Have your voices heard: join the National Mental Health Commission "Making Connections" Consultations

Thank you @Former-Member for bringing the to the attention of the community. It is vital that those with lived experience are heard and there are so many members here that could contribute to this consultation. Tagging @Bunniekins @Dimity @StuF @Gwynn @Bow @Christheart @Eden1919here also and will tag other members later (my brain is a bit fried at the moment).

Agreed @Zoe7! I'm going to tag a few more peeps too:
@TAB @Clawde @petrichor @BlueBay @Wanderer @EternalFlower @Determined

More tags for the above message - @utopia @EternalFlower @Sophia1 (please ignore if you are not up to it Hon) @Emelia8 @Oaktree @Shasan @Adge @Sans911

Thank you @Former-Member , @Former-Member , @Zoe7

Going to tag @Smc , @Scoo , @Peri , @Emelia8 , @frog , @Former-Member , @Kurra , @Sophia1 , @Tinker67 ,

Hi all above - for more information on past reports, information, connection, data and future visions from this consultation go here - https://www.mentalhealthcommission.gov.au/Lived-Experience/Connecting-with-Communities

Thank you @Zoe7 for including me at the same time gently letting me know only if up to it. Much appreciated.

Have read a fair bit tonight in different directions.

Also read through the link you posted later.

Will come back to when able.

A matter I feel very strongly about as you know.

Sophia (nearly wrote my name again- head!!)

😯

Thanks so much, @Former-Member 😀! I hope this becomes a regular thing on these forums - alerts about opportunities to contribute to official reports & policies, ect. regarding mental illness, ect.

Thanks @Former-Member for this information. I completed the online survey last night. It is great that people with lived experience are being asked these kinds of questions and let's hope it brings improvements to a very large, complex mental health system.

I have experienced hospitalisations in both the public and private sectors and they are vastly different. Over 3 decades of being a MH consumer, it has changed significantly and for the better but there's still a lot more to do.

One gap I noticed in NSW was a lack of services that provide individual advocacy services. I recently needed this kind of support and I could only find systemic advocacy organisations. I gave this feedback in my survey responses, as the levels of stigma, discrimination and disadvantage of ppl with mental illness make it more difficult to self-advovate. We have to deal with government departments, legal issues, counselling for major life stresses just like everyone else but I found myself a step behind due to managing my mental health recovery on top of it all.

Back in the late 90s my psych nurse advocated for me to my employer to save my job but that kind of support doesn't happen these days. There's a good deal more support services which is really fantastic but I'd like to see advocacy added to what's available.

What other gaps do ppl see?

For example, I think emergency departments should separate physical health patients from mental health consumers. It should also be easier and quicker to get admitted to a private hospital. They seem to operate only Mon to Fri 9 to 5. I'm interested in others views.

You are most welcome @Sophia1 There is a lot in that link so take the time you need to go through it all. I have bookmarked it for later also so I can read it all more thoroughly.

@chibam I also hope this is an ongoing thing. Like you - I continue to advocate for greater inclusion/awareness/transparency for such consultations, policy development etc. to have those with lived experience at the centre - and these forums are a ready made target audience for such with over 33,000 members.

@Patchworks The 9-5 issue is one I am particularly passionate about. In a recent meeting for those with lived experience I voiced my concerns about such meetings and services only being held in work times (this one was in my holidays so I could attend). This is not just an issue with such meetings/conferences/workshops but also with the large range of services. We need greater access to services out of hours. I am so lucky to have a psychologist that works on a Saturday so I do not need to juggle appointments and work - but they are very rare.

We do have some services that work out of hours - like SANE support - but they too do not go far enough. I would like to see a service(s) that are available (and accessible) weeknights and weekends - this is such a massive gap in mental health overall. This would also no doubt free up more emergency space as ED seems the only place to go 'out of hours'. SANE does well in providing longer hours with their drop-in service but needs do not stop at 10pm weekdays or on weekends ...and other longer run helplines are often not what is required.