In a bad way right now. Don't know what to do. Again.

@0ddsidian thanks that was very clear and helpful . Appreciate all the time u took to answer @Jlol

No problem, @EternalFlower. Always happy to try to answer questions and explain anything ✌️

@Oaktree well done in doing the program. I have done similar programs at vmiac, spectrum and alt2su. Different pros and cons but if its the right time and rhe right facilitator it might be good tor aome re the recovery club.

I can understand the questions about escalation in crises as some ppl have experienced rough and harmful treatment via police who are involved in treatment orders and sectioning ppl.

I personally have never been sectioned for speaking about feeling unsafe by any of those groups

I have had it happen with crises phone lines tho. It wasn't nice for me.

Hey @Jlol ,

You're not unpopular with SANE staff. Sorry you feel that way.

Actually, I was driving today and thinking about the topic of your thread here.

"In a bad way right now. Don't know what to do. Again."

I was thinking, does that mean HAVE been better in between now and when you last felt this way?

@Jlol hope you’re okay. Here for you. I heard what you said — and the tone too — about having concerns when using services. Just want to validate that it’s okay to feel that way. Many people do, and it’s natural to have mixed feelings and still find ways to use what helps.

Hi @EternalFlower, I'm so sorry to hear that.

I'm sorry the convo was triggering too. I probably should have put "TW" in the title. That's my bad.

Yes it's crazy how some professionals find it acceptable to lie to, mislead, or omit information from their clients. Way back when I was at uni I went to see the uni counsellor and partway through she got up and said she had to move her car "because the meter was about to expire". Of course this was a lie and she called emergency services.

I wish the powers that be - the Federal Health Ministry and NGOs like Sane - would commit to providing clear guidelines to MH professionals. The whole area is a very serious one: from having important and distressing conversations about people mood and health, to making decisions that inhibit someone's freedoms. There needs to be clearer guidelines and better ways to challenge such decisions.

Thanks @0ddsidian

I might try this, but it will be hard to do it anonymously.

You said: "Yes, the referral form requires some personal details to be included."

Is this information shared with any other entities? Eg Medicare? As I understand some government/tax-payer funded programs want only Australian citizens to attend and so you have to prove, somehow, that you arn't from overseas.

Thanks @tyme

"I was thinking, does that mean HAVE been better in between now and when you last felt this way?"

No, it meant that my mental health had deteriorated significantly and that I am in crisis and quite close to s****de and need to do something about it/talk to someone/anyone, but can't actually say anything directly for fear of crossing some arbitrary line and being reported, and/or told that "Sane is not a crisis support service" and being told to call Lifeline, or having the post deleted.

When I'm in that state this is the only place I can reach out to, but for obvious reasons I have to do a whole song and dance around my words.

@Jlol im hoping you're okay - i've been in much the same boat

i called the psych triage last night, who told me a few practical tips about getting outside and grounded today (a psychologist answered the phone). They also kinda okd me taking medication so i did.

in crises i can undertand ur fear of these services. I have only had it happen to me once - called behind my back - but can see ur experience with the uni psychologist and its overall unfair. I'm not so scared of it anymore. Its just one of those things that happen in my life. The police are nice to me mostly lol. I've had them at my home abotu 10 times the last 18 months. I wish i was less numb about it.

I'm sorry you feel at the brink. All i hope for u is that the forums don't make it worse, like it did for me. I hope u find someone who points u to something that can help you and hold. I don't like the moderation/haziness of the forums as in i've hd more my boundaries breeched here, and i dont think there's an ethical support here - given its for ppl with omplex mental health. Some of the ppl are not assisting us with that need of ours, support with complex mental health. I admire peer support in the community - had that reently at Spectrum and it was amzing. But peer support is intentional peer support (IPS) where they actully don't just vent about themselves but only share what they can do help us. So finding that model has been life saving for me.

I hope you are okay. Whatever u need to get through crises and be alive and be here, in my view, is everything.

@Jlol i think also sometimes they might assesrt boundaries but if they do it in a clumsy way they sacrifice the relatiosnhip

My clinician told me he'd never do to me what his colleague did - when i meerely thought out loud about my abuser sayng i "iwsh they weren't around," this ended up in the clinician calling my case manager in a panic that i was a threat to the abuser.
Really.

I have no history of violence and the abuser is a man (i'm a woman who is unfit) and i have never hurt anyone in any physical way but that was enough to trigger the system. In person, the clinician didn't say even a word to me to explore or ask whata i meant and i forgot i'd made that offhand commment in anger.

I only learnt a few months later when I got my records that she'd put it on the public catt team as she thought i was a risk. She didn't even have the courage or integrity to discuss it with me f2f

I think it's inexperience - but who knows - we could very easily get an inexperienced clinician when we reach out - although i can tell now, quite quickly, and only open up fully when i can sense a rapport and integrity. I don't mean to close ranks or support authority and they are few and far between but there are some ppl who prioritise the patient over the "system."