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Head of "Mental Health Australia" Resigns Over Govt. Inaction On Mental Health

Head of "Mental Health Australia" Resigns Over Govt. Inaction On Mental Health

This came up in my newsfeed this arvo, and I thought it might be of interest to people here: https://www.msn.com/en-au/health/other/mental-health-australia-chair-matt-berriman-resigns-calling-out-government-inactions/ar-AA1nAmec

This feels very timely, considering that we've already been talking a fair bit about the state of mental health care, in the wake of the Bondi Junction stabbings.

I have to admit, I can really sympathize with this guy. It feels like we're talking about mental health as much as ever; it feels like there's been an uptick in the visable presence of "lived experiance" voices in the dialog; but has anything really changed, in real terms? IMHO, it doesn't seem like it.

I'd love to open the floor at this point to get other peoples' perspectives on this. Do you think Matt Berriman is right? Are we moving too slow on this?

14 replies

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In response to: Head of "Mental Health Australia" Resigns Over Govt. Inaction On Mental Health

Re: Head of "Mental Health Australia" Resigns Over Govt. Inaction On Mental Health

@tyme said: We ask that this conversation be left for members to agree to disagree.

That's what we're doing @tyme. @D1ng0 stated enjoyment at this chat—discussing opinions. Isn't that communication?

Things DID work out for me, @tyme. You have me summed up all wrong.

In response to: Re: Head of "Mental Health Australia" Resigns Over Govt. Inaction On Mental Health

Re: Head of "Mental Health Australia" Resigns Over Govt. Inaction On Mental Health

Good to hear @Historylover

In response to: Re: Head of "Mental Health Australia" Resigns Over Govt. Inaction On Mental Health

Re: Head of "Mental Health Australia" Resigns Over Govt. Inaction On Mental Health

@Historylover @tyme @D1ng0
I think I get what @Historylover was saying: we should be aspiring to make sure that medication regimens are as short-term as is appropriate.

Just as I assume we can all agree that a person with a broken leg in a cast shouldn't be confined to that cast any longer then they need to be to repair their leg, so too should we aspire for a system that doesn't keep people on medications any longer then they need to repair their lives.

That's not to deny that some people may need to be medicated for very long periods or even their entire lifetimes; but we ought to be aiming to insure that we aren't needlessly putting people on medication; nor leaving people on medication any longer then is appropriate.

How would any of us like to be still locked up in a cast five years after breaking our leg, because our doctors forgot to cut us out of it?

For my two cents (and I know I've talked about this before) I was put on meds when there was absolutely no reason to do so, aside from the therapist looking for a quick and easy way to make it look like he was doing something for me. What I really needed was "psychosocial support" - help with my real-world problems; though I had no idea that this was a specialized form of therapy and just assumed that all therapists did it. There is absolutely no coherent rationale as to how me taking pills would've fixed those things for me.

So, while I'm not disputing that medication can and does help some segment of the population, I also know from personal experiance that some therapists within the system mis-perscribe it.

In response to: Re: Head of "Mental Health Australia" Resigns Over Govt. Inaction On Mental Health

Re: Head of "Mental Health Australia" Resigns Over Govt. Inaction On Mental Health

@chibam I'm with @tyme here, I know what my experience is and I'd rather leave it at that. It was a mistake for me to go into this topic more deeply, since I'm still working with practitioners to figure out my own medication regimen. I'd rather not talk about this anymore or debate what approach is best, so please don't tag me again. I'd be up for it on other days, but not right now. Thank you for your thoughts, I'm sure others will benefit.

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