessary link between mental illness and violence, abuse or poor character, it seems that you must have had bad luck. I hope this doesn't happen to you again.

It is nice that you express concern for staff in mental health facilities. I feel that staff in mental health facilities would be much safer if they were not working for a system that is violent and abusive towards its captives. What would your opinion on this be?

In response to: Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Ivana, re seclusion, being tied up and all the rest of it - the FIRST and basic problem is that people are held 'prisoner' against their will - there is no justifiable reason for this and it seems to stem from a belief that we can't be trusted to be responsible for ourselves - this is rubbish. I survived four major episodes in the community unaided before the mental health system got hold of me and started to make things worse. I got through my confusing, painful, incapacitating episodes DESPITE every 'normal' person in the area making fun of me or insulting me or assaulting me. Human beings are extremely tough - the state imagining it has to 'take responsility for us' is just insulting, and anyway the state is highly irresponsible in how it treats the people with mental illness in its 'care'. Until people with mental illnesses get the right to freedom from state persecution we are going to languish, obviously. At the moment when people are finally allowed to leave mental health units they are practically always crushed and traumatised, and then they have to get their life happening again on their own and whilst in this shocking state. Because we are apparently weak/bad/'losers' noone cares what happens to us and how/if we recover from this terrible abuse. The mental health system is very wrong.

In response to: Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

I'm a little reluctant to re-enter this discussion as I feel like the "enemy" however I recently spent 10 days in a public MH unit, then a further 28 days in a PARC facility (Prevention and Recovery Centre) and I must say I was always treated with the utmost of respect, even though I did test the patience of the staff one night and was put out in the "quiet area" (not seclusion which is a whole other ball game) to settle down. I was only ever made to feel uneasy by a particular staff member who had an attitude, but was verbally attacked by a male patient when I hadn't done a single thing to him. I do recognise that he was very unwell, but I do thank the female patient who stuck up for me. I not only felt quite scared, but vulnerable too. The person who stuck up for me still remains a friend outside the facility.

Maybe it's a Victorian thing, but I do believe the 2014 Victorian Mental Health act has gone a long way in addressing some of the horrible things that have been happening to in-patients in the past. Of course there's always room for improvement.

In response to: Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

You raise a really great point @Ellie. Some horrible things have happened, and sadly some time bad things still happen, but things can and have improved, and people can have good experiences in MH units.

I do think complaint systems are important, and though it might not feel like a single complaint makes a difference, over time,100s or even 1000s can add up to the point where things cannot go ignored. Change, particularly social and cultural change, can take a long time. Mental health policy can unfortunately can get held up in politics, but change can happen and improvements have been made, and though there is still a long way to go, I think that things can continue to get better with people speaking up.

Not so long ago, mental illness was very taboo. Though it is still like this to some extent, it's amazing to think that it's now discussed a lot more freely and open than it was in the past.

CB

In response to: Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Hi Ellie, i'm glad that you have not experienced it but the victorian mental health system does still use restraints and seclusion against its patients. I'm a little confused about how to respond to your post as you do not seem to consider being held captive against your will and being forced to spend time in a 'quiet area' as punishment for acting out disrespectful. You are an adult - you should not be held captive against your will unless you have committed a crime, nor should you be put in the 'naughty corner' ('quiet area'). I'm sorry - i shoot from the hip, but i've thought a fair bit of this through and i can't see how depriving people with mental illnesses of their liberty and punishing them could be 'respectful'. We often can't see the forest for the trees in mental health and there is a tendency to think that the state of Australia in 2015 must be just, and that the government knows what it's doing! 😞

In response to: Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Well Terry, I suppose I look at it like this. At the time, I was quite unwell and my actions actually led to an incident of self harm. I was also being very disruptive to the other patients who where trying to go quietly about their healing journey. At the time I was very hostile and angry about being put out the back like a naughty child, but in hindsight, it was for my own good and that of my co-residents. I don't know how else to look at it. The nurses simply couldn't stand by while I damaged myself and not do anything about it. It's called duty of care. I have BPD and nothing they said that that time was going to settle me. I needed to be in a safe area where there was little I could do to self harm.

In response to: Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Hi everyone,

I've been watching this thread for sometime, and it seems like it's becoming quite heated. I'd like to remind everyone that it's ok to have your opinions, and that these opinions may differ. But please be mindful of suggesting that someone's opinion or experience is wrong or invalid if they don't share a similar perspective with you.

People have their own experiences and it's their reality. To tell someone how they should think, or imply that they are thinking about it the wrong way can feel like an attack on that person because it implies that the way that they perceive things are wrong. There are no right or wrongs here, just people's experiences which shapes their opinions.

One thing that can help to prevent this is talk from your own experiences, and acknowledge how things differ.

CherryBomb

In response to: Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Thank you Terry. I do not think of it as a luck thing, I've had time to reflect and understand the triggers and forces involved. It is a tragedy forced on many of those of low socio-economic status, as we were. Maybe I am lucky to have survived at all .. or maybe it was through my sheer bloody hard work.

There is a lot of work needed regarding mental illness and stigma re ... violence, domestic violence, gender and good/bad character issues. My "families" had many qualities, strengths and weaknesses. I also am loving of them.

I have never been "locked up" in a Mhu or prison .. 2 orphanages were like jails .. barbed wire on one and brick walls topped with broken glass ... the other was open and in the countryside. I was in 3. I can simply remember feeling envy for my siblings inside mhu wishing that someone would pay respectful attention to my troubles but that has very rarely occurred in my life. Now I have enough resources to survive a personal mental health crisis in the community .. like you. I had one 2 weeks ago ... the only involvement was Sane forums and a GP and Mondspot conversation and online course.

I have been told by the CAT team 7 years ago that they would put me in hospital "if I really wanted to" but stressed the importance of staying at home on the mental health of my son.

However I have a family story about the problems of deinstitutionalisation ... which involved my brother's death ... so I call my brother a martyr to that policy.

Its complicated.

In response to: Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Re: In which way do you suggest,Sane could help improve the treatment of Mentally Ill in Public Hospitals?

Re my own self harm .. I think I would like to have had some intervention like @Ellie has mentioned .. but it simply did not happen .. I was mocked and overworked instead .. by somebody very clear about HIS rights as a mental health patient but not the rights of OTHER people ... especially his spouse. it was due to cultural and gender issues. I did not realise I could leave an abusive marriage .. so was quite trapped by own volition. I went and sat outside a police station one night because I felt safer there than at home .. nobody knew ... it was just me sitting on the nature strip. It was a step to me gaining the courage to leave. Gradually I am learning that I am a person too .. with rights .. beyond the level of treatment I received as a child.

Anyway it was years ago .. yet it effects my present and future as I am chronically disabled from both overwork and my self harm acts.

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