tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60356699161582713912024-02-19T16:38:54.117+10:00LindaMadHatterUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-77311613460909630072012-07-14T22:13:00.000+10:002012-07-14T22:13:34.232+10:00Bling My RideI would like to start a movement. A "Bling My Ride" movement.<br />
<br />
Requiring movement aids, whether they be wheelchairs, or walkers or mobility scooters or whatever, can suck big time. People expect you to walk around them (umm hello???), they make comments about your lack of driving skills when they nearly run into you because they are too busy yapping to watch where they are going, and especially if you are young, you tend to cop either looks of pity, or looks of "gosh, I hope she's not going to ask me to help her out - I'm BUSY".<br />
<br />
When I'm in a wheelchair, it sucks because I'm only half my usual height, I have less control over where I'm going and what I can see, and my son keeps wanting to sit in my lap. When I have my walker, I feel like I'm 90 years old, it hurts my hands because I need them to bear my weight, and my son wants to use it as a ride.<br />
<br />
In order to make my day just a little more enjoyable, I blinged my walker a couple of years ago. It worked. The looks of pity from strangers turned to chuckles of surprise. I felt better, happier, more alive - and why wouldn't I? We feel better when we dress ourselves up to look our best - why not our mobility equipment?<br />
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So here is a picture of my walker. When I get my wheelchair and bling it up, I'll post one of that too. If you feel so inclined, please feel free to post a link to your own picture of your Blinged Up Ride.<br />
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I'm 34 and I have a disability. I'm not fucking dead yet :) <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-15820783553093186172012-07-09T22:26:00.000+10:002012-07-09T22:26:27.096+10:00The Basics CardSo I just semi-lost-my-cool on Twitter over the Basics Card. Only "semi" because I wanted to rip a few threads ;-) Out of respect for my fellow Tweeter however, I did hold back a tad, and am going to write in further detail here why I feel the Basics Card is a stupid fucking arse idea that will demoralise and dehumanise Australians.<br />
<br />
For those that aren't aware, the Basics Card is a part of Income Management - a strategy of the Australian Government to manage the money of Welfare Recipients. It started as blatant racism, however it has progressed to class warfare. Income Management is where 50% of your regular welfare payment, and 100% of any bonus payments, are managed for you. That is, you are forced to spend this money on what the government deems is appropriate - housing, food, clothes, medical, etc. As a part of this scheme, you may choose to be issued with a Basics Card - a card that works in the same way as an EFTPOS card.<br />
<br />
Except for one tiny flaw.<br />
<br />
It is only available at certain businesses.<br />
<br />
<b>Issue number one: Lack of choice.</b><br />
<br />
Scenario - you need to buy food and the only money you have is on your basics card. The only business in town that offers use of the basics card is the most expensive grocery store. Already expensive food just got more expensive. You are penalised for being poor.<br />
<br />
Scenario - you need medical supplies in the middle of the night and no chemist will take the basics card. You are shit out of luck.<br />
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Scenario - you need to supply your family with a gluten free diet and the local markets are cash only.<br />
<br />
Payments can be arranged in advance to businesses that do not sign up to accept the Basics Card - but it takes time. That's fine if you're buying a fridge. Unless your fridge just broke down and you need a new one today. You knew it was coming and you've saved up but... no store will take your Basics Card. Damn! Plus - how do you organise such things with things like the local markets?<br />
<br />
Actually, in all honestly, this lack of choice thing is more a pain in the arse than anything - after all, you still have the 50% of your regular income in cash to play with. However - that's not really the point is it? Life gets complicated. It's fine for you and I to sit here and say "well, she should have been prepared for her baby to have whooping cough on a Sunday night by having a spare $50 cash for taxi's and medication"... but we don't have to live her life. We don't know if she already spent that $50 on Saturday on a medical emergency for her other child. There is many a mother who has walked into emergency saying "nope, today it's the other one" to an inquiring nurse. The Basics Card limits choice. It limits options. And in some worst case scenarios, it's going to limit health and safety.<br />
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<b>Issue number two: Segregation</b><br />
<br />
Those who rock up to the register to pay with a Basics Card and those who don't. For people who live in the city, this may not seem like a drama. For those that live in a small town with only 30 people where everyone knows everyone else's business anyway, this also may not seem like much of a drama. However there are some people who are going to be mortified.<br />
<br />
A couple of months ago, a woman whom I had never met, abused the crap out of me in the grocery store. I was buying groceries with my husband, and I had my walker with me. She abused us, accusing us of "ripping off the system" - even though she had no evidence of any kind that we were on any kind of payments whatsoever. For all she knew at that time, we could have both been on holidays from our very high paying full time jobs. I ended up breaking down in tears, and one of the ways in which I consoled myself was to say to myself that she didn't know anything about me and she still said all that shit.<br />
<br />
If I'd had to pay with a Basics Card, she would have known for sure. Then what would she have said? How would I have felt? Do I deserve that? Do I deserve to be ridiculed in front of a store full of people because I have a disability? What sort of looks is the mother of three going to get? Heaven forbid one of them should have Autism as well... The looks THAT mother gets are already bad enough. And the comments. Every time you leave the house. Every. Single. Time. Ugh.<br />
<br />
<b>Issue number three: You can't travel</b><br />
<br />
Australians gets pissed off at the idea that they are working full time and can not afford to travel overseas while other Australians are on welfare and are travelling overseas.<br />
<br />
I get their point.<br />
<br />
And then I think about it.<br />
<br />
Nobody seems to give a rats arse about pensioners using pension money to go overseas, but let us forget that hypocrisy for a moment, and let us bag out Newstart instead. $489 a fortnight. I live in a small to modest size country town. Rent here starts at $240 for a three bedroom house or unit, divided by three (people) and then times by two (weeks) = $160 a fortnight. Food would easily be $100. Electricity, phone, transport, insurance, medical expenses, clothes, toiletries, heaven forbid the occasional meal out - and I'm thinking - whatever it is that these guys are missing out on in order to save enough to go overseas, who the hell am I to stop them? If they decide that eating nothing but fucking rice for three years is worth a trip to Paris, then good luck to them, because I sure don't have the palette or stamina to put up with rice for that long.<br />
<br />
People visit their dying relatives overseas - are we really getting pissed off over that? Especially when it's usually the dying relative who is paying for the trip?<br />
<br />
Just a little side note if you'll allow - the person I want to bitch slap is the fool with a disability who lives with his parents and thinks that the Disability Support Pension is more than enough because HE gets to go overseas twice a year. Yeah? Either his parents are wearing a lot of his costs, or his disability costs jack shit, but I'm raising two kids on DSP, and it's no fucking picnic!!! If it wasn't for friends, we would be on the streets!!!<br />
<br />
We all have different priorities. I spend a lot of time with Autism families. Some feel that iPads are out of their reach and others feel that they are necessary pieces of equipment. I feel that if we can afford one on a good month (that is, no other emergencies or big bills), then most people who are working should be able to at least consider it - IF it is a priority. But the thing is - I have no right to tell them that they should be selling their big car to buy their kids an iPad any more than the public has the right to tell welfare recipients what they can do with their welfare money.<br />
<br />
And that's it really. "Should" people be spending their money on housing, food, clothes, etc??? Of course they bloody well should. I haven't made up my mind yet about Income Management. Income Management isn't the issue that was stated in the Tweet.<br />
<br />
The Basics Card is all sorts of fucked up. For all sorts of reasons, both practically and philosophically. No doubt about it.<br />
<br />
Not to mention that this doesn't go anywhere near actually addressing the ACTUAL problems. Lack of health, lack of health care, lack of education, lack of employment opportunities, lack of support in relocation to pursue better employment options, lack of mental health care, lack of social supports, lack of housing, discrimination, etc, etc.<br />
<br />
Just before I sign off...<br />
<br />
<b>Issue Number Four: To tie in all the others - it's just derogatory.</b><br />
<br />
The Centrelink website states that you can volunteer for Income Management <a href="http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/centrelink/income-management/about-income-management">if you are unemployed, to help you adjust to living on a lower income, by providing assistance with budgeting for rent and bills</a>. Yes, because someone who last week was a teacher earning $45000 so this week needs assistance as $45000 isn't enough to quickly build a decent savings account, needs help doing simple mathematics. It's like that Bachelor of Education just flittered away in the breeze.<br />
<br />
Being unemployed doesn't equal being a fuckwit. It equals being unemployed. Are there a few Australians out there that need a bitch slap and made to wake up to the reality that you need to pull your weight in the world? Yes. However, there are Australians and media who need far more of a bitch slap to stop them obsessing over a handful of people and making life a living hell for so many good decent people in the meantime.<br />
<br />
Note: I am not writing this as someone who will be using a Basics Card. Income Management seems to be mainly targeting those on "the Dole" and "Single Parent Pension" - the two types of welfare Australians love to hate. I can't imagine a day when Australians with a Disability will sit quietly by while they are told that they can not manage their own money simply because they have a disability. It simply will not happen. On the off change however that it does, our mortgage is over 50% of our payment, so we'll use it for that. The issues I've described will not affect me. When I hear of how they are affecting others however - decent people - I listen. I empathise. Sometimes I cry. It's hard enough to live as I do - always having this cloud above me that I don't "earn my own way" - the feeling that I'm "bludging" - being abused in supermarkets, having notes left on my car, altercations at daycare over parking spots, hell, the other day, some lady nearly ran into my wheelchair, then had the fucking balls to tell me I needed a learners permit for it!!! - Current affairs shows do their shows on disability welfare cheats and I want to invite them over for a week to see what it's like - not just a few minutes - but a whole week. Get the whole picture. And still - the cloud over me is better than that hanging over a single mother or a twenty-something on Newstart. For now, at any rate. The Coalition is looking to change that I hear :-(<br />
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Life can downright suck for some people. No one wakes up in the morning and chooses this life. The Basics Card isn't going to fix anything, and it's going to hurt people. The only good thing about it is that it makes White Australia feel better, knowing that their tax dollars are to the pockets of mining companies, where they belong.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-20398347408608351022012-02-27T01:22:00.003+10:002012-02-27T11:01:11.487+10:00The problem with the NBNThe National Broadband Network. Everyone who owns a computer, or has operated a computer, has an opinion. The problem with the NBN as policy in the political sense is that every idiot that fits the aforementioned descriptions, thinks that their opinion is one coming from a place of "knowledge".<br />
<br />
Bullshit.<br />
<br />
I just read a comment on a blog that pissed all over the NBN, and stated that the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) is far more important. It made me think for a wee moment... My eldest has Aspergers, and my youngest is still iffy on that front; I have a physical disability, my two kids inherited my physical disability genes, so while it's only mildly affecting them at the moment, this will worsen as they get older; I have a mental illness; everyone has asthma (my husbands is very severe), as well as sleep apnoea; and then we all have allergies too, and various other "things" going on... The NDIS is a great idea, and it will benefit this family.<br />
<br />
The problem with the NDIS is that, well, for starters, it's not been put on the cards yet in any "real" way... it's still just a "yeah, we'll do it, sometime" thing. By the time it gets up and going (assuming it doesn't get canned first), it'll be that done over by special interest groups, that it'll be fucked anyway. So while it will benefit us, I'm not expecting it to benefit us much. Actually, I probably shouldn't even expect that it will benefit us at all just yet...<br />
<br />
The NBN on the other hand - it is very much needed for the good of the majority of Australians. City dwellers may not see the urgent need, however I'm guessing that they can see specialists face to face without it costing them travel and motels in order to get there. There is a specialist (the only one in Australia) that I would love to have my son's see so that we can halt the progress of their "disability" as much as possible - but he's in Sydney, I'm in Queensland, and it's just not going to happen. Not unless we get an NBN anyway...<br />
<br />
There are a lot of good reasons to have an NBN, and it would take me all night to list them all, but for now, I just want to explain why people with no clue should just shut up about it.<br />
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They should shut up about it, because they have no clue. They think they have a clue, because they own a computer, or know how to operate one, but they really don't. Or they think they have a clue because Tony Abbott, clueless extraordinaire, gets on television and lies his arse off. Here are some of his biggest doozies...<br />
<br />
<b># Wireless is awesome for rural and remote Australia, as it will offer enough bandwidth and speed to do what is required.</b><br />
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ROFL. The biggest failure of wireless is surprisingly not that people often think they have "wireless" when really they have Wifi connected to a router, connected to (usually) ADSL. No, the biggest failure of wireless technology is that it is finite. There is a finite bandwidth with wireless, so the more people using it, the less bandwidth there is to go around, and the slower and slower connections get. It's also terribly unreliable, particularly in bad weather.<br />
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<b># The market will supply as consumers demand.</b><br />
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This can be summed up with a quick - doesn't seem to be doing us much good so far, does it? The market is demanding it, but as there is little profit in putting the infrastructure into rural and remote Australia, the telecommunications companies are never going to adequately provide it. I live in a country town and have ADSL2. Five minutes away, a friend is on dial up. Yep, dial up. Oh, and while wireless is fine if you're standing smack bang in the centre of town, she can't get it where she lives. She has no internet. She also has a daughter with Autism, and could benefit greatly from all manner of internet related things. The market doesn't give a shit about her, and never will.<br />
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<b># Current fibre optic networks in the cities, along with ADSL and wireless for the rest of Australia, is "enough". We don't "need" anything else.</b><br />
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Sure. Today (well, no not really, but what the hell - you either live in the bush and know what I'm talking about, or you don't). But not tomorrow.<br />
<br />
The world is changing. Technology is growing. In other countries, there has long been a push for all communications to go through fibre optic networks. In the not so distant future, Australia is going to need fibre optic, and it makes sense to start preparing for that now, rather than later. We moved on from telegraphs, and we moved on from switchboards. We moved on from the old dial up at 52kbps. And quite frankly, the copper is going to need replacing eventually (or even soon) - why not do it all at once, do it properly with fibre optic, and save ourselves in the long run?<br />
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Oh, and plus??? ADSL2 is already becoming too slow for a lot of households - especially those where someone is working, and someone else is streaming video, and someone else is chatting on Skype. Thankfully, for now, the television doesn't go through the internet... oh wait... yes it does!!!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We moved on from the caves, and we'll continue to move on, whether the government likes it or not. The only question is - are we going to leave regional and rural Australia to fend for themselves, or are we going to include them, given that they pay their taxes too?</span><br />
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Feel free to leave argumentative comments below. I'm more than happy to have my husband answer them ;-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-59580155866132407712012-02-20T00:54:00.000+10:002013-08-07T13:02:52.081+10:00QLD Mental Health Consultation - What a fucking day!!!I went to the Sunshine Coast 2nd round consultation in regards to the QLD Mental Health Advisory Committee the other day. What a ride that became...<br />
<br />
I sat down at the back, because with a two hour session, I knew I would have to get up and stretch, or I wouldn't be able to walk back to the car with my joints lol... They started off - three people from the government, a guy, a typing lady, and a carer representative. Then the room started to fill, and I watched them all - they knew each other, and they had "work clothes" on... I was the only consumer in the room. Great.<br />
<br />
As the Government guy started talking, I tried really hard to just listen and tweet. And I did tweet, and I did listen. And a couple of times, my mouth got the better of me, and I mumbled some things under my breath. From the giggles of the guy next to me, my sentiments were obviously shared though.<br />
<br />
Government guy (you guys know I have a BAD memory yeah?) - he started showing some slides. He got through the preliminary ones before getting on to the recommendation ones, and I'd like to be able to say that we actually saw the recommendation ones, and that we talked about the recommendations, but we didn't. We got stuck on the preliminary ones. Because the last preliminary one talked about the Mental Health Advisory Committee being "independent". And the room full of QLD Health employees and NGO's and NFP's ... well, they just started bitching. And didn't stop. About funding. And control. And who would have funding and control.<br />
<br />
A couple of times, I spoke up - sometimes to back up the government, and sometimes not. One time to dispel the myth that drugs and alcohol gets a better rap (stigma) than mental health (so so so not true). And then I got the shits. Then I wanted to have my say, and I put my hand up, and I spoke.<br />
<br />
The thing, and this is important to know - I wasn't nervous. I was calm. I knew what I wanted to say, almost word for word. I had a plan. My heart was steady, and my hands were calm. I was confident. I was in control. And I spoke.<br />
<br />
For about four or five sentences. And here was my mistake - I looked at the people. I looked at this group of people fighting for the rights of mental health consumers and here is what I saw... two or three looks of respect. Two or three looks of pity. And the rest could only be described as looks of contempt. "Who the fuck is this girl, who thinks she knows anything?" is what I saw in the rest of those faces.<br />
<br />
And then I just couldn't get the words out. I faltered, and I stopped talking. I didn't finish what I so desperately needed to say. Although, while they continued to hash out the money and power crap, I figured that not one of them would have listened anyway. They didn't care about consumers. One woman spoke of "participants" during the whole two hours, and when I thanked her for it afterwards, I used the term "consumer" and was lightly reprimanded. Well, sweetheart - first of all - who gives a fuck, and second of all - I will self-identify any damn way that pleases me. And I say that the way that I say it because when she spoke of "participants", it was this:<br />
<br />
"We are the ones who have to face participants and explain to them that there are no services available."<br />
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I know... good right? Great, especially considering the context of the day... But then she fucks it up...<br />
<br />
"And we are the ones who have to deal with that. We are the ones who have to ..."<br />
<br />
Umm...??? Excuse the fuck out of me, but aren't consumers, oh, I mean, participants, the ones who have to deal with that??? This is a public forum, not a staff meeting.<br />
<br />
When the meeting finished, I looked around and thought "what's the point?" I just couldn't imagine how the hell consumers have any chance when people are just worried about their jobs and their funding and their "turf". If it had been a meeting FOR staff alone, then yeah, I get it. But it wasn't - it was a public forum. There's a time and place, and this wasn't it. Not for the whole two hours anyway.<br />
<br />
I went to my car, trying hard not to cry, and I drove away, soon bawling my eyes out. I'm just me... I don't know what to do next, or how to fix this problem. I get why they feel the way they do, and I know there's an answer, but I'm not about to get sworn in as Premier, so what the fuck can I do? Apart from cry like a girl, which I did quite well.<br />
<br />
Until I was about ten minutes away. And then I thought - NO! FUCK NO! I am not going down that easy. So I turned the car around and I went back. I was hoping to catch the government troop, and I did, just as they were leaving. And they were lovely lovely people. Of course, maybe they were just yanking my chain, but if so, they were really good at it :)<br />
<br />
And they let me talk. We talked about why consumers don't turn up, and I told them that consumers don't know about it. They told me that they have given NGO's and NFP's all the information to pass on, and I said that not everyone is using these services, and even if they are, it doesn't mean that the organisations are passing the information on. And even if they are, that generally speaking, consumers don't trust them - at least, not like that. That lady I spoke of - she told me that no "participants" wanted to come even though she had told them, and I straight away thought, well, if you told them like that, no fucking wonder. Did you offer to help them get here, or tell them they didn't have to say anything, or find out why? Did you give them the tools and space to be comfortable with the idea? Or did you just ask?<br />
<br />
And we talked about my finding out how to get more consumers to participate. Because at the moment from the sounds of it, less than 5% of the voice for this Committee are consumers. And that has got to change. I simply don't believe for a second that people don't want to have a say. I believe that there are obstacles, and I want to find out what they are, and how to get around them, but I don't believe that people don't want to have their say. Mental illness affects every single fucking aspect of your life, so this shit is important. And people with a mental illness aren't stupid. They're treated as though they're stupid, but they're not.<br />
<br />
This meeting made it clear to me that this is all fucked up. The government is effectively asking NGO's and NFP's and state employees what consumers need. And they are telling the government what consumers need. What we need is a system where consumers tell the government what they need, and then the government asks the NGO's and NFP's how the fuck they're going to provide it. And quite honestly, I think that the government guys I talked to would actually be willing to do this if they knew how. So I'm going to try and help them with that.<br />
<br />
For the record:<br />
<br />
* The government guys told me that this was the most "focused on one topic" group they had seen. They said they were surprised and saddened that not more consumers turned up. I told them that I was glad no other consumers turned up, because listening to that shit was truly horrifying.<br />
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* Not all NGO's and NFP's are like this. And quite honestly, I don't think all these guys would be like this all the time either. I think it was one or two who lead the pack, and the rest followed.<br />
<br />
* One person stated that as an employee of an NGO, they couldn't speak freely. The same was said of the government. And I'm wondering - What the fuck? Why not? What's the point of this, if it's not transparent? Why are we giving tax payer money to NGO's if they are not transparent? There's a whole lot of wrong there...<br />
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* The government guys treated me with respect. And I respect them for it, and I thank them for it. I left there, the second time, on a total high, because they listened to me. I don't know if they agreed with me, and I really don't care - they listened, and quite frankly, sometimes that is enough. On a personal level. ;-) On an advocacy level... well that's a whole other story :-)<br />
<br />
So my plan now is to work out why consumers don't speak up, and how to fix it. Stay tuned...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-81397708776479413702012-02-15T10:38:00.000+10:002012-02-27T11:03:37.140+10:00The Australian Curriculum<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This info is dated (take note any teaching students lol) - however it gives a basic run-down of the Australian Curriculum...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br />The Australian Curriculum <br /><br />The Australian curriculum began its public life on the 14th April, 2008, when then Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that the federal government had a plan to develop and implement a national curriculum. <br /><br />In a country where national curriculum ideas have been floated before and failed, and the states and territories have thus far been responsible for their own curriculums, it was and is a lofty goal to achieve. So far, the development of the Australian curriculum has been fast, but focused and detailed. <br /><br />The Australian curriculum in its first phase is structured by separating into each learning area. For the first phase of implementation, these learning areas, or core subjects, are English, Mathematics, Science and History. The second phase will contain the subjects of geography, arts and languages, and the third phase will contain “the rest of the curriculum” (ACARA, n.d.a). <br /><br />Each learning area contains content descriptions and achievement standards with work samples to show what the achievement standard should be for each year level (ACARA, n.d.a). There will also be “annotated student work samples and advice on reporting frameworks” (ACARA, 2009b), which will give teachers a clear understanding of the levels of learning that each student must complete in order to achieve each grade (A-E). <br /><br />The curriculum sets out the content and achievement standards along with other information which is intended to set the background in which subjects are to be taught. This information is presented under the following headings: “Rationale, Aims of the learning area, Organisation of the <learning area> curriculum, General capabilities and Cross curriculum dimensions” (ACARA, 2009, p 5). <br /><br />In an effort to add more to the curriculum than the core subjects alone provide, the Australian curriculum acknowledges 10 general capabilities and three cross curriculum dimensions that “contribute to, and can be developed through, teaching in each learning area” (ACARA, n.d.b). These general capabilities and cross curriculum dimensions are intertwined throughout the curriculum in an effort to fully immerse each subject with them. <br /><br />The general capabilities throughout the curriculum are literacy, numeracy, information communication technology, thinking skills, ethical behaviour, creativity, self-management, teamwork, inter-cultural understanding and social competence. Each of these capabilities is represented throughout the curriculum in a manner that is unequivocal as to how it should be addressed within that learning area and whether there are any links to other learning areas, leading to clarity for teachers. <br /><br />The three cross curriculum dimensions are Indigenous history and culture, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and Sustainability (ACARA, n.d.b). Again, each of these perspectives has been written into the curriculum in an unequivocal manner as to where they should be addressed and whether there are any links to other learning areas. <br /><br />Curriculum can be viewed in a variety of ways, and thus in order to fully appreciate how ACARA views the concept of curriculum (given that it has not given a clear definition of its own), it is important to understand the varying ways in which curriculum can be defined. <br /><br />Marsh (2010, p. 98) views curriculum as being “WHAT is taught in schools” and believes that most would ultimately view curriculum in this way. The Australian curriculum certainly fits this definition. ACARA consistently says that the Australian curriculum sets expectations for what students should be taught. This fulfils Marsh’s view that curriculum is what is being taught, or to put it another way, the subject matter to be taught. <br /><br />He goes on to say that various curriculum will vary according to “different value orientations and perspectives” (Marsh, 2010, p.98). By setting the three Cross curriculum perspectives (Indigenous perspectives, sustainability and Australia’s relationship with Asia), the Australian curriculum has certainly put forth what it sees as being the three most important values of the Australian education system. <br /><br />The Australian curriculum also seems to lend itself to another definition. Goodson (1995, p. 17) says of curriculum that it is “in a real sense irrelevant to practice: that the dichotomy between espoused curriculum as written and the active curriculum as lived and experienced is complete and inevitable.” In other words, curriculum is two separate entities – the written and the lived. The framers of the Australian curriculum seemed to have this in mind. <br /><br />ACARA (2009a, p. 7) acknowledges that the curriculum should not dictate to teachers how to teach and that general consensus indicates that teachers should be allowed flexibility in lesson planning so that they can decide how best to teach their students, thus allowing for individual student needs. They have recognized that curriculum is both written and lived. Whether the lived curriculum will live up to these ideals will be discussed later. <br /><br />Peter Hill, the first chief executive officer at ACARA, states that he would divide curriculum into four separate entities. </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The core curriculum, comprising those general capabilities that all people need, use and develop throughout their life and the big issues of the day that all need to know about,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The formal curriculum, based on disciplinary rules, understandings and methods,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chosen curriculum, that individual students and teachers create through the choices they make,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The meta curriculum, comprising those activities, events and traditions that all good schools arrange to promote personal development, character and a community of learners (Hill, 2010)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />By Hill’s definitions the Australian curriculum comprises the core curriculum and the formal curriculum, but leaves to teachers, schools, parents and students to formulate their own chosen and meta curriculum. <br /><br />After deciding what curriculum means, one must think of how a curriculum is written. There are quite a few models for curriculum writing, and the oldest and most commonly used types are the prescription models. Ralph Tyler is the writer of one of the most referred to prescription models known as Tyler’s Objectives Model. <br /><br />Brady and Kennedy (2010) write that Tyler’s Objectives Model of Curriculum starts with the framers identifying the objectives they want students to accomplish. The second step is to select learning experiences and the third is to organise learning experiences. These two later steps involve deciding “how” to guide and teach students so that they accomplish the objectives. The fourth and last step is evaluation – determining whether the objectives have been achieved. <br /><br />It is interesting to note that Brady and Kennedy (2010, p.122) write that Tyler does not “explicitly specify” what philosophy should be used when formulating objectives, nor when selecting the learning experiences or organizing the learning experiences. Indeed, they describe this as a weakness in Tyler’s Model (Brady and Kennedy, 2010, p. 124). <br /><br />An alternate view considers that Tyler wanted to allow for flexibility and for the framers of a curriculum to decide for themselves where to draw their inspiration from and for teachers to decide how best to teach the curriculum. If this is in fact the case, then Tyler’s model could well have been one basis for the Australian curriculum. <br /><br />Another model that needs to be mentioned is Walker’s Naturalistic Model. Walker stated that “a model of curriculum development frankly based on practice should illuminate novel facets of the curriculum development process, correct misconceptions about that process, and enable us to understand both the failures and the successes of the classical model” (Walker, 1971, p. 52). <br /><br />Walker believed that there are three elements to curriculum: the platform, the deliberation associated with the whole, and the design of the curriculum itself. </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The curriculum developer does not begin with a blank slate. He could not begin without some notion of what is possible and desirable educationally. The system of beliefs and values that the curriculum developer brings to his task and that guides the development of the curriculum is what I call the curriculum’s platform. The word “platform” is meant to suggest both a political platform and something to stand on. The platform includes an idea of what is and a vision of what ought to be, and these guide the curriculum developer in determining what he should do to realize his vision (Walker, 1971, p. 52).</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The Australian curriculum began with the framers deciding what platform the curriculum should be launched from as per this first element that Walker speaks of. The first phase of the Australian curriculum development involved the curriculum shaping phase, which was broken down into three steps: the identification of key issues and development of position paper, the preparation of initial shape paper and the preparation and publication of Shape Paper (ACARA, 2009b, pp. 4-5). <br /><br />These steps involved discussing key issues, debating issues, reviewing existing policy and practice, discussing ‘big ideas’ and deciding what it is that Australia wants its children to learn. <br /><br />The second element that Walker speaks of is that of deliberation. ACARA has certainly allowed for plenty of that, from consultations with a full range of professionals, to allowing the general public to have their say via their website. <br /><br />The last element is that of designing the final curriculum, a process that ACARA is still undertaking. <br /><br />The final product that is the Australian curriculum may display all the attributes of Tyler’s Objectives Model, however the process of designing the curriculum is certainly more akin to Walker’s Naturalistic Model. <br /><br />Being true to the platform of which Walker speaks, ACARA mentions many visions or goals throughout its Curriculum Design and The Shape of the Australian Curriculum publications. Many of these goals have been taken directly from, or inspired by, the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, written by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). <br /><br />The first main educational goal as defined by MCEETYA is that “Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence” (MCEETYA, 2008, p. 7). ACARA borrows from this by talking about creating a world class curriculum for Australian students. <br /><br />The second main educational goal as defined by both MCEETYA and ACARA is that the “curriculum will be designed to develop successful learners, confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens” (ACARA, 2009a, p. 4). <br /><br />Another goal that ACARA sets forth is that of inclusion. They do not accept that a different curriculum for disadvantaged students is beneficial to those students, but rather that there should be one curriculum for all and that with different levels of support, all students can achieve the high level of expectations as set out by the Australian curriculum (ACARA, 2009b, pp. 6-8). <br /><br />Once goals had been formulated and ACARA had a vision of where they wanted the curriculum to go, they had to organise the curriculum. When deciding on how best to organise the curriculum, ACARA has looked to the developmental stages of children and written the curriculum to focus on four overlapping age bands. These are 5 – 8 years of age (Years K – 2), 8 – 12 years of age (Years 3 – 6/7), 12 – 15 years of age (Years 7/8 – 10), and 16 – 18 years of age (Years 11 and 12). This is indicative that when framing the curriculum they have allowed for the theory of Cognitive Development. <br /><br />Cognitive Development is based on the idea that learning develops in stages. Curriculum documents have used this theory by allowing for students to gain certain basic knowledge before then expanding on that into more complex knowledge at a later date. Most curriculums tend to bow to this theory and base their curriculums on the ages of students, rather than other methods, such as basing curriculums around the intelligence type of the student (Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences). <br /><br />The curriculum also takes into account Taxonomies of Objectives, which states that each person goes through a series of steps as they acquire new information, or learn new skills, or are aware of new ideas and philosophies etc. “These taxonomies help curriculum planners “target” the meaning of experiences and the measuring of educational outcomes” (Wiles, 2005, p44). <br /><br />The Australian curriculum may value many process of teaching, learning and assessment. ACARA (2009a) states that one of the main ways in which it values teaching and learning processes is that it allows for teachers to determine their own approach to the curriculum and allows them flexibility to accommodate students who may have different learning needs or who are at a different level of development to that of their peers. Despite this declaration by ACARA, the NSW Board of Studies (2010, p. 24) disagrees, stating that “the mandating of content focusing on Asia restricts the capacity for teacher to reflect the needs and interests evident in local contexts”. <br /><br />The Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) (2010, p. 4) also feels that there is a discrepancy between the ideals of the Australian curriculum and the actual curriculum. In particular they are concerned about time constraints given the “crowding of the curriculum” not allowing the flexibility that teachers require. They have also stated that they feel there is a lack of acknowledgment for English as a Second Language (ESL) students, students with disabilities, students with learning difficulties and students with special needs. <br /><br />While ACARA may have the best of ideals, it is clearly yet to be seen whether these, combined with the actual Australian curriculum, can be achieved once the curriculum has been fully implemented. <br /><br />Another ideal that the Australian curriculum speaks to is that of being a 21st Century curriculum for 21st Century learners. Hill (2010) describes the Australian curriculum as being relevant to 21st Century learners in four areas. The first of these four areas speaks to the development process of the curriculum. <br /><br />The Australian Government has, on many occasions, attempted to nationalize the curriculum (Brady and Kennedy, 2010). The Australian curriculum is the latest attempt and according to Hill (2010) has been given the structures and resources in order to succeed. Professionals from all areas of education have been consulted, and there has also been an online consultation process so that teachers, parents, students and the community can provide their own input. <br /><br />The second area that Hill (2010) mentions is the “way in which the Australian curriculum is being conceptualized and structured”. It is detailed in the knowledge that it expects students to attain, and has included general capabilities and cross-curriculum dimensions that are relevant to today’s world. <br /><br />The third area is the way in which teachers and others are able to access the Australian curriculum. Being an online curriculum, it will be easily updated and accessed, giving teachers up-to-date information at their fingertips. <br /><br />The fourth and last area is the way that schools and teachers will be supported as they implement the curriculum. A new organisation, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) will foster professional development for teachers and schools as well as set out the National Professional Standards for Teachers which will place teachers into one of four categories depending on skills and experience. This will help guide teachers in their professional development. <br /><br />Australia faces some interesting challenges in the 21st Century. Global climate change and energy concerns, natural disasters, changing attitudes towards Indigenous Australians, a changing relationship within the Asia region, changing health care, increasing mental illness and increasing poverty as the world population soars are but a few of the things that we need to prepare our children for as they become our future. The Australian curriculum seeks to address some of these directly within its cross curriculum dimensions (Indigenous history and culture, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and Sustainability), and others indirectly throughout the curriculum general capabilities (thinking skills, ethical behaviour, creativity, self-management, teamwork, inter-cultural understanding and social competence) by teaching children how to think independently, and equip them with “the knowledge, understanding and skills that will help them in their futures” (ACARA, 2009c). <br /><br />Of course, as the curriculum has not yet been finalised, let alone implemented, there is still a long way to go before it is truly known whether the ideals of the written Australian curriculum can be achieved through the lived Australian curriculum. Certainly, it will take a combined effort from the framers, through to the teachers and students in order for it to accomplish that which it sets out to do. As a country, we can only hope that this certainly is the best way forward, and that our children flourish in our schools under its implementation.</span>
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(2009a). <i>Curriculum design.</i> Retrieved
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Assessment and Reporting Authority.
(n.d.a). <i>What Does the Draft K-10 Australian Curriculum Look Like?</i> Retrieved September 2, 2010, from
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(n.d.b). <i>What makes the Australian Curriculum a world-class curriculum?</i> Retrieved September 2, 2010, from
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(n.d.c). <i>Why have an Australian Curriculum?</i>
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<i>New South Wales response to the
draft K-10 Australian curriculum for English, history, mathematics and science</i>. Retrieved September 25, 2010, from
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/australian-curriculum/pdf_doc/nsw-response-to-draft-k-10-aus-curr-eng-hist-math-sci.pdf<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Goodson, I. (1995).
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<i>An Australian curriculum to
promote 21<sup>st</sup> century learning</i>.
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Educational Goals for Young Australians</i>.
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-33481365386840566612012-02-07T18:31:00.003+10:002012-02-27T11:07:28.695+10:00Assumptions - Fuck you, fuck the lot of you!There are a hell of a lot of assumptions that go on in mental health care and policy. I've been thinking about it a bit lately, and what keeps coming up in my mind is Adam Hills... see below...<br />
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Fuck you. Fuck the lot of you.<br />
<br />
Fuck politicians that say, in regards to Better Access - "If you think you will need to access more sessions, I encourage you to
speak to the GP who refers you to mental health services and
professionals. GPs liaise with mental health professionals and
counsellors so that patients can achieve the best possible services and
outcomes. There is a lot of information out there and it can be
confusing, but I really recommend discussing your whole Mental Health
Treatment Plan with your GP." (<a href="http://www.betteraccess.net/index.php/information/latest-news/spin-out-the-public">Tania Plibersek</a>).<br />
<br />
Fuck you for speaking to mental health consumers as though they are intelligently impaired. Fuck you for thinking that it's OK to speak to anyone in that patronising manner, and fuck anyone who thinks that the manner isn't patronising. Yes, sometimes the crap the government puts out is confusing - but what the fuck kind of chance do you think a GP has of figuring it out, when they also have every other aspect of health to keep on top of, if someone who can devote larger parts of time to research can't work it out? You are assuming that we're a bunch of fucking idiots, and I don't fucking appreciate it.<br />
<br />
I'm crass. I lack fashion sense. I have teenage taste in music. I'm not a fucking idiot.<br />
<br />
The problem is that the system is fucked up. It's got nothing to do with individuals being confused. <br />
<br />
Fuck the ATAPS system. The entire fucking system. Fuck the lot of it. What a waste of fucking time, resources, and money. There are so many assumptions that come into play when it comes to this system that it defies fucking belief that anyone with more than two brain cells could actually think it would ever work, but here's some that piss me off the most:<br />
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1) The idea that ATAPS will reach more disadvantaged communities than Better Access can, or will. If only the fuckwits that decide these things had ever fucking lived in a disadvantaged community... Seriously - how the hell is an entire system of people going to reach disadvantaged people more than one single practitioner? It defies basic fucking physics for a start. It also costs a shitload more. If you want to reach disadvantaged communities, you don't take their care away while you fart arse around with some scheme that a fifth grader can see won't logically (or physically) work. You find out what the barriers are, and you fix them. Is it money? Then up the rebate for anyone living in those communities. Is it public transport or physical access? Then fix the fucking problem at hand.<br />
<br />
2) The idea that ATAPS will work better for people with severe issues. For starters - how the fuck do you define a severe issue? At the moment, we seem to be going on diagnosis alone, with some fuckwits calling depression and anxiety "garden variety" illnesses. I bet that particular arse would lack the balls to go up to the family who has lost someone to suicide due to depression or anxiety and tell them that it wasn't "severe". A diagnosis alone doesn't indicate the severity of the condition. It also doesn't take into account that there may be diagnosis's that we haven't named yet, nor that some may be redundant. Like or hate the DSM, I think it's pretty obvious that it exists purely for insurance purposes, and as a general guide, and not out of any deep insight into the how's and why's of mental illnesses. We need to get a system up and running that takes each persons case as an individual case - not square them into a round hole. That sort of pushing people out of shape ends up with deaths.<br />
<br />
Fuck government departments that listen to arseholes that lie about shit. And fuck people who pretend to give a shit about people when the only people they give a shit about are themselves.<br />
<br />
Fuck anyone who contributes to stigma. I try to keep up with current developments in ASD theory and programs, and the best way to do that is by social media. Nobody researches better than a mother worried for her child. Some of these women are fantastic. Some of them need a bitch slap. I am sick and fucking tired of hearing "<i>my kid doesn't have a mental illness - they have a neurological problem. There is nothing "wrong" with them</i>." There's nothing "wrong" with people who have a mental illness either sweetheart - not in the way that you obviously mean. Yes, your child doesn't have a mental illness, and it can be frustrating to constantly distinguish, especially when you need to put forth with force the idea that it is not something that can be "fixed". However you can take your stigma, your patronising fucking attitude and shove it up your arse.<br />
<br />
And while I'm at it - fuck anyone with a mental illness who does the same to people with a drug and alcohol problem. And that, sadly, includes me. I have done it from time to time. "I have a mental illness, I'm not a fucking druggie". It's the tone - the idea that one is OK, and the other isn't. The fucking superiority complex. It pisses me off when mental health professionals ask me when I last took drugs. I've done pot twice, to see what it was like. That's it. I don't have a fucking drug problem. But...<br />
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The way I look at it now - people who do drugs and alcohol are either in some desperate need of help, and the only help they could find was substance abuse, in which case they need our compassion, not our disdain; or they are just fuckwits (and allow me to point out that it's not like we're lacking in fuckwits in any type of demographic). Who also probably need our compassion and not our disdain. In any event, I don't think that "just because" someone goes down that path, that they are any "worse" than someone who doesn't. Just like I don't think that having a neurological disorder is any "better" than having a mental illness.<br />
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We're all fucking human for fucks sake. When the fuck did compassion become a commodity??? When the fuck did it become OK to judge someone based on the name and cause of their suffering? A football player goes out and gets banged up in the name of fucking sport, and I'd bet my arse we would all feel bad for them. But fuck that 19 year old who was raped as a six year old and has turned to drugs to numb the pain and take away the nightmares - that girl should know better!!! There will be no compassion for her today!<br />
<br />
Yeah - fuck that shit!!!<br />
<br />
And speaking of stigma, fuck this idea that more education is going to work. How many studies do we need to say that it doesn't before we'll listen? Do you know what will work? Proper health care. A choice in health care options that suit the person, not the demographic. We do this for kids under six with Autistic Spectrum Disorders - so it CAN be done. And health care that takes into account intentions, and not just acts. I've heard WAY too many times of people self-injuring just to get someone to help them. Because until they self-injure, they are ignored. If we want to combat stigma, we need to start treating people with a mental illness as intelligent until individually proven otherwise. We need to start giving people options that work for them. We need to get people back on their feet, so that having a mental illness isn't a fucking life sentence of social exclusion. We need society to be able to point at Johnny and say "hey, he has a mental illness, and he's OK" instead of pointing to people like me and saying "she has a mental illness and look at how fucked up she is - I don't want anything to do with THAT". You can educate all you fucking want, but until such time as people with a mental illness are treated as people first, you've got fucking buckley's of changing how people see us. And as for the rest who will believe that mental illness is something humanly inferior even when it slaps them in the face that it's not - you're never going to change their minds anyway. So fuck 'em.<br />
<br />
Fuck public mental health. I am yet to meet someone who has been truly helped through the public system. I assume they are out there. Somewhere. I do know about the countless fucking people who have been abused. Who have been given the wrong medication or the wrong dose - and I mean life-threatening wrong here, not just the stock standard "this shit doesn't work" or "I'm having an abnormal reaction". Then there's the countless more who have begged for help, only to be turned away, who have then turned on themselves. Our public mental health system is a fucking disgrace, and not all of it is to do with being under-staffed and overwhelmed. The public mental health system is over fucking regulated when it comes to paperwork and strategies, and under fucking regulated when it comes to the hiring of fuckwits.<br />
<br />
I've been reading up on a variety of Mental Health Commissions lately, and it is really starting to piss me off. In general really, though some of it does actually read well. Unfortunately, it's the same old shit that I see everywhere. It's the same old shit, given a new name, with some new players. Somewhere, there's a database of documents that just get copied and paste with a few words changed so that we don't plagiarise. It's hard to read without wanting to cut my fucking wrists - again. It's hard to imagine that THIS time is going to be any fucking different.<br />
<br />
"We have a brand new mental health plan. We are investing in the future of mental health!"<br />
<br />
No, you have the same fucking plan you had last time, just with different signatures at the bottom. You have had the same plan for quite a while now, and done jack shit about any of it. You are good at making fucking plans, and completely fucking crap at implementing them. Perhaps if you pulled your fingers out of your arse, you could get something done, other than make up pretty posters to stick behind the Premier when she gives a speech. Perhaps if you didn't crap on about "accountability" so fucking much and just let people get on with their jobs, they could actually have the time to do their fucking jobs. I wouldn't worry about accountability at all - we've had accountability for some fucking time now and it's fucking useless. People are still abused, they are still neglected, they are still treated like crap. People are still people. Instead of self regulating shit - how about we just make it fucking easier for people to complain? Make it so that people don't have to be scared to complain.<br />
<br />
The shit we've had doesn't work. And yet, we seem to be pushing forward with plans to do the same shit again. The same systems. The same ideas. The same consultations. Someone once told me that there's a reason that people listen to Hickie, and not me. Yeah, you're right. People listen to people like Hickie because it's EASY. It's easy to make small changes and pretend you're being revolutionary.<br />
<br />
Pity it fucks us over. This complacency.<br />
<br />
We need to start remembering where we come from. We didn't invent the wheel by slightly changing shapes every few years until we got it right. No, some fucker decided "let's try this shit out", and let it rip.<br />
<br />
Psychological therapies are getting there. Getting rid of any sort of respect for Freud was a great start. We have a ways to go, but once people start accepting that everyone is different, and is going to need an individual therapy, rather than the tick-a-box each week therapies, we'll get there. Psychiatry needs a good kick up the arse, but that has more to do with corrupt fuckers than it does with science.<br />
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Policy however - the politics of mental illness - this shit needs to be thrown out so that we can start again. Get all the departments, and sub-departments and get rid of them. Find the people who work there new jobs in other areas. Start fresh. Brainstorm. No idea is too fucked up until it is. Look at the actual problems that we face, instead of the perceived problems. Look beyond the information collected, and find out how it is collected. Pick every little thing apart, and question it.<br />
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Because this shit isn't working. And we desperately need something that does. Something completely different. Not just the same old shit with different branding.<br />
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The government always assumes that it's been on the right track and that only minor changes are needed. Fuck that shit! Fuck assumptions.<br />
<br />
Assume NOTHING!!!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-30402487968972582862012-02-03T15:32:00.001+10:002013-10-29T14:47:21.999+10:00Stigma - how much coming out is too much?In an article today, on stigma in relation to mental illness, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-03/regions-still-facing-mental-illness-stigma/3810102">Glenn Mitchell writes that</a>:<br />
<br />
<br />
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"I
do think provision of mental health services is a big problem in
regional Australia but in small communities I think some people just
feel that there's a bit of a stigma that if I let my best friend or my
girl friend know about it that everyone is going to find out about it,
but I still have the thought process that so what if everyone finds
out," he said.</blockquote>
So what if everyone finds out?<br />
<br />
Here's what...<br />
<br />
* Teenagers are bullied to the point that they attempt suicide.<br />
* People of all ages find that family and friends stop talking to them, bitch about them, and sometimes openly ridicule them.<br />
* People lose their jobs.<br />
* People have their property vandalised.<br />
* People in small communities find that complete strangers know who they are. They know this, because the complete strangers look scared when they meet in the street. This particular example is that of a fifteen year old boy whose own mother refused to talk to him.<br />
* Physical abuse.<br />
* Sexual abuse.<br />
* Emotional abuse.<br />
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I've talked to a lot of people that have a mental illness, and I've talked to them in places that most don't want to admit exist - this shit happens to people when people find out.<br />
<br />
That's what Glenn. That's what.<br />
<br />
Look - I get that we need to break down stigma. That has to be one of our top priorities. However, not everyone has the open family and the understanding friends - and encouraging those that don't to speak out to their family and friends is irresponsible. Because some kid is going to read that story and believe you because they desperately want to believe it's true, even if in their heart they know it's not. They are going to want to believe it's true, and they are going to speak up, and they are going to suffer the consequences, and we are going to lose them!<br />
<br />
So how about this, for now... How about, for now, we encourage people to speak to someone they trust. Let's not pretend that everyone is going to be understanding. My family isn't. They don't want to speak to me. And quite frankly, I don't care. For me, this article is correct - so what if I lose a family that was never there in the first place? But I'm not a fifteen year old kid about to get the crap beaten out of him to "toughen him up". So can we please assume that fifteen year old kids with deadbeat family are going to read this, and tell them to speak to someone they trust. Maybe it's a family member. Maybe it's a teacher. Maybe it's their doctor. Maybe it's a friend. And then they can make a judgement call on whether or not to tell people in general.<br />
<br />
I would love to live in some Utopia where we can all just be fucking honest about who we are. We don't. We live in a world that will kick us when we're down, and being honest and finding out your family and friends are the ones who will do the kicking - that's a fucking shitty way to learn that particular life lesson.<br />
<br />
There are people who can speak out without severe repercussions - and they should. That is why I do. I can now. Let's not forget our brothers and sisters who can't speak out. Let's not tell them that it's safe to do so until it fucking well IS safe to do so.<br />
<br />
So in closing - my advice on "coming out"...<br />
<br />
Do what you think is best for you. Look after yourself first. If you can, find someone you trust. If you can, get some help. Talking about it IS important and I'm not trying to say it's not. I'm just saying - only speak up if it's safe to do so.<br />
<br />
Glenn was right - the more people that help, the better chance you have of recovery. That is dead set true. We just need to lose the assumption that the people around us are the ones that will provide that.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-13111270112627188182012-01-31T14:20:00.001+10:002015-10-29T22:40:46.739+10:0031 Tweets to Mark Butler - revision :-)Well, this is my last day of "31 tweets to Mark Butler". I've missed some days, and made up for it on others. I've written some heartfelt tweets, and some I've just made up out of desperation to complete my task. At the beginning, I had the chance to blog along with tweeting, however as I needed to be there for my family for various reasons, time alone to write became scarce (plus I had a few tummy bugs, the details of which you'll be glad I do not share).<br />
<br />
I have had a few people join me on my quest to tweet every day for a month, and I thank them, for the journey (such as it was), was all the better for their company.<br />
<br />
Here are my tweets to Mark Butler for the last 31 days. I am not overly proud of what I've accomplished, mainly for my obvious lack of literary skills, however I set myself a challenge, and did my best to meet it without giving up. Which is a hard thing to do, especially given that there is neither feedback, nor any apparent effect from my efforts. Still - I have to do "something" - I have to "try". I don't want to look back in five years time and think "oh, I should have done that. If only I wasn't so scared". I'm proud for not being scared. I'm proud for trying. I'm proud for trying something, instead of falsely assuming the world will right itself without my help or input.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Welcome to 2012 :) Apologies - seems I made it this far after all *big grin* ... enjoy... <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-display-url="lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-twe…" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler.html" href="http://t.co/zXEmzFOv" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler.html">http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler.html</a></div>
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Dear <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Meet Nicholas. He's six. <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/meet-nicholas-hes-six.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/meet-nicholas-hes-six.html" href="http://t.co/zjFQsSTy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/meet-nicholas-hes-six.html">lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/meet-n…</a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23asd" rel="nofollow" title="#asd"><s class="hash">#</s><b>asd</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23aspie" rel="nofollow" title="#aspie"><s class="hash">#</s><b>aspie</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23mentalhealth" rel="nofollow" title="#mentalhealth"><s class="hash">#</s><b>mentalhealth</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%2331blogs" rel="nofollow" title="#31blogs"><s class="hash">#</s><b>31blogs</b></a> No. 2</div>
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<span class="js-tweet-timestamp _old-timestamp" data-long-form="true" data-time="1325471255000" title="12:27 PM, Jan 2nd">2 Jan</span>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Here's a blog for day three! <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/unexpected-terror.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/unexpected-terror.html" href="http://t.co/7DdSfpQm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/unexpected-terror.html">lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/unexpe…</a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23mentalhealth" rel="nofollow" title="#mentalhealth"><s class="hash">#</s><b>mentalhealth</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%2331blogs" rel="nofollow" title="#31blogs"><s class="hash">#</s><b>31blogs</b></a></div>
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Day Four. "Predictable". And with that - I'm off for some quality kid time :) Happy Wednesday Mark! <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-display-url="lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/predic…" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/predictable.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/predictable.html" href="http://t.co/jmLTZkJ8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/predictable.html">http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/predictable.html</a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a></div>
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Dear <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> - blog is a little late today. Hope you've had a good one. <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%2331tweets" rel="nofollow" title="#31tweets"><s class="hash">#</s><b>31tweets</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%2331blogs" rel="nofollow" title="#31blogs"><s class="hash">#</s><b>31blogs</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a></div>
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Just in time for Day 5 - e-Mental Health - friend or foe? <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a></div>
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This time with link lol Just in time for Day 5- e-Mental Health - friend or foe? <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a> <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/e-mental-health-friend-or-foe.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/e-mental-health-friend-or-foe.html" href="http://t.co/8XGhxEds" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/e-mental-health-friend-or-foe.html">lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/e-ment…</a></div>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> I'm tired today, so a standard "bite me" will have to suffice :-D <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralMH" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralMH"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralMH</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%2331blogs" rel="nofollow" title="#31blogs"><s class="hash">#</s><b>31blogs</b></a></div>
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Mental health nurses and rural mental health. Your #7 blog <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://bit.ly/xgAVFr" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/mental-health-nurses-and-rural-mental.html" href="http://t.co/ZUuVMwr4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/mental-health-nurses-and-rural-mental.html">bit.ly/xgAVFr</a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23mentalhealth" rel="nofollow" title="#mentalhealth"><s class="hash">#</s><b>mentalhealth</b></a></div>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="mark_butler_mp" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/mark_butler_mp" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>mark_butler_mp</b></a> Hope you've had a good weekend. Many haven't - stressed over having to ration <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> sessions for the next year!</div>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> - Just in case you've forgotten :-P I did a blog, but it's not all that relevant to BA - it was about floods.</div>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23BetterAccess" rel="nofollow" title="#BetterAccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>BetterAccess</b></a> provides people with the right help at the right time - and not according to bureaucracy or "boxes" per se.</div>
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<span class="js-tweet-timestamp _old-timestamp" data-long-form="true" data-time="1326346692000" title="3:38 PM, Jan 12th">12 Jan</span>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> I'm hoping this wasn't an intentional effect... and I hope that people are OK :( <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/fall-in-gp-mental-health-care-plans" data-ultimate-url="http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/fall-in-gp-mental-health-care-plans" href="http://t.co/wTv2F7sZ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/fall-in-gp-mental-health-care-plans">australiandoctor.com.au/news/fall-in-g…</a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a></div>
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<span class="js-tweet-timestamp _old-timestamp" data-long-form="true" data-time="1326426804000" title="1:53 PM, Jan 13th">13 Jan</span>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Day 13 blog for you - why your rhetoric is bullshit ;-) <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-i-cancelled-appointment-with-public.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-i-cancelled-appointment-with-public.html" href="http://t.co/sSxJYcdN" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-i-cancelled-appointment-with-public.html">lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-i-…</a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23mentalhealth" rel="nofollow" title="#mentalhealth"><s class="hash">#</s><b>mentalhealth</b></a></div>
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<span class="js-tweet-timestamp _old-timestamp" data-long-form="true" data-time="1326452928000" title="9:08 PM, Jan 13th">13 Jan</span>
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Hey <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> See the beautiful future of our mental health here... <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://www.alternet.org/story/153747/the_horrific_toll_of_depression:_suicides_linked_to_recession,_as_budget_cuts_force_out_mental_health_professionals?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=alternet" data-ultimate-url="http://www.alternet.org/story/153747/the_horrific_toll_of_depression:_suicides_linked_to_recession,_as_budget_cuts_force_out_mental_health_professionals" href="http://t.co/bC49coUq" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://www.alternet.org/story/153747/the_horrific_toll_of_depression:_suicides_linked_to_recession,_as_budget_cuts_force_out_mental_health_professionals">alternet.org/story/153747/t…</a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> c/- <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="bedlamfury" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/bedlamfury" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>bedlamfury</b></a></div>
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<span class="js-tweet-timestamp _old-timestamp" data-long-form="true" data-time="1326455275000" title="9:47 PM, Jan 13th">13 Jan</span>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Found out that my MI has cost me relationship with my extended family. <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> can help others not exp this situation.</div>
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<span class="js-tweet-timestamp _old-timestamp" data-long-form="true" data-time="1326536816000" title="8:26 PM, Jan 14th">14 Jan</span>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Will ATAPS provide specialist counseling to new and old migrants to Oz? <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> can!!!</div>
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.<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Oh there you go again... You know a really good way way of doing that? Stop discriminating in mental illness funding!</div>
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Dear <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Sorry,but you shall henceforth be known to me in my head as "Meatloaf".It's just gonna stick.I apologise! <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a></div>
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<span class="js-tweet-timestamp _old-timestamp" data-long-form="true" data-time="1326806532000" title="11:22 PM, Jan 17th">17 Jan</span>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> This week,2 young Aussies suicidal.1 received media attention.Other didn't.Headspace would only help 1-which 1 do u think?</div>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Cutting <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> is bad for people. So do something about it, would you please?</div>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Just a reminder... In case you've forgotten :-) <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-display-url="lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/where-…" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/where-have-all-mental-health-services.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/where-have-all-mental-health-services.html" href="http://t.co/dRUCHVAR" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/where-have-all-mental-health-services.html">http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/where-have-all-mental-health-services.html</a></div>
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31 tweets to <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler.html" href="http://t.co/zXEmzFOv" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler.html">lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-twe…</a>. <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23yesIamabitbehindbutIwillcatchup" rel="nofollow" title="#yesIamabitbehindbutIwillcatchup"><s class="hash">#</s><b>yesIamabitbehindbutIwillcatchup</b></a></div>
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.<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Time for your daily dose of me. Save <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> and help get us back on our feet!</div>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> "Lessons" Sort of the beginning of how I came to be a current pain the arse :) <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-display-url="lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/lesson…" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/lessons.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/lessons.html" href="http://t.co/OzdkVUJW" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/lessons.html">http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/lessons.html</a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a></div>
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s><b>@</b></s><b><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></b></a> "Please do not underestimate the effects of <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23chronicpain" rel="nofollow" title="#chronicpain"><s class="hash">#</s><b>chronicpain</b></a> on mental health." Geralyn Datz <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-display-url="ow.ly/6taQz" data-expanded-url="http://ow.ly/6taQz" data-ultimate-url="http://www.inthefaceofpain.com/voices-of-hope/my-voice/page/4" href="http://t.co/DK7RIJXP" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://www.inthefaceofpain.com/voices-of-hope/my-voice/page/4">http://ow.ly/6taQz</a></div>
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.<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s><b>@</b></s><b><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></b></a> There's so much pain in the world. Do we really need to add to it by cutting <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> ?</div>
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.<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s><b>@</b></s><b><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></b></a> I believe in your ability to find a way to make it work. Australians need you to stand up for <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> and <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralMH" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralMH"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralMH</b></a></div>
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.<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s><b>@</b></s><b><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></b></a> 87000 Australians discriminated against for having 'wrong' mental illness or living rurally <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a></div>
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.<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s><b>@</b></s><b><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></b></a> It's my birthday today. Just saying... <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23lazy" rel="nofollow" title="#lazy"><s class="hash">#</s><b>lazy</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%2331tweets" rel="nofollow" title="#31tweets"><s class="hash">#</s><b>31tweets</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a></div>
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. <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s><b>@</b></s><b><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></b></a> Politics should be about helping people, not organisations that have little interest in the people. <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a></div>
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Everyone should have <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> to mental health care that is right for their circumstances, not just some tokenism. <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s><b>@</b></s><b><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></b></a></div>
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. <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Time for revision :) Hope you've had a good month :) <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler-revision.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler-revision.html" href="http://t.co/k7wlM6l3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler-revision.html">lindamadhatter.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/31-twe…</a><br />
31 Jan </div>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-40119808188860097402012-01-18T19:53:00.000+10:002013-10-29T14:47:22.000+10:00Sigh... FFS, not again...I'm clammy. And hot, even though the air conditioner is on. I have a massive headache, though that's nothing new. Chest pains, can't breathe - you'd think I was having a heart attack, though we all know better.<br />
<br />
And after hours of this...<br />
<br />
I want to live. I want to travel. I want to play on the beach with my kids. I want to watch them grow up, and take care of them while they do. I want to tend my house, and play the 50's housewife while kicking the arse of anyone who tells me I should because I'm a woman. I want to play sport, and go on bushwalks, and climb rocks. I want to read books, and listen to music and write. I want to show my kids the world, even if it's just the world in our little town. I want to work and I want to play and I want to LIVE.<br />
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And I want to die. Right fucking now.<br />
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Hope is what gets us through. It is what we hold on to in desperation, when things get bad. Hope that tomorrow (figuratively speaking) will be better.<br />
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But my tomorrow won't be better. Indeed, my tomorrow is going to be worse. And the day after that, and the day after that. The things that concern me - the things that get me "down" - the things that I can't live with - they are all here to stay. It's no longer a case of hanging around until the solution dawns upon thee - but of having to choose - live like this, or die.<br />
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I don't think I ask too much. A little compassion. A little respect. Enough money for a roof over my head, food, health care. I live in one of the most prosperous countries on Earth, or I wouldn't be arrogant enough to ask for this much. Every day I have been able to, I've worked, and when I haven't been able to find employment, I've done volunteer work. I've done the best I can. I've been the best person I can. I've stuffed up sure, but I've always apologised. Made amends. Done the best I can.<br />
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I TRIED. I tried fuck it. It's not like I didn't bust my arse, trying to make it work. <br />
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I can't do this any more. Because deep down I'm still tortured by the past. One liners that speak to forgetting the past are crap - it's not memories that you have to worry about. It's the physical consequences. And anyone who doesn't know what they are should just shut the fuck up about it. Because one liners tend to lead to us feeling like crap for not being a fucking superhero and "getting over it".<br />
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I want life. Just not this one. Thanks, but this one is broken, and after 20ish years, I've realised that it just can't be repaired.. I'll be taking the refund. There are no exchanges here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-64700678596619781242012-01-15T22:16:00.001+10:002012-02-27T11:12:04.976+10:00Once Upon A Time... (SBS)I missed "Once Upon A Time In Cabramatta" last week (a three part series shown on the SBS -<a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/documentary/video/2183706875/Once-Upon-A-Time-In-Cabramatta-Ep1"> the first episode can be found here for a limited time</a>). It is about the "drug war" in Cabramatta - and of course, the Vietnamese Australians who live there.<br />
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As I was looking at Twitter during the advertising, I noticed one unremarkable twit's comment which had been retweeted by another:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I don't feel sorry for the parents when couldn't be bothered to learn English in 30 yrs they lived here"</blockquote>
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OK - to be fair - I was brought up with this attitude. Then for a while, I decided that it was racist, but as I didn't know why I thought it was racist, I just tried not to have an attitude at all.<br />
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Then I moved to a country where I knew not one word of their language, and I lived there for eighteen months. And I can tell you a few things about that.<br />
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For starters - I doubt these parents do not know "any" English, but for sure I don't blame them one iota for not wanting to speak in English on television. I know that if I had continued to live in Japan, there would never ever come a day when I would feel comfortable speaking in public in a language that was not my first. It would just never happen. Thus, I don't presume to know whether or not they speak English. It's entirely possible they do.<br />
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In keeping with this twit's comment however, I'll move on as though they don't.<br />
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Language acquisition is a funny thing. Most people do not understand that language is not learned by memory. Language is learned in the first ten years of life, mostly in the first few years. After THAT, language acquisition is memory. Feel free to Google it to look up the specifics if you're interested.<br />
<br />
This means that while it takes children a few years to learn a new language - they are essentially cheating. Learning a new language is much harder for adults as we have to rely on memory to do so (at least, until we've practised enough to form new synapses from what I understand). Each and every adult has a different memory capability. My own memory can be clinically described as "up the fucking shit". Which explains why in 18 months, despite buying a tonne of books and practising whenever I could, I learned no more Japanese than it took to get the very basic of basics (and not be swatted by taxi drivers intent on proper formalities - never again shall I say the shortened form of "thank you" to someone I am not familiar with).<br />
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And all that is without the added drama of wrapping your head around the fact that it's not just the different words - it's the different grammar!!! It's not just replacing one word with a different word, but learning how to speak from scratch.<br />
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In other words - it's fucking hard if you are not that way inclined.<br />
<br />
Thus, one issue with learning English once migrants arrive in Australia is one of technical capability - it is possible that no matter how hard they try, they will simply never acquire conversational English, let alone enough English to feel comfortable speaking in public in the language.<br />
<br />
The other issue is one of morality. I have been finding that white Australians bleat on about "multiculturalism" when in fact, what they want is "white culturalism, but I don't care if your skin is a different colour".<br />
<br />
See, I see multiculturalism as being - you live the way you want to and I'll live the way I want to, and we'll visit each other and have fun learning about each other. Perhaps I'll take some part of your culture into mine and perhaps you'll take some part of mine into yours, but what-the-fuck-ever-works. In this definition, what language each person is speaking is not important. Trust me - so long as you've got please and thank-you down pat - you can get by on the universal sign language of facial expressions and general gesture.<br />
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This twit has never met these people - so who the fuck cares what language they speak? What is it to her? For fucks sake, is compassion and empathy such a limited commodity, that regardless of what language they speak, a little can't be spared for parents whose son turned to drugs and dealing in order to escape a gut-wrenching poverty?<br />
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That, my dear, is racist. Pure, simple, right down the line. And THAT is at the heart, I imagine, of why such sad stories exist in this country. It's not a drug problem - that is just the consequence. It's a fucking racist problem.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-14133026576285543412012-01-10T16:00:00.000+10:002015-10-29T22:49:11.871+10:00I paint...<br />
Yes, I paint - badly. And not often. I suspect the two are related, though not necessarily. Perhaps I would suck even with practice.<br />
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In any event, I like to paint. It's relaxing, while at the same time, eventually, you get to accomplish something you can hold in your hand.<br />
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I have included pictures of two works in progress. I'm not sure what to do about either of them. The first one has an accident in the middle lol - and the second one is just - bleugh for now. I think it has potential, but it needs something more and I'm not sure what.<br />
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Actually the first one needs something more too, but I think that one is something I have to figure out for myself...<br />
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Having a hobby such as this is good for mental health. So is therapy. And not necessarily art therapy :-P That depends on the person!<br />
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Don't we all have the right to make the most of our lives? To be given the tools to make the most of our lives, even if illness strikes us down and lays us flat out in a field of emptiness? To have help, when we need it?<br />
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> - I am a person, and I paint <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/i-paint.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/i-paint.html" href="http://t.co/S3Zzz0Fd" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/i-paint.html">lindamadhatter.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/i-pain…</a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralMH" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralMH"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralMH</b></a></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-57529400708683309632012-01-09T14:34:00.000+10:002015-10-29T22:49:11.876+10:002011 Floods - our storyHere are a few before and after shots of the flood - just to give an idea of the visual we faced...<br />
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<br />
At the height of the flood, the water was a bit higher than these photo's suggest.<br />
<br />
Gympie floods a lot. Having been born here, I know that. I knew that when we bought this house. I knew that it would flood, at least once, in the house, and I knew that we couldn't get insurance to cover for it. My story isn't remarkable - my story is not the point to this blog.<br />
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Given that Gympie had flooded a few times in the months leading up to January 2011, we "knew" it was coming. We just "knew" it. Although I've spent a fair whack of time living in Gympie, and my extended family has always lived here, I hadn't actually been in town for a big flood before this. So for each of these smaller floods, I kept asking my husband "do we move the office stuff upstairs yet?" His office was in a room downstairs, along with my desk and university stuff, and storage boxes. My husband kept laughing at me - "nup, not this time".<br />
<br />
When he came to wake me up that Sunday morning it felt surreal - "Sweetie, it's time to pack up downstairs now".<br />
<br />
Holy fuck!!! OK then.<br />
<br />
So I got up, and we packed up. He dragged everything upstairs except for the big furniture - we piled that with the more expensive pieces sitting atop the crap - the forecast was that water would come in around a foot or so sometime Monday night. So the more expensive furniture should be safe. We'd lose the rest though. Chipboard doesn't fare too well in water.....<br />
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The boys toy room was now a storage room, and we had bookcases and books and boxes and computers and all sorts of shit just wherever we could put them.<br />
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During the day, I called the SES, to find out what we could do should the rain not stop, and we had to evacuate. The guy I talked to just kept asking if we needed a boat - no, we don't yet thanks, but what is the protocol for when we do? Are there any places we can stay? What help is available?<br />
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Turns out no help was available. We were on our own. We found out later that the council had set up an evacuation centre in town, but by the time we realised we needed one, it was too late - we couldn't get there.<br />
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There is a service station and a couple of motels up the hill from where we live. One of the motel managers came in while I was getting some milk Sunday night, and I asked if there were any rooms available. Sure, he said - how many of you are there? I told him there was myself, my husband and our two kids. He replied that he only had rooms with a double bed - no beds for the kids. No worries I said, I had some blow up mattresses. Nope, he said, regulations wouldn't allow that.<br />
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What the fuck????? My house looks like being flooded, we live on a sewage line with an access point in our backyard, so the water is going to be contaminated, I have two kids with immune issues, and you're saying no due to fucking regulations??? What are the regulations on sleeping in your car you fuckwit???<br />
<br />
I walked home in tears, and rang the other motel - thankfully, not only did they have room, but the manager there said that we could bring our cats if it came to that!!! Thank goodness, because our kittens were also a worry for us.<br />
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So Monday, the kids and I packed up and went and stayed at the motel. The water was expected to peak during the night, and I wasn't about to go trampling through slush in the middle of the night with a five and just turned two year old.<br />
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While we were at the motel, I saw the news - and witnessed footage of Toowoomba, and heard the warnings for Grantham and Gatton. My husbands parents live in Gatton, and his sister at Grantham, so I raced home and started making phone calls. No one could get through to his sister, but his parents were safe and well. It was another day before we heard that his sister was OK. His other sister lives in Brisbane, and lost her house bar the shell. They are still rebuilding it now. They had insurance, but it was the wrong sort of flood.<br />
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I would have thought water was water - it's either wet or it's not - but there you go.<br />
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The water here was slow moving - there was no flash flooding. It didn't end up in the house - though the backyard flooded. My kids and pets were safe.<br />
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So I don't know why really, that I have flashback nightmares. Nightmares where it's flooded and my kids are on the other side of the water. Nightmares where the water is gushing, and I have to save my kids. I don't know why I'm having them. I don't know why when I go outside at night, I can see the reflection of the lights on the water - even though there's no water there any more. I don't know why.<br />
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And I can't imagine what the people who went through so much worse must be going through. People who lost every possession they own - and people who lost their entire families.<br />
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They lost their entire families.<br />
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I can't imagine.<br />
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My thoughts go out to them. My love goes out to them. Because I lied. Because I CAN imagine, but I choose not to. Because I don't want to. Because the nightmares are bad enough. I get that choice. I'm lucky. But my thoughts and my love goes out to them.<br />
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This tragedy is still going on. Today, and in the future, this still affects the people who went through it. Not me, other than the nightmares, because I'm lucky, but for so many others. They are still rebuilding. Still grieving. Some are still in shock even, that it happened at all. If you can, spare some love for these people. Don't forget them. Don't assume that it's over, and don't assume that you are no longer needed to help. They still need help. Some still need supplies. Others need someone to talk to. A few may just require some validation that what they went through was horrific. <br />
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Spare them a thought, some love, and some time. Tell them you care. If you can, offer to help. But please don't forget them. They need you.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-44255967985812474672012-01-08T23:45:00.000+10:002012-02-27T16:52:38.638+10:00ASD - stop trying to "fix" it!!!I read an <a href="http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/fashion/child-beauty-pageant-under-for-awarding-autistic-girl-tahnee-myles-best-personailty/story-e6frfn7i-1226106345484">article</a> today, submitted on Twitter by @angryozcripple (worth the follow, if you're a fellow tweeter), about a mother who had complaints of a beauty pageant awarding her daughter "Best Personality".<br />
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Yep, mum was pissed off that her daughter WON "Best Personality". Why? Because her daughter has Autism, so therefore...<br />
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Give me a fucking bucket!<br />
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What the FUCK is wrong with some parents??? My son has Aspergers (as does my husband), one of my closest friend's son has High Functioning Autism, and another friend's daughter has Autism. Three of the best kids I know. All have lovely personalities.<br />
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This type of thinking - that someone with Autism can't possibly have the greatest personality - leads to a more complex situation - that of parents who are trying to "fix" their children when they are diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). They send their kids to therapy for the sole purpose of "fixing" them.<br />
<br />
And I want to slap them all, and explain in no uncertain terms, that you can not "fix" ASD. Like it or not, it is there, and it is there for life. It is a part of your child's identity. It is who they are. Trying to fix it is like trying to grow back a limb that was never there to begin with.<br />
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My son has therapy. He sees a psychologist, a speech therapist and an occupational therapist. They each work on different areas of need. We send him to therapy, not to fix him, but to teach him the skills that he is going to need in order to make the most of life in a society that is not equipped to deal with people with ASD. We are trying to give him the skills he needs. We are NOT trying to inherently "change" him into something he is not. He will never be "better" because there is no "cure".<br />
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That is because ASD is a part of who he is. And there is NOTHING fucking wrong with who he is!!! There is nothing fucking wrong with who this girl is either, obviously, and I hope one day her mother can see that.<br />
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Is parenting a child with ASD hard? Fucking oath!!! It's fucking exhausting, complicated, and frustrating. Some days it feels like my son and I don't speak the same language in a way that I can't adjust for - meaning that we never really speak the same language, but sometimes I can guess a few phrases and we get by. Other days - not so much. I get that some parents see a cure as the only way "out" or whatever.<br />
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On the other hand - there is a lot about parenting a child with ASD that is easier too. For starters, I never had to worry about safety with my son with ASD like I've had to with his accident-prone not afraid of anything brother. Tell my son with ASD that he can't go into that drawer, and he won't go into that drawer. And while he's never been big with cuddles and platitudes - he still loves with all his heart and soul. Of course, I could go on and on and on...<br />
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He is not his ASD - but ASD is a part of who he is. It is a part of our kids. Love it. Embrace it. And for fucks sake, stop trying to "fix" it. You're going to fail, and make them miserable while you're doing it. Therapy is a tool, not a cure.<br />
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There is nothing "wrong" with having ASD!!! And fuck <b>anyone</b> who thinks there is!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-5844953047376482832012-01-02T12:25:00.000+10:002012-02-27T11:17:29.539+10:00Meet Nicholas. He's six.<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is Nicholas.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMQwHiC_VQZPrTRFnV2X6_-DMOXaHlX1bkpVkh-EcXrfLmRtcuW3gRYtoAyIS5rkYAhydcL347dSQmDRt0CDyCgHInbIsjulIF1EhHJ_bkS9E0T5zxqNUuSdSCBYAB5kToy-R6vYMYQQT/s1600/Nicky+and+I+in+recovery+sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMQwHiC_VQZPrTRFnV2X6_-DMOXaHlX1bkpVkh-EcXrfLmRtcuW3gRYtoAyIS5rkYAhydcL347dSQmDRt0CDyCgHInbIsjulIF1EhHJ_bkS9E0T5zxqNUuSdSCBYAB5kToy-R6vYMYQQT/s320/Nicky+and+I+in+recovery+sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He always liked being outside when he was a baby. But then he started to hate it!!! His parents didn't realise that this was a sign...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFoTSe8VQoLCyFoB71JDD3p-aqYlVxSkTYeJmeQAxIo-BMIxxgl5DlGaYysA5PIttUR-MFQ8_QECVVatgllqaJnM0jeURpQwoSY7MxsfoqDs24G9Q7hx13xU13v6O0BR-br1Juxqi6RV1/s1600/Dsc01118+sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFoTSe8VQoLCyFoB71JDD3p-aqYlVxSkTYeJmeQAxIo-BMIxxgl5DlGaYysA5PIttUR-MFQ8_QECVVatgllqaJnM0jeURpQwoSY7MxsfoqDs24G9Q7hx13xU13v6O0BR-br1Juxqi6RV1/s320/Dsc01118+sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He has a few people who love him, but most of them have moved away or passed on now... His family doesn't have much real life support or help...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6HbKcHIZ4Npl6Q_GEktQKfZ0EXwfjNTDqJbo80dK22RBCKZNdZjplgH9u_KVI0XWiM37ws5Ta2lrIufv0eHLc7Bb0-Ajf1JmqC_OERDtwau1bfpD7bzp-gPSaNru_w__lUtSUeinOex8/s1600/With+Poppy+sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6HbKcHIZ4Npl6Q_GEktQKfZ0EXwfjNTDqJbo80dK22RBCKZNdZjplgH9u_KVI0XWiM37ws5Ta2lrIufv0eHLc7Bb0-Ajf1JmqC_OERDtwau1bfpD7bzp-gPSaNru_w__lUtSUeinOex8/s320/With+Poppy+sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While he doesn't like to go outside much, he would do it more often if his mum didn't have a disability, or had someone to help out...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUY6dOtkccmyfyzh3Xv8YE_0MAozelFlmg-w9smwRaTM1mfuRl7D8gmyn7tkSjL9dPUplHEmVfyNbzgmZ8lw0zCTwvnaPoCsYLTsyzqX0CsPDUqOwNdeSStS0TDHcUpo1YKnc7HsrKWrMi/s1600/2011+Holiday+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUY6dOtkccmyfyzh3Xv8YE_0MAozelFlmg-w9smwRaTM1mfuRl7D8gmyn7tkSjL9dPUplHEmVfyNbzgmZ8lw0zCTwvnaPoCsYLTsyzqX0CsPDUqOwNdeSStS0TDHcUpo1YKnc7HsrKWrMi/s320/2011+Holiday+7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nicky has only been to the beach three or four times, even though he only lives an hour away. He's often at home, not doing much. Not that he minds. Nicky has Aspergers and the beach, while fun, can also be scary at times. It's noisy and unpredictable - much like all "outside activities".</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cdqpuqeq0SYL617wymWqSlQ9OcPSxbcXMPIUQIuBj4OqhETcbyKEQXxnxRzQ9TdDfsew9ido0To6avdDmb2z5Y6Jq0lMU6XGwRpxiaAityLAPjfn1rbvB29SsOaLK_6dH3itlnH5H5Mz/s1600/2011+Holiday+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cdqpuqeq0SYL617wymWqSlQ9OcPSxbcXMPIUQIuBj4OqhETcbyKEQXxnxRzQ9TdDfsew9ido0To6avdDmb2z5Y6Jq0lMU6XGwRpxiaAityLAPjfn1rbvB29SsOaLK_6dH3itlnH5H5Mz/s320/2011+Holiday+8.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Home is safe, and generally quiet. However Nicky's mum thinks that he needs to get out more, and experience things in the real world too...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgja3qTkW3wgIo6ritZtVSyVse1A_-xVtz35KhtGkJoKOuZnvRt_XmTZIUu_wsf7yfzz_N_OaCh9FNfZ_pOZMqsvIdRJqEDF6aQhWs9uQXP0L6pCNAeAFqu2Dxc5r9YDXp_L8tVnVsHaDqV/s1600/Ontheslide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgja3qTkW3wgIo6ritZtVSyVse1A_-xVtz35KhtGkJoKOuZnvRt_XmTZIUu_wsf7yfzz_N_OaCh9FNfZ_pOZMqsvIdRJqEDF6aQhWs9uQXP0L6pCNAeAFqu2Dxc5r9YDXp_L8tVnVsHaDqV/s320/Ontheslide.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nicholas has been seeing a psychologist to help him deal with his anxiety and teach him emotional regulation. Because he is so young, the once a fortnight sessions are too far apart. He doesn't really remember it on any sort of deeper level. And his mum, who has been really sick, is not much help.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He is a good kid, who always wants to do the right thing. It frustrates him when he doesn't understand the world around him, or when he can't control his emotions. He is gifted, and so needs to see a psychologist who has learned about both Aspergers and giftedness and can tell which of his behaviours are being triggered by which (as a lot of things can be signs of both).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last year, he was eligible for 18 sessions with a psychologist. This year he is only allowed 10. His parents can not afford to pay for any more.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Every two weeks was ok, but not enough. Every five weeks is next to pointless.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This means more anxiety, more meltdowns, more anger... more of just about every negative emotion really...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The new services that are meant to take the place of Better Access are not suitable for Nicholas - they will not take him on, and even if they did - they will not have the expertise to deal with him, and will cause damage, rather than help.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He is a gifted child. For real - he has been tested. His mother worries that all that potential could get lost in a sea of anxiety and confusion if he doesn't get the help he needs.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Not to mention that his psychologist has been great with explaining to his parents what is going on with him and how to deal with it all, as well as being a support when it comes to advocating for Nicholas at school.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nicholas isn't alone. There are thousands of children with Aspergers like him...</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">They all deserve the best chance we can give them don't you think? If only so that we help them gain the most from their unique spirit... </span></span><br />
<br />
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Dear <a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Meet Nicholas. He's six. <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-display-url="lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/meet-n…" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/meet-nicholas-hes-six.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/meet-nicholas-hes-six.html" href="http://t.co/zjFQsSTy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/meet-nicholas-hes-six.html">http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/meet-nicholas-hes-six.html</a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23betteraccess" rel="nofollow" title="#betteraccess"><s class="hash">#</s><b>betteraccess</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23asd" rel="nofollow" title="#asd"><s class="hash">#</s><b>asd</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23aspie" rel="nofollow" title="#aspie"><s class="hash">#</s><b>aspie</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ruralmh" rel="nofollow" title="#ruralmh"><s class="hash">#</s><b>ruralmh</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23mentalhealth" rel="nofollow" title="#mentalhealth"><s class="hash">#</s><b>mentalhealth</b></a> <a class=" twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%2331blogs" rel="nofollow" title="#31blogs"><s class="hash">#</s><b>31blogs</b></a> No. 2</div>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-63688075723163829012012-01-01T02:45:00.000+10:002015-10-29T22:49:11.881+10:0031 Tweets to Mark ButlerInspired by both @AlisonFairleigh in her challenge of 30 blogs in 30 days, and from hearing the song Shout To The Top by The Style Council on rage this evening (...um... perhaps this morning is more appropriate), I have decided to try a challenge of my own - 31 tweets to Mark Butler in 31 days.<br />
<br />
You see, in February, Better Access will be discussed in parliament again. And I have to do something, however small, to try and convince Hon Butler of our "worth". At the moment, the government sees fit to put most of it's funding into youth inner-city and suburban mental health, fucking the rest of us. The rest of us being anyone who lives outside of these areas and anyone in any area over the age of 25. Thing is - I think that we're worth something. I am worth something. We are all worth something. We all have something to contribute to society, and quite frankly, what we can contribute is a shitload more than most people.<br />
<br />
I heard Stephen Fry tonight discuss bipolar, and how if people with bipolar could flip a switch to stop their illness, most of them wouldn't do it, because the highs are worth the lows. Guess what? I don't have bipolar, but I feel the same. When I'm "well" (i.e. pretending), then everything is grey, and I just drone alone with everyone else. Having a mental illness can suck the very life from your soul, but on your good days - it offers a spectrum of colour that no other person gets to witness. The trick is finding a therapist that can stop you from killing yourself before you get a chance to find your own place in the world, where you can see the colour and handle the lows without being droolingly zonked out. The place where you can achieve greatness. Some are able to do it on their own, as history has shown. Some of us need help.<br />
<br />
And regardless - isn't the sign of a great society one where each of it's citizens is granted help getting up when they fall down? And not just the token kind either smart arses - I mean actual help that helps!<br />
<br />
Anyway - I think that we're worth the reinstatement of the cut Better Access sessions, and more besides, and I'm going to try and convince the Hon Butler of that.<br />
<br />
My first tweet is going to be a link to this blog - where I've included the video and lyrics to the song "Shout To The Top" by The Style Council. It was written as a bit of a fuck you to Margaret Thatcher in the mid 80's, and while the topic isn't the same, the sentiment sure as hell is.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Shout To The Top by The Style Council </b></u><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7m94ip38UKs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
I was half in mind, I was half in need,<br />
And as the rain came down<br />
I dropped to my knees, and I prayed...<br />
I said "oh Heavenly thing, please cleanse my soul,<br />
I've seen all on offer and I'm not impressed at all".<br />
<br />
I was halfway home, I was half insane,<br />
And every shop window I looked in just looked the same<br />
<b>I said "now send me a sign to save my life<br />
'Cause at this moment in time there is nothing certain</b><br />
<b>in these day's of mine".</b><br />
<br />
Y'see it's a frightening thing when it dawns upon you<br />
That I know as much as the day I was born and<br />
<b>Though I wasn't asked, I might as well stay and<br />Promise myself each and every day that</b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>When you're knocked on your back, and your life's a flop<br />
and when you're down on the bottom there's nothing else but </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>to shout to the top - shout!</b></span><br />
<br />
<br />
We're gonna shout to the top - shout! (ad nauseum)<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a class=" twitter-atreply pretty-link" data-screen-name="Mark_Butler_MP" href="https://twitter.com/#%21/Mark_Butler_MP" rel="nofollow"><s>@</s><b>Mark_Butler_MP</b></a> Welcome to 2012 :) Apologies - seems I made it this far after all *big grin* ... enjoy... <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-display-url="lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-twe…" data-expanded-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler.html" data-ultimate-url="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler.html" href="http://t.co/zXEmzFOv" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler.html">http://lindamadhatter.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-tweets-to-mark-butler.html</a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-12780632819371890892011-11-08T17:21:00.000+10:002013-10-29T14:47:21.997+10:00Two points - Better Access (1) and why self-injury isn't a suicide attempt (2)I just looked up the phone number for my local public mental health service. The number is disconnected.<br />
<br />
Finally found the right number. Woman on the other end seemed really nice. Apparently there is a team of five (not sure of the profession make-up of team), no GP referral needed, and when I asked about waiting times, I was informed that there wasn't too much of a wait, that they would get back to me pretty quickly.<br />
<br />
It all sounds so good, and maybe I'd be lucky and they would actually put me on the books. Last time I tried, I got kicked out *shrug* - I wasn't "special" enough I guess. Maybe I'd be really lucky and find someone else who is an amazing trauma specialist. Time before last, there was a mixed bag between the very good and the fucking horrible. Maybe I'd be really lucky and get an appointment straight away.<br />
<br />
So - why not call back? I mean, aside from the fact that people who have dealt with the system very recently, indicate that it is just as fucked up as it always was...<br />
<br />
Because even assuming it's rosy as pictured by said receptionist (?) - I just can't fucking do it. Fifteen years of knowing I've had a mental illness. Twelve years of it being misdiagnosed. Three years of progress. I can't do that three years again - and that is assuming the experience is a good one (and there's certainly no guarantee's of that). I am fucking stuffed. I am tired beyond belief and I just want to sleep forever. I can't entertain the thought of - well anything much really - other than the bare minimum of what is needed to get through the day. And quite frankly, if it wasn't for my husband, the kids would have stayed home today. And yesterday. And possibly all of last week.<br />
<br />
Thank goodness internet grocery shopping has finally hit our little town. Even if it is frightfully expensive.<br />
<br />
There is no way in hell I can entertain the thought of going through those three years again with someone new, just to get to the same point that I'm at now. And what if they get transferred or choose to leave (which in the public system, is not out of the realms of possibility)? Then I have to go through it all again.<br />
<br />
Fuck off.<br />
<br />
"We'll send you here, we'll send you there..." - and all the while, we'll act like we're doing you a favour.<br />
<br />
I had to hang up the phone before, because the very thought of starting over with someone else was making me nauseous. I would quite frankly, rather be dead. <br />
<br />
All day, I have been trying to fight off this sense of impending doom. The doom being my creating my own end. Not that it would be all gloom of course - me being me, I have quite the plans... however that's not really the point... Over the course of the day, it has been gaining momentum, despite my efforts to tell it in no uncertain terms, to fuck off - until I reached the point where it was manifesting in a rather dramatic physical way - not quite full-on panic attack, but the "death by a thousand cuts" style of panic attack. The type that builds slowly - too slowly to even really notice at first - and lasts and lasts and lasts. This one has indeed been brewing for a few days.<br />
<br />
The effects a short while ago? Couldn't breathe properly. Tightness of chest. Muscles tensed up. Thoughts alternating between "I want to die now" and "Fuck off you do, just wait it out". Thoughts which start off slow and get faster and faster until nothing else fits any more. You get to the point where you KNOW something has to give and you're scared it's going to be your life - and at the same time, you're pleased that at least it'll be over. Unlike the fast panic attacks, you know you can't wait the slow ones out - they have way more stamina than you do. So it ends up coming down to two choices - neither of which are pretty.<br />
<br />
On this particular day, I have chosen to self-injure. Don't stress - it's not "bad" - just enough to do what I needed. Ever felt morphine wash over your body, or had a gallstone attack subside on its own - and gone from massive pain, to no pain in a few seconds - and felt that relief? That is what self-injury feels like when you're having one of these types of panic attacks. And you can feel free to judge me for that the day they make Epi-pens legal for people with a mental illness. Until then, some days, this is all we can do to keep from killing ourselves.<br />
<br />
Of course, I'm not advocating self-injury as a coping mechanism. Indeed, <b><span style="font-size: small;">I am a big fan of the Happy Box</span></b> - details of which are listed below. However, some days... Anyway - the whole idea of blogging for me, aside from ripping it up people who need a good bitch slap, is to write about what it's like to live with a mental illness. This is what it is like for me.<br />
<br />
I'm the first to say that if you want to emulate me, then you're next in line for a good bitch slap.<br />
<br />
<b>Update:</b> Thanks to one lovely lady who e-mailed me earlier, a couple of good people on Twitter with laughs galore, the people waiting for me to nudge them (and thanks for understanding why I can't), and my husband and kids, who have to put up with me in the flesh.<br />
<br />
The other ugly brain bitch isn't winning today. Fuck that shit. If only because I am one stubborn bitch who has much living to do yet.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="uiAttachmentTitle" data-ft="{"type":11}">
<i><strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/239368899441412/doc/239373769440925/">Happy Box</a></strong></i> </div>
<br />
<b><i>The
"Happy Box" is an idea founded by a group of people who self-injure,
many years ago. I still have my first happy box, given to me by one the
members of this group.<br />
<br />
For people who self-injure, feel suicidal, or have a mental illness, the
Happy Box is a box of things to keep one occupied until such time as
they fee<span class="text_exposed_show">l "safe" again, or can get some
help. A Happy Box is personal to the person who it is for - what works
for one person may not work for another.<br />
<br />
If you are thinking of making a Happy Box, either for yourself or
someone else, the following are some ideas of what to put in it - to get
you started.<br />
<br />
* Phone numbers of people to call in an emergency, or to talk to<br />
* Favourite music<br />
* Favourite book - it could be a novel, or a book of inspirational quotes or a colouring-in book<br />
* Photo's of happy times, or of loved ones<br />
* Art supplies - either standard art supplies for art, or some people
who self-injure find it therapeutic to scribble red on something<br />
* Worry dolls<br />
* Crystals (if that's your thing)<br />
* Small icons or figurines that are meaningful<br />
* Journal and pens<br />
* Things that smell nice - incense or perfume etc<br />
* DVD of a favourite funny movie<br />
* Rubber bands - some people who self-injure find that snapping a
rubber band against their wrist can help relieve the pressure to
self-injure<br />
* Play-doh, Lego or other manipulative toys to keep hands and minds occupied<br />
* Letters from loved ones (good ones)<br />
* A voucher to the movies, or a favourite restaurant or ice-cream place<br />
* Chocolate or lollies<br />
* Candles<br />
* Bath salts</span></i></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-82268992261559775352011-11-04T22:48:00.000+10:002012-02-27T17:12:25.875+10:00So how SHOULD we talk about suicide?On Twitter earlier today a rural psychologist wrote ... "My occupational hazard as a rural psych under Gillard gov cuts to <s class="hash">#</s><b>BetterAccess</b> is a grotesque lottery of when & who- not if- suicides occur"<br />
<br />
A couple of people on Twitter say this statement is irresponsible and sensationalist.<br />
<br />
I say "right on sister!!!"<br />
<br />
Damn straight it's sensational. And so it should be. We should be screaming this from every rooftop. It should be plastered all over the news. The people of this country should be uniting together and rallying around those who are suicidal. We should be talking about it. How it feels. How it affects our lives. How it affects our families and friends. 2200 deaths each year in this country from something that is essentially preventable? 65000 people who try each year to end their life? And now the government has just drastically cut the support that these people get?<br />
<br />
It's "irresponsible" to get this information out? It's "irresponsible" to educate the public as to what the real cost of the Better Access cuts are? It's "irresponsible" to tell the truth? Really? That is the sort of world you want to live in?<br />
<br />
Do you really think that people are going to hurt themselves after reading something like that? You really think that is triggering? Let me tell you about triggers...<br />
<br />
Triggers can happen any time, any place. You remember the Harry Potter book and movie where he had to write lines on parchment and they ended up being engraved on his arm? I was a part of a self-injury self-help, online forum back then, and boy, didn't it go off. There are advertisements that are triggery. There are books that are triggery. And the first thing you learn when you find yourself being "triggered" is to go to a safe place until you're "safe" again. Why? Because the whole fucking world has the potential to be a trigger!<br />
<br />
It would be great if we could put a disclaimer on the world, but we can't. And I get why that scares some people. I get why some people want to keep it all hushed up. However, here is your reality check - Hushing it up hurts. It does not help.<br />
<br />
It does not help, because when you only talk about "good stories" of healing and shit, family and friends start to wonder why the hell YOU are not "healing and shit". They see programs on television and read stories about people who had depression for a year or so and "got over it", they fail to realise that your PTSD isn't the same as their depression, and they get to thinking that the problem isn't the mental illness - the problem is YOU. Because if SHE can "get over it" then surely YOU could if you really wanted to. And they give up on you, and they go away.<br />
<br />
The irony is that the organisations that are trying to eliminate the idea that you can "just get over it", are the same organisations that are perpetuating that belief by not being honest about what mental illness is like. <br />
<br />
I have been a member of a few forums over the last decade, and in one particularly large one (so, good sample size) with people from all demographics, the thing that amazed me the most, was the general attitude that people had about mental illness. They were generally stigma-free when it came to mental illness. The problem was in how many of them thought that a) medication helped in ALL cases (SO not true); b) that help is available to every person who seeks it (SO not true); and c) that you CAN recover no matter what illness you have, or the severity of it (SO not true).<br />
<br />
The flow on effect this has? There are a few. The first is that when someone first speaks of having depression (or any other mental illness), they are immediately advised to start medication because it will work. Six months later, some of these people are back because it hasn't worked and they feel like failures. They feel like it is their fault it hasn't worked. They feel like they've done something wrong, or that they are in some way defective. If they had been warned from the start that it may not work, then when it doesn't, they would be prepared.<br />
<br />
The second effect is when people talk about how difficult is was to get help, they are told to try harder - help IS there, so they must not be trying too hard to find it. The reality is that help is quite often either not there (particularly in rural areas, but also in low funded urban areas), or even if it is, it is not appropriate for the person's situation.<br />
<br />
The third effect is that when some people do not see improvement within a certain time frame, again, they feel that it is their fault. <br />
<br />
Telling these people the truth isn't necessarily going to cause them to commit suicide or self-harm. <i></i>NOT telling them the truth, however, can lead to suicides, suicide attempts and self-harm, if it leads to them feeling like failures for not "getting better" the way they've been led to believe they should.<br />
<br />
Maybe if there were more people telling the truth - that mental illness IS dirty, it IS dark and it IS fucking depressing - maybe these expectations wouldn't be put on us all to "just get over it". People might start to understand what it's like to live with a mental illness, the term "worried well" would have been treated with the contempt it deserves, and we would be starting to actually find a real way to help the 65000 suicidal Australians.<br />
<br />
These cuts are going to lead to suicides where suicides may not have happened if Better Access had been left alone. That is the cold hard truth of it, people need to know, more than they need to be shielded from it, and if you think we don't need to be ramming that truth up the arse of every single Australian out there, then basically, you need to pull your head out of whatever sand dune it happens to be residing in.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-86279920801448991382011-10-28T15:33:00.002+10:002012-02-27T11:15:56.696+10:00Calling a spade a fuckwit<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Credit: No idea - it did the FaceBook rounds... </span><b><br /></b></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Given good quality and regular psychological care is now only within the realms of the rich, I have decided to try screaming obscenities.</b></div>
</div>
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<b>Brace yourself. </b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>I have been e-mailing politicians in order to enlighten them of my concerns to the cutting of the Better Access Initiative. Over the last couple of days, I have received mostly automatic replies, with a few "I've told my assistant to tell you I'll look into it"'s, and a couple of "you do not live in my electorate therefore bite me"'s. Fair enough - they are (god I hope) busy running the country and thus this was to be expected.</b></div>
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<b><i> </i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>One reply however, pissed me off in a rather spectacular way, and not simply because it was a <a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2011L02134/Explanatory%20Statement/Text">cut-and-paste</a> disguised as an actual reply (I <i>can</i> Google people). What pissed me off was the content of the information itself, as well as the fact that it is being used in a formal capacity as the justification to screw the average person with a mental illness over.</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>I have included the e-mail, and addressed it, below:</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Dear Ms Wemyss,</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Senator Cameron has asked that I acknowledge your email of
25 October 2011 and thank you for raising your concerns regarding the Better
Access initiative.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>While I'm sure Senator Cameron did not actually ask that Jessica reply to Linda's e-mail, but rather said something along the lines of "get onto those fucking e-mails too will ya - my inbox is getting full" - it is a nice personal touch.</b><i><b> </b></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: black;">The
2011-12 Budget provided a record investment of $2.2 billion over five years in new
and expanded mental health services. Included in this investment were
some changes to the Better Access initiative. </span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The government says "changes" - I say we got our fucking arses handed to us.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>The Australian Government is
concerned that while Better Access is a good program for those it is reaching,
it is still not servicing hard to reach groups like young people, men, people
living in rural and remote regions, Indigenous Australians and people living in
areas of high socio‑economic disadvantage. In fact the evaluation showed
that people on lower incomes received both significantly less services and
funding under Better Access than those on higher incomes. <span style="color: black;"></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;">I'm on a low income (DSP). I live in a rural area. And to whoever thought to come up with this particular argument for taking away the one support I have - go fuck yourself.</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><b>If the system is working, but not reaching the "right" people (and I don't accept the premise that this is the case), then change the system to make it better - don't throw it away.</b><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="color: black;">From 1 November 2011, the cap on Medicare rebates for
eligible people with a diagnosed mental disorder will be changed from 12
sessions per year to ten. Following the initial course of treatment (a
maximum of six sessions) consumers will be able to access more sessions of up
to ten. Consumers are also eligible for ten group sessions per calendar
year in addition to their individual sessions. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><b>Bullshit. It is being cut from 18 to 10 sessions. My two year old is pretty good with his numbers, if the government would like some tutoring.</b></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>In making these changes the
Government has listened to mental health experts and examined the available
evidence, including the <span style="color: black;">independent evaluation of
Better Access</span>. After more than four years of operation, the
Government has a clear sense of how the program is being used by providers and
consumers. </i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Actually - in making these changes, the Government has listened only to those it has deemed "worthy". Many mental health experts have<a href="http://www.betteraccess.net/index.php/information/articles/evidence-based-reform"> challenged the cuts</a>. </span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;">Providers and consumers, in general, are pissed off at the cuts. I suggest to the government that given providers and consumers are the ones providing and consuming, we have a pretty good fucking sense of "how the program is being used". At this point, I really wouldn't assume that the Government has a "clear sense" of where to find it's dick, except that we're all being royally screwed.</span></b><i><span style="color: black;"><b> </b></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="color: black;">The findings of the Better Access evaluation showed that
almost three-quarters of people who access services used between one and six
sessions a year. The majority (87 per cent) of current Better Access
users received between one and ten sessions and will therefore be unaffected by
this change. </span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Yes. Fuck the 13%. The 13% are I'm guessing, more likely to have complex needs and more likely to be suicidal. A fair whack of cancer patients don't go on to have chemotherapy - should we stop funding that too?</span></b><span style="color: black;"><b> And if </b></span><b><span style="color: black;">the government</span></b><span style="color: black;"><b> thinks we're talking about talk-therapy vs. death, then I'd invite </b></span><b><span style="color: black;">the government</span></b><span style="color: black;"><b> to go and meet the families and friends of the approx. 65000 Australians who try to kill themselves each year, and tell them that their loved ones aren't worthy of treatment. I don't suggest </b></span><b><span style="color: black;">the government</span></b><span style="color: black;"><b> tell it to people trying to kill themselves. I think </b></span><b><span style="color: black;">the government has</span></b><span style="color: black;"><b> given them enough to deal with for now.</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="color: black;">People
currently receiving services under Better Access will be able to access up to
12 individual and/or up to 12 group sessions prior to 30 October
2011. In exceptional circumstances, and where there is a clinical need,
they can access an additional six individual services prior to 30 October 2011.
</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="color: black;">From 1
November 2011, the new arrangements will apply. Individuals who have already
accessed ten or more individual and ten or more group services by 1 November
2011 will not be eligible for additional services until 1 January 2012.</span></i></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;">So they are left with nothing. Over Christmas of all fucking times of the year. Bravo.</span></b><i><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="color: black;">The
Department of Health and Ageing is working on implementation arrangements and
further information will be made available to consumers and providers in the
near future. </span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">What near future is that? I received this e-mail on the 27th October for fuck's sake - the cuts kick in this Tuesday. I'm guessing Jessica didn't proofread before she sent this e-mail. There has hardly been a mass advertising campaign - certainly NOTHING to the general public. Not surprising obviously.</span></b><i><span style="color: black;"><b> </b></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>The Better Access initiative was introduced to address low
treatment rates for high prevalence mental disorders such as depression and
anxiety – particularly presentations of mild to moderate severity where short
term evidence based support is most likely to be useful.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Short term <a href="http://www.betteraccess.net/index.php/information/articles/evidence-based-reform">evidence based support</a> is MORE than 10 sessions.</b><i><br /></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>While some people with more complex or intensive care needs
may benefit from psychological interventions under Better Access, the
initiative was not designed to provide intensive, ongoing therapy for people
with severe, ongoing illness. </i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>And yet, it is working for that anyway. In any other area of medicine, this would be seen by all as a GOOD thing.</b><i><b> </b></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: black;">It is
important that people get the right care for their needs. People who
currently receive more than ten allied mental health services under Better
Access are likely to be patients with more complex needs and would be better
suited for referral to more appropriate mental health services. GPs can
continue to refer those people with more severe ongoing mental disorders to
Medicare subsidised consultant psychiatrist services, where 50 sessions can be
provided per year, or state/territory specialised mental health services. </span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Many people ARE getting the right care for their needs. Or they were at least.</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;"><b>If people wanted to see a psychiatrist - if they thought that would work for them - they would be doing it already. And probably are. Thus, </b></span><b><span style="color: black;">the government is</span></b><span style="color: black;"><b> forcing people to see a specialist they do not want, or do not need - or just forcing them to go without altogether if they figure it's not worth their time to see someone they do not want or do not need. People with "complex needs" are still capable of deciding for themselves what works for them. For the very very few who are not, I'm sure their GP isn't sitting there going "well, I could refer to a psychiatrist because I think that would be more appropriate, but fuck it, I'll refer to a psychologist instead, just for shits and giggles".</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: black;">The Government is also investing through this year’s
Budget, $549.8 million to provide coordinated and flexible funding for people
with severe mental illness and complex multi‑agency needs. This will
provide eligible individuals with a single point of contact,
a care facilitator, and will assist about 24,000 people and
their families.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Again with the telling people what they need. That aside - where is this funding? Where are these services? Who is this single point of contact that I might call this Tuesday? Might it not have been a good idea to set this shit up BEFORE taking away current services?</span></b><i><span style="color: black;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: black;">To help make psychiatrist services available in more areas,
from 1 July 2011 the Government is providing new Medicare rebates for video
psychiatrist consultations for patients living in regional, remote and outer
metropolitan areas. GPs, specialists and other health professionals will
be provided with financial incentives to help deliver these online services and
funding will also be provided to support training and supervision for health
professionals.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">ROFL. Has </span></b><b><span style="color: black;">the government</span></b><b><span style="color: black;"> ever tried to access the internet rurally? It's provided by satellite and coverage depends on the weather, the satellites, and I imagine some higher power's general mood at any given time. I can just imagine the conversations now... "Hello Dr. Quack, I'm feeling suicid... beep beep beep". Not to mention added complications such as ensuring privacy ("Yes you can talk to your doctor about how I'm beating the crap out of you, but I'll be standing behind the desk here where he can't see me" - it's every abusers wet dream), whether or not the person is computer literate (or literate in general), or even whether someone has access to a bloody computer at home (because doing therapy in a public library is really what we all wish for *rolleyes*).</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Hey, it's a great idea to offer it as an option. But to take from a program that works in order to do so? Is the government fucking kidding me?</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;"> </span><i><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Also - taking money from psychologists and giving it to psychiatrists is like taking money from therapy and giving it to medication. Oh wait... that is exactly what it is doing. If only all mental illnesses could be cured with a few pills...</span></b><i><span style="color: black;"></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitZgtFogHtw1Kw8LK6B3ufuCAurfIbBz3OoWPUsa6_2X1-CsKhDWUt3HIGTwPK-b6usdQ8MFv5qhQo2FeKh3Dyks49NhIf-tiWC1HDCOjKIrepZVmCv_Jb4IK85vc6nycvYiuQAHyjGw/s1600/Pill+Popping+vs+Therapy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitZgtFogHtw1Kw8LK6B3ufuCAurfIbBz3OoWPUsa6_2X1-CsKhDWUt3HIGTwPK-b6usdQ8MFv5qhQo2FeKh3Dyks49NhIf-tiWC1HDCOjKIrepZVmCv_Jb4IK85vc6nycvYiuQAHyjGw/s320/Pill+Popping+vs+Therapy.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Credit: Picture - Steve Sneider (2011); Text - Ania Krysztofiak</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: black;">Every
cent generated from the changes to Better Access is being redirected to double
the number of services targeted at vulnerable and hard to reach groups through
the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program, as well as
investing in additional services for early intervention youth services and
improving the coordination and accessibility of services for individuals with
severe mental illness.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">ATAPS in my area gives you a maximum of 8 sessions per year. No choice of practitioner - not even a guarantee of seeing the same practitioner for each visit.</span><i><span style="color: black;"> </span></i><span style="color: black;">I have done "see whoever is on shift at the time" and it nearly fucking killed me.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">If a private psychologist gets a little mouthy, you can tell them to fuck off and find another one before it gets too bad - if a psychologist at ATAPS gets a little mouthy - you've got nothing. And if </span></b><b><span style="color: black;">the government</span></b><b><span style="color: black;"> thinks for a moment that there are "complaint systems" in place - then I'd like to shove their arse into a public psych ward, and a week later tell me how well those work in real life.</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="color: black;"></span></i><span style="color: black;">I don't think ATAPS is working as well as </span></b><b><span style="color: black;">the government</span></b><b><span style="color: black;"> thinks it is and/or they simply don't give a fuck.</span></b><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: black;">The
Government does not take the decision to make changes to Medicare services
lightly, but given the tight fiscal environment it has a responsibility to
ensure that its investments are appropriately targeted to ensure maximum
value.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Maximum value? My psychologist is not a fucking commodity. Last night, she was the person who took me from "I've just lined up all the medication I have and was about to down it with a bottle of Jack Daniels except my husband came home earlier than expected" to "Fuck it, let's die another day". Next week, my only option is hospital. Let me tell </span></b><b><span style="color: black;">the government</span></b><b><span style="color: black;"> about hospital.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black;">A few years ago, the police picked me up at a park and took me to hospital. I was suicidal. There were no beds, so despite the fact that I just been made homeless earlier that evening, they let me go at 2am in the morning. The next day, my best friend, who had travelled three hours to come and get me, called the hospital to tell them I was still suicidal and should he bring me in? He was told "Call back when she's done something". When I've done something. I have to actually cut my wrists or swallow a bunch of pills before they'll even consider a pre-admission meeting. Now granted, experience has revealed that I'm bad at most things, and I can add trying to kill myself to that list, given I've tried and failed twice (three times if you count the first one, which was pretty doomed from the start). Next time, I'm not going to fail. Mainly because some emergency department doctors have given me such great advice on how to succeed next time. Seriously. "Next time go up, not across" was said to me as my wrists were being stitched. I took note for future reference.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;"><b>THAT is my other option. And if </b></span><b><span style="color: black;">the government</span></b><span style="color: black;"><b> thinks that is acceptable for me - let alone a child, teenager or young adult - then they are cunt of the fucking millennium. McGorry and Hickie, stand aside...</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: black;">The
Government is also investing in a range of expanded mental health services,
including:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;">doubling funding to
the ATAPS program delivered through Divisions of General Practice and Medicare
Locals into the future; </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: black;">30 more youth friendly
<b>headspace</b> services;</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: black;">16 new Early Psychosis
Prevention Intervention Centres; and</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: black;">a doubling in the
number of Family Mental Health Services.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Wank, fucking wank.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: black;">More
information about these and a range of other initiatives can be found at </span><a href="http://www.health.gov.au/mentalhealth">www.health.gov.au/mentalhealth</a><span style="color: black;"></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>I trust that this information is
of assistance.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Well, it did give me something to do today...</b><i><b> </b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Yours sincerely</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Jessica </i><b>Xxx (because the poor woman is just doing her job)</b><i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>On Behalf of</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Senator Doug Cameron</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Senator for New South Wales</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>And not one of these arguments addresses the fact that I've been seeing my psychologist for three years, AND I FUCKING WELL LIKE HER. After fifteen years or thereabouts, of seeing every quack under the sun, I found someone who knows what she is talking about, and is prepared to do more than just listen to me bitch about my previous fortnight. I trust her. And sometimes I may blush and do some deep breathing first, but I can tell her anything. I don't want or need a "team". I don't want or need a psychiatrist. I sure as shit don't want to do therapy online any more than I want to do pap smears online. ATAPS is simply Better Access without choice or continuity of care, so I don't want or need that either. </b></div>
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<b>I would have had a hell of a lot more respect for the government if they had just stood up and said, "OK, we're in bed with McGorry and Hickie and have decided to fund their pet projects and have decided the rest of you can go and get fucked in order to fund it". It would have been clean. It would have been honest. Instead, on top of having therapy cut, we're continually trying to determine whether the government is truly deluded, or just plain evil.</b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>At this point, I think I'll assume both, and henceforth refer to them as a collective bunch of fuckwits.</b></span></div>
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<b>Further Blogs to read:</b></div>
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Pretty sure none of them swear ;-) </div>
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If I haven't listed your blog on Better Access, and you think that negligent of me, feel free to e-mail me at lindamadhatter@gmail.com and I'll add it for you.</div>
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<a href="http://talkingfairleigh.blogspot.com/2011/10/personal-face-of-cuts-to-better-access.html">Talking Fairleigh: The Personal Face of Cuts to Better Access</a></div>
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<a href="http://talkingfairleigh.blogspot.com/2011/10/impact-on-rural-australia.html">Talking Fairleigh: Impact on Rural Australia</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/the-problem-with-health-advocates-is-when-they-dont-20110824-1ja1q.html">Clem Bastow: The Problem with Health Advocates is When They Don't</a></div>
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<a href="http://betteraccesscampaign.blogspot.com/">Thembi: Better Access Blog</a></div>
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<a href="http://johnalchin.info/2011/09/23/ian-hickie-rejects-better-access-in-mental-health-reform-debate/#comment-1101">John Alchin: Ian Hickie Rejects Better Access in Mental Health Reform Debate</a></div>
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<a href="http://johnalchin.info/2011/10/24/prescient-remarks-about-mental-health-funding/">John Alchin: Prescient Remarks About Mental Health Funding</a></div>
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<a href="http://mike-stuchbery.com/2011/10/11/1785/">Mike Stuchbery: Cutting Better Access Hurts Us All</a></div>
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<a href="http://3precocious3lotus3.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/cuts-to-medicare-psychology-sessions-please-mr-butler-are-you-serious/">Precocious Lotus: Cuts to Medicare Psychology Sessions: Please Mr Butler Are You Serious?</a></div>
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<a href="http://left-flank.blogspot.com/2011/09/mcgorry-hickie-reform-controversy-why.html">Left Flank: The McGorry/Hickie Reform Controversy: Why Has Mental Health Become So Political?</a></div>
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If this article, or my general being, has distressed you, please feel free to call Lifeline on 13 11 14.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-7618330306412277492011-10-10T15:16:00.000+10:002012-02-27T17:06:18.326+10:00Guest Blog<br />
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<i>Someone has asked me to post this for them - they wish to remain anonymous. </i></div>
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As of November 1st, those of us with a "severe and
persistent mental illness" (I'm using official political lingo here) who
rely on Better Access to keep our heads above water will be forced to take a
minimum of 2 month therapy break. We're calling ourselves the 13%ers. That's
because we're the 13% of people using Better Access who use more than 10
Medicare funded sessions per year. Apparently, being in this minority
percentage means that we're not important enough to consider when readjusting
mental health spending. We're only about 87,000 people, so they're just going
to chop our services for an extended Christmas break. This would be nice if I
could take holiday leave from my illness, but unfortunately the "boss"
doesn't approve. So instead, for Christmas it's just going to be me and my
illness, with no safety net, no tapering down period, nothing. Just a November
1st cutoff with no appropriate options for support until the following year. </div>
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The last time I was exited from a supportive mental
health program without a safety net in place, I attempted suicide. </div>
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Obviously, I failed miserably (but I did learn a few
things about how I might do it right next time). I ended up in hospital for a
few weeks and got drugged out of my brain until I started hallucinating. I then
had to go through god awful withdrawals, and many of those months after my
discharge are still a drugged out blur. They drugged me this much because they
seemed to think I wasn't taking the severity of my illness seriously enough.
This was because I didn't want drugs, I wanted therapy. I might add, I was the
one that checked myself into hospital in the first place (my suicide attempt
failed so miserably that I didn't even need medical attention, but after seeing
the distress it caused my friends I did figure I probably needed to get some
help so once I was lucid again I made a few calls). Had I not told them about
the severity of my situation, they wouldn't have known. It was a great lesson
in realising it's best not to ask for help unless it's from someone I trust.
And boy do I no longer trust the mental health system, particularly
psychiatrists. </div>
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I trust my psychologist though.</div>
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My psychologist is incredibly skilled at preventing me
from getting to that point where I'm willing to swallow all the pills I've
collected over the years from psychiatrists who are more than happy to dole
them out to me to fix my "chemical imbalance" (even though none of
them can actually agree on which kind of chemical imbalance I have, or which
kind of pills I should be swallowing, or whether they should just zap my brain
instead). For me, early intervention has come to mean getting to my
psychologist before the shit hits the fan. But too bad if things start to slide
after November 1st. My psychologist may start to regret having put his mobile
number on his business card (although my anxiety about making phone calls will
probably keep him safe from that).</div>
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It makes me think of the year I had chronic tonsilitis.
Imagine if at an arbitrary date the pharmacist had announced, "Sorry, but
you've had your maximum allowance of antibiotics for the year. Come back in two
months and let's just hope that infection hasn't spread" Imagine the
outrage! Denied access to the most basic and essential care, which could
potentially lead to death (yes, that happened from infections before penicillin
was discovered, and can happen to someone who is chronically suicidal if their
support network is taken away). And as far as I'm concerned, that is all seeing
my psychologist is: the most basic and essential care I can receive for my
chronic mental illness to stop it from turning into anything worse. And trust
me, a chronic mental illness is a lot more painful than chronic tonsilitis.</div>
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So, I wonder, what's going to happen to us 13%ers over
our extended Christmas break? Will our "infections" spread? Here's
hoping not, because if the others are anything like me, they won't want to be
banging on any hospital and/or psychiatrists' doors. And not because we lack
"insight" into our condition, but because we have a great deal of
insight into the sheer incompetence rampant in the profession. It makes me
wonder though, is this what the Government wants? To get us out of the system
so we stop costing them money, while they can parade around declaring what a
wonderful job they have done on mental health reform? The joke's on them
though, because I can guarantee I'll still be collecting my disability payment,
and with only 10 sessions with a psychologist a year from now on, it's quite
likely I'll be collecting this payment for many more years than would've been
necessary were the new changes not put into place. Better Access is the best
program I know of to facilitate recovery, and therefore reducing sessions is
effectively reducing recovery rates. I think it's about time the Government
stopped skimping on essential services and started realising us 13%ers are not
the people to be taking services away from. Talk about targeting the weakest of
the bunch! Here's hoping we can show them we're not the weak target they were
hoping for.</div>
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But at this point, all I can say is good luck in the
following months my fellow 13%ers. I've got a feeling we're going to need it!</div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-74446756788990437962011-10-03T18:26:00.000+10:002012-02-27T17:03:29.163+10:00Sebastian Rosenberg<span style="font-size: large;">Sebastian Rosenberg</span>, a senior lecturer at the <span style="font-size: large;">Brain and Mind Institute</span> (for those playing at home, the same Institute that <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/bmri/research/mental-health-clinical/ianh.php">Ian Hickie</a> heads), has written a <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/agency-looking-for-way-ahead/2311061.aspx?storypage=0">piece for the Canberra Times</a>. It would be sweet to see friends sticking together as such, if it weren't reministant of playground bullies gathering together in order to take our lunches away. For our own good of course *insert sarcasm*.<br />
<br />
As part of his piece, Rosenberg writes "<i>Mark Butler has travelled widely and has proven himself a willing
listener. There is never a shortage of complaints in mental health so
this is no small thing. Butler is now, as I understand it, formally
the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Mental Health. This moves
him and his portfolio responsibilities clearly out of the realm of
health and gives him licence, indeed obligation, to work with Jenny
Macklin's Department of Family and Community Services, Tanya Plibersek
and Mark Arbib in Housing, and Chris Evans and Kate Ellis in Employment
and Education in relation to mental health.</i>"<br />
<br />
So let me clear this up for people who may not have had the pleasure of attending the two online "forums" I have; and that Mark Butler has "attended" in order to provide a QandA session... The term ButlerBot has come about for very good reason. Mark Butler has answered very few questions, and only those that could be answered with what has been an obviously predetermined response that puts forth the usual government spin. Both times there were photo's of him sitting at his computer - while I didn't bother wasting my download limit, I suspect they were probably very similar. Indeed the description both times of him being in his PJ's seemed to put forth the idea that the photo's were just for show. Who knows?<br />
<br />
I have talked to many people after both events, and am yet to hear anything positive about their experiences. Not surprising really, given how obvious it was to all that Mark Butler couldn't have given a rats arse about anyone there, or anything that was discussed. He had an agenda of selling the latest budget and he <a href="http://hashtags.foxepractice.com/healthcare-hashtag-transcript.php?hashtag=RuralMH&fdate=09-21-2011&shour=2&smin=28&tdate=09-21-2011&thour=4&tmin=5&ssec=00&tsec=00&img=1">stuck to it like glue.</a><br />
<br />
Not impressed. Tell us what we don't want to hear - but don't just ignore us while pretending to give a shit.<br />
<br />
While I'm sure that Mark Butler has been making good use of some frequent flier miles (or at least acquiring them), I doubt very much that he's listening to anyone who isn't singing his praises.<br />
<br />
As for how well he'll do with his new title of Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Mental Health - I'm hardly sitting by waiting on the wings of anticipation.<br />
<br />
<i>"Butler has stated that the Government's support for a commission is
based heavily on community support for such an entity. In my view, such
support reflects fatigue with the same old debates and the same old
voices and interests."</i><br />
Based heavily on community support hey? Well, you know what? I think that one of the few things the government and McGorry Crew have done well is unite the country around the issue of mental health. They've done this so well, that few are asking the pertinent question of "Show Me The Money". All the community knows is that there is some, and they're happy as. And who can blame them? Mental health has had a bad rap for - well, ever.<br />
<br />
We may have new voices and interests - and yes - wait - we have new interests. The new voices are not the welcome change we've all been hoping for - indeed instead of the apathy of old, what we're finding is greed and conflicts of interest. Lack of full disclosure. And lies that on the one hand are working really well, and on the other hand, to anyone who is actually looking for the money trail, makes my two year old look like a professional.<br />
<br />
We may have new voices, but we have the same shit behind them - money and power.<br />
<br />
<i>"Consumers and carers are used to being ignored as government departments
and many service providers make arrangements to suit themselves rather
than their clients."</i><br />
This. Is. Fucking. Rich.<br />
<br />
Consumer and carers are STILL being ignored. And a couple of service providers have done well to screw over a majority of mental health consumers this year, suiting themselves nicely, not to mention suiting their bottom line, their current projects, and their end-game.<br />
<br />
<i>"Poor services retain their funding while effective services miraculously
lose their funding. New service options struggle to emerge and when
they do, ugly and ill-founded public controversy often arises. Witness
the public vitriol associated with the emergence of a national roll-out
of the Orygen model of early intervention for youth psychosis.
Commentators like Janet Albrechtsen criticise McGorry for his role in
''politicising'' mental health. From its base in a series of
demountable dongas in Carlton, Melbourne, Pat McGorry's service has led
the world in demonstrating the benefit of early intervention in
psychosis in young people. Supporting this new service does not mean we
ignore the mental health of children, adults or the elderly. It simply
means that piece by piece, Australian governments are being poked,
prodded and persuaded into developing a range of mental health services
designed to cover all ages. If this is political then so be it."</i><br />
We're still talking about mental health right? What effective services? Oh, do you mean Better Access, which just had it's arse handed to it? That one?<br />
<br />
McGorry has led the world in jack shit. <a href="http://betteraccess.net/index.php/information/iseppicevidencebased">The Orygen model of early intervention is a joke</a>. It's that much of a joke, that <a href="http://1boringoldman.com/index.php/2011/09/25/hubris-5/">prominent psychiatrists</a> overseas are scratching their heads.<br />
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And when you cut programs like Better Access (cuts which affect a hell of a lot of kids with psychosis too, given the very few EPPIC centres around) - you ARE "<i>ignoring the mental health of children, adults and the elderly</i>". Whether it is political or not is up for debate. What isn't up for debate is the fact that it very fucking sad to watch.<br />
<br />
<i>"It follows that a key role for the new National Mental Health Commission
must be as an independent arbiter of what works, what should be funded
and, importantly, what should be de-funded."</i><i><br /></i><br />
True that. What a shame it's never going to happen, when the likes of McGorry and Hickie have their claws in everything and our<b> Hon Mark Butler lacks the balls to tell them both to piss off.</b><br />
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<i>"Mental health needs not only more funding but also to make sure it is spent in accordance with the evidence."</i><br />
Then why aren't you? <a href="http://betteraccess.net/index.php/information/evidence-based-reform">Better Access was working well </a>and some bastards convinced the government to cut it in favour of something that may or may not work (and if it doesn't - could do a hell of a lot of long-term harm). And even if EPPIC and headspace DO work - they reach such a small number of people it's ridiculous. <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/comm_fund_men_hlth/submissions.htm">One senate inquiry submission</a> put the number of clients seen at a headspace centre to be 17 in a month (Number 483, p. 17). Not one particular month, but as an average. Put that money into Better Access and how many could have been helped?<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Edited 5th October 2011 - I had mistakenly put 17 clients at an EPPIC centre, whereas I should have written "headspace centre". My apologies to all, and thanks to the person who pointed out my error :) ).</span></b><br />
<br />
<i>"The Government has already committed itself to the task of developing a
10-year road map for mental health, though it is yet to make clear what
if any role the new commission will play in this. A simple re-hash of
the fourth National Mental Health Plan will leave an expectant mental
health sector feeling very let down. This plan has no goals, no targets
and commits no one to anything."</i><br />
Quite frankly, I'd prefer a plan that has no backbone, to the severe fucking over mental health consumers are seeing at the moment. At least it leaves things open for discussion and debate. Something I'm sure is a new concept to some of our current players.<br />
<br />
<i>"The Government has appointed Robyn Kruk as chief executive to the
commission. An experienced and able health administrator, she will have
her work cut out to bring these various threads together but in this,
she will have the strong backing of a mental health sector keen to
ensure that the next 20 years of plans deliver more than the past 20
years. "</i><br />
<br />
I don't know much about Robyn Kruk - however a quick Google search finds that she's been doing a fair bit for the environment lately - not health. <br />
<br />
<i>"The capacity of the commission to build strong partnerships with key
organisations in the sector will also be critical. The recent
resignation of Dawn O'Neil as chief executive of Beyond Blue is a
significant blow in this regard. The ex-chief executive of Lifeline and
Deputy Chair of the Mental Health Council of Australia, Dawn had
demonstrated commitment to reform and innovation in mental health over
many years. In an environment characterised by a lack of resources,
Beyond Blue is the largest non-government organisation operating in the
area of mental health promotion and awareness. </i><br />
<i> Under Dawn's
leadership, it had begun to show a willingness to support a range of new
services and research and from such a huge and influential
organisation, this was both very significant and welcome."</i><br />
<br />
Jeff Kennett shows his bigotry against the LBGTI community, there's some scuffling behind closed doors and Dawn O'Neil quits. My first question was - did she try to out him (and for good bloody reason) and he and his buddies kicked her out?<br />
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"<i>In an environment characterised by a lack of resources...</i>" WTF? Beyond Blue is making a profit - quite substantial profits - each year. 2009 - $7 278 315, and 2010 - $1 258 758 (<a href="http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?link_id=2.24&tmp=FileDownload&fid=2001">2009/2010 Annual Report, p. 76</a>).<br />
<br />
Not that we can be that surprised by anything Beyond Blue does. In the above report, they state:<br />
<br />
"During the 2009-10 financial year, more than 4.2 million Better Access Medicare-subsidised mental health services were accessed by Australians living with mental illness... The number of people who have received primary mental health services <b>clearly demonstrates the need for such subsidies</b>" (<a href="http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?link_id=2.24&tmp=FileDownload&fid=2001">p. 57</a>).<br />
<br />
Yet, in their submission to the Senate Inquiry, they state:<br />
<br />
"The rationalisation of GP and allied health services through the Better Access program is justified. It enables the redirection of funds to other mental health programs and services, which focus on prevention, early intervention, and increasing access to services...The majority of people with depression and anxiety seeking treatment through the Better Access program will not be impacted by the reduction to the number of allied health services" (<a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/comm_fund_men_hlth/submissions.htm">p. 4</a>).<br />
Clearly their opinion is driven by the given mood of whoever is in charge on the day. Either that or they just put forth whatever bullshit they've decided to swallow in order to... well, what exactly I don't know. Not sure about their end-game yet. I'll find out eventually. I suspect it's nothing more than an easy pay cheque.<br />
<br />
Sebastian - I hope for damn sure you're getting paid well for your soul.<br />
<br />
A few Bupa shares perhaps?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-80265917422301185932011-09-23T03:47:00.000+10:002012-02-27T11:15:16.849+10:00Dear Mr Hickie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am what you might have thought of when you referred to "armchair critics" in your opinion piece in <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/politics/ignore-the-critics-public-need-to-back-fresh-start-in-mental-healthcare-20110922-1kn2d.html">Fairfax Media</a> on the 23rd September. I am a mother of two, and a mental health consumer. I am also a "critic" of the new mental health reforms.<br />
<br />
First of all, you speak of "$2.2 billion to new programs". Let's be honest shall we? It is NOT for new programs, it is for the total mental health budget. And it is the total mental health budget for the next five years - a point that seems lost on some. It is not even the correct figure.<br />
<br />
The<a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2011-12/content/bp2/html/bp2_expense-12.htm"> total spend </a>over the next five years is $1 463 300 000. $316 200 200 was already earmarked from previous budgets, so only $1 147 100 000 is actually new money. $1.1 billion is a far cry from $2.2 billion. I'm not even totally sure where the $2.2 billion figure comes from, other than political spin, because I can't find it anywhere. Even the government <a href="http://www.health.gov.au/internet/budget/publishing.nsf/Content/budget2011-hmedia02.htm">here</a>, says the budget spend over the next five years is $1.5 billion. For now, I'll assume that they mean their <a href="http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/nmhr11-12~nmhr11-12-newapproach">Ten Year Road Map</a> for mental health or something.<br />
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Aside from all this however, is the $580 500 000 that has been cut from Better Access. $580 million CUT from the budget. $580 million that people such as myself will now have to find.<br />
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Your article points out that the changes "will greatly increase the number of services provided and, most importantly, access for those with the least capacity to pay privately". I am on the Disability Support Pension, and as my carer, my husband is on the Carer's Payment. I consider us to be about the least capable of paying as you can get. Ideally, I need to see my psychologist every fortnight. Every week would be great, but I don't mind keeping it real. The current eighteen session cut off leaves me with eight fortnights to find the full fee myself. After the changes go through, I will have to find the money for sixteen full fees. Possibly twenty, depending on what the criteria is for the additional four sessions.<br />
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I have heard of all manner of other alternatives, and I can assure you that I have either tried them to no avail (medication, inpatient services), or been turned away (public mental health outpatient services). ATAPS is not an option as I don't know a GP who is eligible to refer, and other GP's here have totally closed their books to new patients.<br />
<br />
Seeing my current psychologist is the first time I have felt "better". And that is about to be ripped away from me because I can't afford to pay the full fee privately. Your argument on behalf of those least able to pay makes no sense at all to the people who are actually living it.<br />
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In addition to this, I will have to come up with the same fees for my son, who has Asperger's and needs psychological appointments to help him learn how to regulate his emotions. As he was diagnosed after his sixth birthday, we are not eligible for funding from the Helping Children With Autism Package. This is on top of his speech therapy and occupational therapy - a total out of pocket of $285 a fortnight. We live rurally - there is no other alternative for him here and we are not in a position to move.<br />
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Let us step back for a moment, and suppose that these new services WILL cater to our needs. Our sessions run out on November 1st of this year. This mental health reform is a five year plan. At what stage in that five years is our local area going to see some new services that we can utilise? What are we to do in the meantime?<br />
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And let us not forget the issue of continuity of care shall we? I've been seeing my psychologist for three years. In that time, I've developed a physical disability. Most of our sessions to date have been dealing with issues that have arisen from that, thus, even after three years, my psychologist is still acquiring my history given I've led quite the eventful life. To change over to another service will mean all that time is lost - wasted - as I will have to start over with someone new.<br />
<br />
The second point you raised was the issue of attacks on the evidence of the new approaches, and indeed, exactly what these new approaches consist of. Given that I am not a health care professional, I can not in good conscious debate that point in detail here. I will say however, that I have done enough tertiary study in statistical analysis to be highly sceptical of the studies I have read. The outright lies (such as $2.2 billion of <i>new</i> money), do not help your credibility either. Nor does the fact that yourself, and many of your cohorts, fail to disclose any potential conflicts of interest.<br />
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Your third point that "academic voices have expressed concern that expanding services to include early intervention will come at the expense of desperately under-developed services for those with chronic or persistent illness" and that "no such debate characterises similar advances in cancer or heart care" can be rebutted with a simple - in other areas of medicine, early intervention is <i>added</i> to advanced treatment. In the case of the last budget, funding was taken<i> away</i> from the only advanced treatment that some of us have available to us (Better Access).<br />
<br />
The fourth and final argument you stated is that "a very peculiar commentary proposes that mental health academics should not engage with the broader public debate". From what I've seen, there seems to be more of a concern that some of those academics have their own agenda's to push at the detriment of consumers; and that consumers themselves need to consulted as well (which is not happening effectively), as they know best what works for them. And usually what works best for us is choice, because we are all individuals and we all need different things, even if our "diagnoses" are the same.<br />
<br />
Your final statement that "those governments (including NSW) that are making genuine attempts to develop a mental health system of which we can all be proud need the public's support" is truly a laugh. If the current developments were indeed "genuine", I imagine there wouldn't be such opposition to them.<br />
<br />
And so Mr Hickie - your arguments may work at your dinner parties with friends - but down here in the dirt where we struggle every day living this nightmare - your arguments simply smell like bullshit.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Note: In order to keep this blog relatively small enough to read in one sitting, I have left out quite a few finer points - and there are many many finer points. Please don't think that they have escaped me. I simply wanted to keep this as an overview rebuttal of the article Mr Hickie wrote.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Figures from the 2011-2012 budget.</b><br />
<a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2011-12/content/bp2/html/bp2_expense-12.htm">Budget</a><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_1226645886"></span>Delivering National Mental Health Reform<span id="goog_1226645887"></span></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 624px;"><colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 8448; mso-width-source: userset; width: 173pt;" width="231"></col>
<col span="3" style="mso-width-alt: 4790; mso-width-source: userset; width: 98pt;" width="131"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231"><b><br /></b></td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 98pt;" width="131"><b>Total funding</b></td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 98pt;" width="131"><b>Old funding</b></td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 98pt;" width="131"><b>New funding</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Leadership
in mental health reform</td>
<td class="xl68">$64,100,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68">$64,100,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr height="60" style="height: 45.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="60" style="height: 45.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Coordinated
care and flexible funding for people with severe and persistant mental
illness</td>
<td class="xl68">$549,900,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68">$206,100,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68">$343,800,000.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">National
Mental Health Commission</td>
<td class="xl68">$32,000,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68">$19,800,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68">$12,200,000.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Mental
Health Online Portal</td>
<td class="xl68">$14,400,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68">$14,400,000.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">ATAPS</td>
<td class="xl68">$205,900,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68">$205,900,000.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Support
for day to day living in the community program</td>
<td class="xl68">$19,300,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68">$19,300,000.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Expansion
youth mental health - headspace</td>
<td class="xl68">$197,300,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68">$197,300,000.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Health
and well being checks for three year olds</td>
<td class="xl68">$11,000,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68">$11,000,000.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">National
partnership agreement on mental health</td>
<td class="xl68">$201,300,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68">$201,300,000.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Research
funding</td>
<td class="xl68">$26,200,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68">$26,200,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Family
mental health support services</td>
<td class="xl68">$61,000,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68">$61,000,000.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Employment
services</td>
<td class="xl68">$2,400,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68">$2,400,000.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="40" style="height: 30.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="40" style="height: 30.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Four
mental health infrastructure projects</td>
<td class="xl68">$78,500,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68">$78,500,000.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231"><b><br /></b></td>
<td class="xl67"><b>$1,463,300,000.00</b></td>
<td class="xl68"><b>$316,200,000.00</b></td>
<td class="xl68"><b>$1,147,100,000.00</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr height="60" style="height: 45.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="60" style="height: 45.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Better
Access Initiative - rationalisation of allied health treatment sessions</td>
<td class="xl68">-$174,600,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr height="60" style="height: 45.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="60" style="height: 45.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231">Better
Access Initiative - rationalisation of GP mental health services</td>
<td class="xl68">-$405,900,000.00</td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 173pt;" width="231"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;"><b><br /></b></td>
<td class="xl67"><b>-$580,500,000.00</b></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
<td class="xl68"><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035669916158271391.post-69711709072614735332011-09-18T16:46:00.000+10:002012-02-27T11:14:38.711+10:00A Day In The Life Of The Suicidal - Governments take note.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Yeah, this could get depressing. So if you're feeling suicidally inclined yourself (or even just a bit sad), then best to read something else.<br />
<br />
Or not. Your choice.<br />
<br />
I really hate it when people tell me not to read depressing things when I'm suicidal or upset. Like something that someone else is going through is going to set me off. Because obviously having a mental illness equates to having absolutely no free will whatsoever. There may be people out there who need a babysitter when it comes to literary choices, but I reckon they're a lot fewer than people think. Reading the crap that other people go through actually makes it better - more normal and less lonely.<br />
<br />
Wow. A whole big paragraph and I haven't sworn yet. That's gotta be some kind of fucking record.<br />
<br />
:-)<br />
<br />
So, in case you haven't guessed, I'm not having the best of days. Screw that. I'm suicidal, no two ways about it. <br />
<br />
I have body spasms. Every second, or every minute, or every hour, depending on my level of thought at the time. The more I think, the harder and faster they come. The bad thing about them is that they scare the kids, they jolt my already painful joints so they hurt like a bitch, and they're just plain annoying. The good thing about them is that for a few seconds, they release the tension in my body.<br />
<br />
Downstairs, I have an art centre. An easel my husband made for me and an old set of drawers with paints and brushes and what-not in them. It's nothing much, but it's perfect. The only thing that is missing is some decent music, because I haven't got around to doing that yet. An hour ago, my husband tried to convince me to do some art, to see if that would help.<br />
<br />
Husband: Why don't you go downstairs and do some artwork?<br />
Me: (thinking about all the prep I'd have to do first - jerk - my body, not my husband). Yeah, maybe not.<br />
<br />
Just thinking about putting the effort into something sets me off. Which is annoying as all hell, because my brain is raring to go. I want to do art, I want to sing, I want to go for a drive, I want to go for a swim, I want to take the kids to the park. And when I think about doing these things, I end up a jerking mess.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, this is typed, or else you wouldn't be able to read it. <br />
<br />
I feel sick. Every time I get up I feel like I'm going to throw up. I'm light headed. Every ounce of my body is screaming at me to get back into bed.<br />
<br />
Between the jerks/spasms, and the inability to actually get up off my arse and do something, I feel pretty damn useless. Yes, logically I know I'm not. But being suicidal isn't about logic.<br />
<br />
I've been fighting my whole 33 years. Fighting my mother. Fighting my abusive boyfriend. Fighting depression and PTSD. Fighting physical pain.<br />
<br />
Enough already. I'm done. My body is done. I need a rest.<br />
<br />
No one can take my physical pain away. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and that is that. As for the emotional/mental pain... well...<br />
<br />
We're bombarded with messages that if we feel suicidal, then we should call Lifeline, or some other call centre. But seriously - what are they going to do? What can they tell me that I haven't already considered? Is there some great big solution to everything out there that I haven't thought about? No, there isn't. The only way to get through this, if I decide to, is to grit my teeth and wait it out as best I can.<br />
<br />
I'm not a beginner here. I've learned my meditation, and know to snap a rubber band against my wrist instead of cutting, and I've got "forget the next day - just get through the next hour, or the next minute" down pat. There are great big lists of things to do in an emergency, and they are fantastic. It's just - they don't work any more for me. Or at least, they don't work all the time. And I don't need to hear someone tell me something I already know like I either don't already know it, or like I'm just not trying hard enough. I don't need someone who doesn't know me trying to tell me how to pick myself up. It's not like my cat died, or my boyfriend broke up with me.<br />
<br />
I know that it's politically incorrect to say that one person's pain is "more" than another's. I'm actually not trying to say that. If anything, the pain of a teenager who has just had their heart broken is far worse than what I am experiencing, which is not really pain so much as it's exhaustion. Maybe that is why the standard shit doesn't work.<br />
<br />
Once it becomes clear to call centre volunteers that my situation isn't going to be resolved with the therapy equivalent of a Hallmark card, they usually suggest presenting at hospital. The last time I presented at hospital voluntarily for being suicidal, I was told that they weren't a babysitting service.<br />
<br />
If I want someone to make me feel like shit under their shoe, I'll go visit my mother. <br />
<br />
Plus, I want to see how Nikita turns out on Tuesday night. So I'm good till Wednesday at least.<br />
<br />
I have a bunch of ideas of how we can improve the mental health system. Ideas that include everyone, because they assume nothing. What we have now is a stock standard answer:<br />
<br />
* Call someone (great but what if it doesn't work? What if you require more than a chat with a stranger?)<br />
* Go to hospital (safe, but boring, not good for getting someone in the "life is great" mood, and there's rarely enough beds anyway).<br />
* See a psychiatrist (few of whom do therapy. Most simply give a diagnosis and dispense medication, and few people can afford the gap fees anyway).<br />
* Go to the public mental health team etc (ATAPS, CAT etc) (these are underfunded or mismanaged to the point that they only take psychosis cases. There is little to no ongoing therapy for anyone else, and after I found out that my local team put a 10 year old on enough medication to kill a horse - no thanks).<br />
<br />
Or<br />
<br />
* See your psychologist. <b>Except the government has just cut the number of Medicare rebatable sessions from 18 to 10.</b><br />
<br />
Fan-fucking-tastic.<br />
<br />
Even with 18 this year, I've only two left. She's great and all, but<b> two sessions in three and a half months when I'm this suicidal is like trying to get a hurricane to reverse itself by blowing at it.</b> Next year I'll be allowed ten sessions. May as well just let the fucking hurricane come by and sweep me up. Use my energy to enjoy the ride, rather than try to fight the inevitable. Leave her time to treat those who actually have a chance.<br />
<br />
There are a lot of people at the moment speaking of their concern for people with a mental illness. If they were so fucking concerned, they would be asking us what we need, instead of sprouting their own shit with a few token "consumers" here and there on their committees just to make it look good. I don't want to hear from the people who have been saved by the current system so that Assholes (the capital A was intentional) like Patrick McGorry and Ian Hickie can get funding for their little pet projects. I don't want to hear from the government who decides to put money into these projects, and pulls it out of other things that work so that they can (and in doing so, completely ignoring the over 25 year old demographic).<br />
<br />
I want to hear from the people like me. The ones who have been there and done that and have a fire to make some real changes. People like me that know ANY committee that isn't comprised of consumers with at least a decade of experience in attempting to get well and being shit on, simply isn't going to get the job done properly.<br />
<br />
I want to hear the fucking truth already. Because I simply don't have the RAM left in my addled brain, to be arsed hearing anything else. I want something that actually has a chance in hell of working to be considered for a change. I want hope, so that I can consider living for tomorrow.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0