Support For Historylover

[ArraDreaming]

I thought that wasn’t allowed

[Willy]

Hi @chibam 
How are you doing?

Our friends problem is a bit of a worry to me but I will give it my best effort and do whatever can be done. It was a bit daunting visiting her at the same place they tried to lock me up in only about 18 months ago. The place is run like a prison. Some of the stuff going on in this country is horrific, unjustifiable and unreasonable. It helps nobody and results in a waste of public money by a handful of bureaucrats intent on building and maintaining their empire of oppression.

I haven't been active in the Sane forum for quite a while since the fiasco with the administration over their audit and my attempts to be helpful (LOL). I was pretty upset at the time by what they said to me but now it all seems like a sick joke by people who like to shoot themselves in the foot.

I have been pretty busy with our main project these days to try and establish Soteria Houses in Australia as an alternative and much kinder, better and more effective option for young people with serious mental health issues than hospitalisation, physical restraint and drugging. 

We are slowly worming our way into the upper echelons of  the federal government in Canberra. Who knows how successful we will be but we are certainly giving it our best shot.

If you ever feel like a bit of a political challenge in mental health reform we could certainly do with a bit of help from a good mind like yours.

Regards

Willy


   

[chibam]

Hi @Willy ! Good to see you again! 🙂

Things are pretty much the same for me.

Very sorry to hear about Historylover's circumstances; although from her own commentary of her circumstances, I'm not surprised by your take on the place. Sorry to hear how confronting it's been for you, though. I hope the two of you are able to beat the odds and get her out of there post haste.

I'm sure you would've heard about the "Not Before Time" report, released a couple months ago about the Victorian mental health system. Made some headlines at the time, but it's since gone very low-key. I've been wondering whether it's undermined the government's willingness to work with advocates towards system reform. If you've got eyes and ears within the political realm, are you any the wiser as to what's going on there?

Hope you are well. 🙂

[Willy]

Hi @chibam 
I am involved with a well known Victorian advocacy organisation who made submissions to Vic gov for the JIT report. I provided personal information/evidence for it. I'm probably not allowed to mention the name of the organisation here for "security or confidentiality"  reasons. 

I know the CEO of that organisation reasonably well and in my opinion he is a decent guy but admits that he and his organisation is highly compromised. In my opinion the state government departments of at least Vic, NSW and QLD are so overrun with cronyism that there seems to be very little chance of any significant reform taking place at state level in the near future. I don't have enough information to comment on other states.

That is why we are attempting to work at federal level where there seems to be much more openness to reform particularly from the current government.  I believe there was a lot less chance of achieving anything with the previous conservative federal government. Independents and minor parties like the Green's may also be a possibility but we haven't attempted to go down that path yet. We're just thinking about it. I have an older guy as my right hand man. He has dabbled in politics and at one stage stood for federal parliament. He has a schizophrenic adult son hence his interest and motivation.
The idea behind promoting Soteria Houses is that it offers a way to work around the existing state system with a community operated, federally financed system for  young people with serious (psychotic) mental health problems. The Soteria concept has been around for about 50 years and has proven itself to be effective in a number of countries. By itself it won't solve the underlying problem which is a global one and in my opinion a deep seated cultural one but it is an attempt to get a toe in the door with a  paradigm change. Changing the overall system will probably take a long time. We can only do our best.

Our message is :- You don't have to be a psychiatrist or psychologist to realise that providing an already badly traumatised person with a safe, supportive, kind and understanding environment has to have a better long term outcome than physical restraint, violence, and involuntary drugging.

The Soteria system allows for the use of medication but only for those who want it and in practice appears to reduce the use of medication by about 80%.

Regards

Willy

[chibam]

---

@Willy wrote:

Our message is :- You don't have to be a psychiatrist or psychologist to realise that providing an already badly traumatised person with a safe, supportive, kind and understanding environment has to have a better long term outcome than physical restraint, violence, and involuntary drugging.

---

But therein lies the problem, doesn't it? So many glaring truths that it doesn't take a psychiatrist or psychologist to see, yet nobody is willing to contradict what the bona-fide "experts" say about such matters.

As you say, it's a long fight, against very well-established norms. I know it doesn't do any good to say so, but I wish there was some light of hope that change would come soon enough to save me. But I guess it's already too late for that.

[Historylover]

No good tidings here, but I just wanted to add to your  television program coincidence, I was trying to get in touch with my neighbour somehow and found that everything is 'locked', so I was writing to her, not knowing how I would get it posted when I was approached by a nurse who gave me her phone number as she had been trying to get in touch with me. 

Then we were playing Rummy with a nurse who decided that it would be a great game for her family. She photographed it and sent it to her husband who said that he had been looking at it in a toy shop this afternoon.

It is said that there is no such thing as a coincidence.🤔

[chibam]

I don't know what to say to that, @Historylover . 😮😉 But in any event, I'm glad that you were eventually able to get in contact with your neighbor.

Sorry to hear that things are otherwise not so good. Hopefully the remainder of the week will go better. 🙂

[Shaz51]

Sending you hugs my @Historylover and sitting with you my friend ❤️ 

Thank you for the thread @chibam 

Hello @Willy 👋

[Historylover]

@chibam @Shaz51  @Appleblossom 

Hey, guys,

Had a great day with @Willy. We worked together for 5 hours and I am exhausted. I think Willy pulled up better than me. Nothing I love more than a dynamic duo!

My neighbour who saved my life so kindly brought me in several bags of clothes and toiletries. Tomorrow I get to wear other than men's PJs. I won't know myself...and chocolate.

[Historylover]

@chibam @Shaz51 @Appleblossom

Hey guys, 

@Willy and  I have just had an exhausting 5 hours piecing my defence together. It was harrowing for a while, but we broke through and had a very productive day. Nothing I enjoy more than a powerhouse duo 'on fire'.

And then my lovely neighbour brought me a bag of clothes,toiletries etc from my unit, with a bag of goodies from her kind heart.

I hope all is well or reasonable for you all.