Hot Chocolate Anyone ?

Yeah @Anony18 ... it's really awful being in limbo.

I'm with you on reluctance to make decisions, cos it feels like you really don't know where things are going ....

I am so glad there is so much going on for us at the moment that I have to keep moving forward just to get through this stuff .... and the major issue stays bubbling away on the back burner ....

Keep yourself busy with mini projects if you can .... it will keep you feeling like you're achieving something while you're standing by in another sense ....

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Morning Gang!

Today is a good day, no a GREAT day. As much as i thought i was coping on my own with crazyboy... i think i was kidding myself a little and this morning my mum has messaged me to say she is coming to visit over the weekend! I cried like a loony at my desk with relief that i didnt know i needed.

I have the best mum in the world, and she is the kind of mum, who can "mum" anyone, she is amazing with my partner and he trusts her beyond belief. i finally feel like i will be able to rest knowing there is someone else around to take care of him, even for a few days!

It has reminded me that no matter how strong we are as carers, sometimes, we need support too, even if we arent yet ready to ask for it.

I hope you all have a wonderful thursday too

xx

Tigs

Good Morning @Former-Member,

We must be the east coast early birds!

I have to say that we recently relocated from regional WA and we had to go through our diagnosis process and everything privately as the place we are from, (which isnt a small town) had a 2 year waiting list to see MH publically.

If you presented to the A&E department of the hospital with MH issues or suicide, there was 2 possible courses of action : 1. send you home with sedatives and referral back to GP or 2. get sedated and flown to perth for treatment (family were required to make thier own way down to support).

Our public MH Unit really only provided depot shots and wouldnt willingly oversee any other meds (suggested webster packs with the pharmacy) and there was no access to emergency counselling or services. It was an utter disgrace. We ended up driving to perth monthly to see a psychiatrist privately who worked with out local GP and clinical psych to get through... it cost us a fortune and i was lucky my partner complied as most wouldnt in that situation.

The entire MH system needs an overhaul. I have to say so far i think the public system here in Vic is a little better, but we are still going private as it is what we are now used to and our private health insurance is all geared towards MH services anyway, but at least there are public MH A&E departments if we were to need them! Touch wood we wont though!

xx

Tigs

Hearing you @Tiggeroo ....

And we're not even on diagnosis page over here yet ....

Accessing support services in Vic to ask questions and receive emotional support .... ?!

The big towns out from Perth might as well be rural villages .... services so centralised .... my Dad was staying with me for his knee surgery, having come down from the next big "city" ....

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@Faith-and-Hope, I am from the "next big city" up from Perth too!

Sadly though you are bang on it isnt just MH services... i broke my wrist when i was 14, both bones snapped off just below the heads, i did not require surgery, it was set with a normal plaster cast... but i still had to be flown to perth for that because it happened on a saturday night... i had to wait for the flying doctor on sunday at lunchtime to fly me to subiaco to have more xrays, a cast put on, and be discharged 4 hours after arriving... that was a few years ago now though so hopefully that has improved haha!

i know our MH unit has been through 4 inquests in 2 years for homicide/sucidide/aggrivated assault cases where the people presented to the unit in the week leading up to the incidents.. funny though... not much sticks to them when it comes to responsibilities and duty of care.

xx

Tigs

@Tiggeroo

Sad, isn't it .... but I really think it is a population vs resources issue ....

Many people on the east coast who have never ventured west would not realise how arid our terrain is over here, even on the coastal regions .... with less population ... so many hours drive between towns .... still only sparse settlements everywhere with nothing particularly attractive to visitors ....

Its a different world, and the services and facilities reflect the situation ....

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@Faith-and-Hope it actually astounds me that the services are so sparse when the need clearly exists and the lifestyle is definetly nothing to be snuffed at.

I actually work in the private healthcare world and i was always astounded when we tried to recruit specialists and they would end up in the cities... we would always say, you can earn the same income, the cost of living is much less and you can litterally have the beach at your doorstep... but still they end up in Sydney or Melbourne...

its sad...

xx

Tigs

@Tiggeroo

Yeah ... and then they feel the need to "get away" from the city life .... lol ...

Funny, but sad ....

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Thanks @Faith-and-Hope....i been keeping myself busy with dance, tennis etc. Even go to impromptu movies. But it is the moment i stop cause you have to sleep of course that it comes flowing through. So it is the getting out of bed and going to bed that becomes difficult. Meant to have a tennis match tonight with workmates but it appears to be raining =( Hope it stops.......but the weather forecast predicts not.

@Tiggeroo - that is really great news! So happy for you! Definitely understand about the healthcare services over here in WA particularly in the regions. To be honest even the ones in the city is shocking.