Thoughts for Sydney

@D1ng0 very well said. Exactly what I was thinking.

I hope everyone is going ok

I find myself wondering if we are condemned to forever be caught up in an "us vs. them"-battle over these sorts of matters. Will we ever be able to find common ground with the rest of society, and be able to formulate a policy we can all agree on, or are our groups just too differant?

I remember a couple years ago there was this speech by some American politician in New York that went viral globally. He was talking about recent shifts towards less restrictive approaches towards the handling of "mentally ill" people, and he said something like: "Yes, the mentally ill members of our society have every right to feel safe. But you know what? So do my family and friends! [Cue the thunderous applause from the audience]"

I mean you can understand where they guy is coming from, even if you don't exactly agree with how he phrases it. He just wants to live in a community where he feels his family and friends are safe. There's nothing evil about that, right? (And note, it's not enough to simply be safe; it's essential that people feel safe.)

So again, I ask: does it need to be a case of "us vs. them"? Does the mentally ill community's sense of safety necessarily have to come at the expense of the broader community's sense of safety? Are we locked in a dillemma where somebody has to be the winner, and somebody has to be the loser? Or is there a way we can all come together to agree on some sort of framework that is fair and agreeable to both sides? I've gotten cynical about such things, I think.

BTW, Wikipedia has already attributed this Bondi incident to schizophrenia, I notice. It'll be interesting to see where the media spin goes from here.

@D1ng0 As soon as MH is involved it seems the media (and others who should know better) attribute someone's action to their MH ...which reverberates throughout society and anyone with a MH issue is tarnished with the same brush @chibam There are 2 issues that are not conveyed to the public - 1. what else was happening for that person and 2. don't put every person with a MH issue in the same basket.

@chibam I mean, I dunno who that bloke is, but I feel sorry for the people in his life (family and friends) who have mental illnesses, if his view of people is so black-and-white.

TW: Discussion of gun violence

I also hope he supports strict gun control laws if he's super worried about people being safe, given how frequently his fellow Americans die and are injured due to firearms. I hope he's equally worried about the Americans who do not feel safe, and are absolutely not safe, because of how many of their neighbours, colleagues, and students own automatic weapons. I actually think it's hard to directly compare America and Australia, partly because the USA conversation about mental illness is so heavy influenced by mass shootings and gun lobbies, and mental illness is an excuse not to reform gun laws... not that they have markedly improved their healthcare or actually addressed mental illness either, mind you...

Anyway, returning to our country, I actually do have hope. And I don't think it's necessarily a case of two binary sides, one being mentally ill and one being completely mentally well. We all have mental states and mental health, and we don't remain unchanging across our lifetimes. Because mental illness exists across all age groups, genders, socioeconomic groups, and so on, I think conversations will inevitably continue to be had about supporting those with extra needs. In the wake of an incident like this, I think stigma is sadly inevitable, but I think we're in a much better shape than the USA, to grow and evolve in the future.

What would be great would be a new education initiative by the government, teaching the public about mental illnesses/disorders and amplifying the voices of community members. And more accessible mental health care overall.

feeling sad for the people who died and where injured as well as the perpetrator, how people and the media are speaking about him and others with mental health issues is nothing short of frightening and sad. they made him out to be a monster, not someone crying out for help. i have an aunt who has schizophrenia and mum and i have tried to seek help for her, doctors, mental health professionals all said there is nothing we can do until she causes harm to herself or others.

Im not sure what the answer is but i know the stigma for people like me will increase massively with this tragic event.

@Zoe7 Agreed; There continues to be a woeful lack of focus on the various non-mental illness issues that people are suffering. To be honest, I don't know if that would make a whole lot of differance to peoples' attitudes. The reasons behind that are quite complicated.

@D1ng0Yeah, the situations between America and Australia are quite differant. But I think that the feelings and attitudes are essentially the same. Everybody's looking out for their own kin above all else, and at the expense of anybody else, whenever necessary.

I'd really love to see much more open dialog - civil, balanced, productive dialog - about this in the public discussion; not just in relatively niche forums such as this. I'd love to think that maybe our society as a whole might be able to make some progress on these matters.

Hey @Jacques ,

I'm hearing you. So close to home.

Hugs

That’s where organisations like SANE can make a valuable contribution in raising awareness about the stigma this can attract.

I guess other groups in our community have experienced this kind of stigma. I’m pretty sure about the first conclusion many jumped to.

@Zoe7 @Snowie @D1ng0 @chibam @ArraDreaming

Thank you for broaching this subject, @Jacques. No-one knows him or the troubled life he has lived. He, like so many others, simply didn't receive the help he so obviously needed. He snapped with tragic consequences. A lot of people have blxxd on their hands. He wasn't a monster. He was a deeply troubled man. These things don't 'just happen'; they are caused by a succession of life events. Vale to him too.

These things will continue to happen as long as therapists think a person's problems are solved with a diagnosis—however inappropriate—and medication alone.