As someone who has lost a loved one to suicide I know how important it is to create awareness in the community, letting people know that they are not alone. I’ve worked with Lifeline WA for a number of years and prevention and community support absolutely must be a priority. At the forefront of my mind was finding ways to openly celebrate family and carers who look after and live through...
Lived Experiences
After around 16 years of fighting hard, and staying strong, this year my daughter reached crisis point. Due to repeated failures of our public mental health, and disability services system, Eryn ended up with multiple hospital visits, culminating in three and a half months of hospitalisation. For the 6 months of this year of crisis, we were alone. It was just Eryn, the three members of our...
I have lived with OCD since I was 13 and I was also recently diagnosed with ADHD and Autism. I worked in the community sector for several years as a Disability Support Worker and Education Assistant. I enjoyed working with the kids and felt like I really understood them. After I was mugged on a bus and had a head on car accident, I lost my confidence and sense of safety. Feeling...
By the time I was 21 I had been admitted to the local mental health ward with a ‘drug induced pyschosis’ three times. Three Times was enough for the medical fraternity to give me a new label, beyond the ‘drug induced psychosis’, I was now BiPolar 1 Disorder. I ticked the boxes and so became that label. The solution was medication. And of course the advice to stop taking drugs I dutifully,...
I had my first experiences with mental health services at the age of 16. I developed post-natal depression and anxiety a few months after my son was born. I felt an enormous pressure and stigma of being a teen mum. I reached out to a variety of clinical mental health professionals but all I was given was a prescription for anti-depressants. Several years later I was still struggling with...
About 10 years ago after being discharged as an inpatient from a Mental Health Service, I was given the opportunity to attend camps run by a Mental Health Service and a non-government organization. When I went to the first camp, I was a very insular person who would if asked any questions, it would be a one-word answer. I was not in a space to talk to people. I did not have any trust in people or...
Before living at the Village, I was living at Sailbury Lodge. I was very unwell at the time and I felt dumped there as I had no other options when my previous accommodation (Franciscan House) closed down. Moving to the Village, part of Vinnies Mental Health Service, gave me my own private unit and space. I have improved immensely since being at Vinnies. My nutrition has improved and I have...
Ever since 'D' day (diagnosis date) 11 years ago I’ve struggled to eke out an identity other than the one I seem to be challenged by because of ignorance, stereotypes and discrimination that has weighted me down and left me feeling hopeless and at times helpless. To manage my internal feelings of, worthlessness and hopelessness I ate...and I ate and I smoked and I drank......I never used to...
Our story is a family story, because when an individual in a family has mental health issues it impacts on the whole family. In our case, we had a really significant mental health issue which resulted in not only my husband not being able to work because of his diagnosis but also because of the gaps in the public mental health system. I was forced to give up work on multiple occasions because of...
Within 5 minutes of meeting my peer worker at the community mental health service, I knew that recovery was not only possible, it was inevitable. I found myself in hospital following an incorrectly medicated suicide attempt. A mere 5 days earlier I had visited my GP with concern about my mental health. I just needed someone to talk to, but it was pathologized and I was prescribed...
