Compassionate, timely, non coercive responses

[Appleblossom]

Thank you for your considered balanced response @The-red-centaur. That is a significant lived experience.

[EternalFlower]

hi @Appleblossom re the referral not eventuating - its so hard on the sense of trust

they say things and talk up what they will do and then it all gets lost in translation

there are problems the system isn't even trying to fix - social isolation, lack of trust in others and services, DV, trauma, and abuse/stigmatisation of women when they claim to be unwell or struggling - 

i definitely feel stigmatised.  my mental health notes call me "emotionally manipulative" - in 2025 - because I called the CATT team and expresssed i might hurt myself.

I did hurt myself, a few days later. Who is some man who speaks to me on the phone to decide my intentions and value as a human?

I understand you have survived trauma and living in difficult cirumstances. Some people will just never understand having two choices, both not good, and feeling trapped.

[Appleblossom]

@EternalFlower I used to believe that it was about more money and understanding… and the system would get better. But I have watched for a few decades now. 

That referral didn’t work because I was supposedly too old, but he knew how old I was when he suggested it. Ageism is also a problem.  Similar stuff keeps happening for others, so I have lost faith.

[EternalFlower]

hi @Appleblossom 

i'm so sorry to hear that... ageism is terrible. 

this was in the news recently about Victoria :

https://archive.md/Oa7sa

i wander why they don't listen to people nor believe them, and why nothing ever changes, and where all the millions and millions being spent to overhaul systems actually goes

i was in an ED recently which had a sensory room for mental health consumers, and this was a great idea (and probably expensive) but also a little bit tokenistic (like give them a little colorful shiny distraction so they aren't focussed on the bad treatment).

I am currently very motivated to fight and will keep fighting for my rights as a consumer.
Those who don't listen to me can't stop me. And those who don't believe me haven't stopped me. 

I was able to get back up and keep fighting.

I don't personally believe them when they used age to fob u off - perhaps they told another person they were too soemthing else.... they will find a loophole every time to block people from services, and it leaves us blaming ourselves, as if we haven't tried hard enough. They should be ashamed.

[Appleblossom]

I am beginning to believe that they are making excuses too. @EternalFlower So I don’t believe in their truthfulness or ethics anymore.At first, it wasn’t so much about me, but about others in my family, now I have my experience.

 It can be important to harness that fighting spirit. I work on it in different ways. Ways to keep facing each new day, ways to be open to feeling and finding joy and peace and connection, but also be grounded in reality. Somehow I have needed to find my backbone, stand firm, incorporate my shadow side, and be more aware of other people’s shadow side.

Regarding that article…. Hmmmm… they say the commission should focus on…. Safe guarding, complaint handling, and compliance.  

Hmmmm…. That there has turned the MH system into little more than a… lip service… and marketing …to  placate voters and taxpayers exercise. No wonder clinicians revert to compliance behaviours so quickly. Capacity for COMPASSION has been diminished. They seem to have lost their mojo for their actual job. No wonder some ex consumers are becoming…abolitionists… and doing PhDs….

[EternalFlower]

hi @Appleblossom agree - no wonder

i've reported something to the comission about a year ago - it was

ridiculously incompetent and underfunded - and they're slashing it further?!

abolition of a broken system - and one that churns patients through like cogs 😞

[EternalFlower]

hi @Appleblossom 

read this letter in today's Age

"Support mental health
I followed the royal commission into mental health closely, with interest in responses that addressed the problems – rather than just moved them around (“Mental health watchdog muzzled by ‘drastic’ budget cuts”, 14/6). Anyone who has watched someone deteriorate in their mental health and wind up in a public mental health space in Victoria has witnessed the discouraging reality – people leaving worse than they came in, people being victim-shamed for their illness, lack of beds, lack of doctors, and lack of follow-up for those in peak distress.
A loved one recently presented at an emergency department in distress and asked to see a female clinician and was told she’d be seen in an hour. Notes recorded 12 people were before her – but no one communicated this – instead, she sat, waiting for a clinician that never came – until midnight, when she left, with no idea where else to go. They didn’t ask her how she was getting home.
A regulated system is a safe system, and the first step is having someone to talk to when things go wrong. It would seem prioritising an efficient, ethical Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission would be the first step.
Name supplied

[Appleblossom]

Yes @EternalFlower 

I have submitted to a number of enquiries and commissions.

That is why my tone is more terse on the forum and less fluffy and rose coloured glasses in approach.

[EternalFlower]

@Appleblossom the people who are rose coloured have let me down, left me with no support in crises, and kidded me that they cared when they did not.

keep strong - i am feeling empowered these days, hoping for change!

[Appleblossom]

Thanks @EternalFlower and yes we need to find and develop solidarity. I had a great zoom group tonight with like minded people. It all helps.