Tasmanian MH system in disarray - what do we need?

[chibam]

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@Zoe7 wrote:

@chibam I am not sure how many times we can 'tell' the government what is needed before they actually listen. So much money is wasted in setting up committees/groups etc. to 'evaluate' what is needed time after time yet nothing comes of it. 

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Unfortunately, government are the only ones who can actually do anything about the problem, @Zoe7 . But your absolutely right - for all the inquiries, committees, focus groups, ect. we never seem to see them actually acting on the testimony their recieving. It's like we're talking to a brick wall.

What we really need is media attention; for the testimony of sufferers to be conveyed to the general public, on a consistant basis. We need the public to be passionate about this; we need it to become an election issue, to kick the government into action, finally.

Unfortunately, the media usually only seem to take serious interest in these issues when people die; and even then the coverage becomes a distorted mess of either reporter-biased speculations about the person's motives; or a complete black hole of outright refusal to discuss their motives at all. So the real problems get swept under the rug yet again.

Or else, the coverage is skewed to favor the interests of a certain powerful group, who usually aren't the patients themselves. e.g. The noteworthy news coverage of the NSW psychiatrist walk-out, which I found to be heavily skewed to paint psychiatrists as the put-upon heroes, and to push the narrative that the simple solution to the crisis is to increase the pay rate for psychiatrists. No mention whatsoever of the patients who get harmed by psychiatrists, or the throngs of patients choking up the system who really need some other form of therapist instead of a psychiatrist.

I watch these segments and wonder whether the media simply doesn't know that we exist, or that it just wants to paint a picture where we don't exist. I like to think it's the former, because if it is, then perhaps there's still hope.

[Zoe7]

@chibam Everytime MH issues get 'thrown around' the government spends money in all the wrong places ie. setting up working groups, committees, inquiries etc. If that money was spent on actual supports then more people actually would get what they need.

I do agree that the media has a role to play here also. They are usually very reactive rather than introspective and that fuels the fear of talking about MH. Some sections of the media certainly prefer the sensational over the reality and although that has improved, there is still a long way to go. There is also an issue with some high profile 'celebrities/sportspeople' 'playing' the MH card to try to explain away simple bad behaviour. The media latches onto that and it becomes the headline ...which does not help the cause. It paints a bad picture for us all and re-inforces the stigma.

[chibam]

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@Zoe7 wrote:

@chibam Everytime MH issues get 'thrown around' the government spends money in all the wrong places ie. setting up working groups, committees, inquiries etc. If that money was spent on actual supports then more people actually would get what they need.

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I must admit, I share much of your concerns about this incessant merry-go-round of government & academic talk fests (and the money that is constantly being poured in to them).

Probably the most recurrant talking point that came up during the NSW Government's recent Loneliness inquiry was that all these academics (and the orgs they belong to) kept campaigning for more funding for loneliness research; and, surprise surprise😒, this ended up being one of the main concrete commitments of the inquiry's final report.

It comes off as a huge disappointment, doesn't it? It feels like a lot of money down the drain, and a forestalling on real action that needs to be taken now.

The government shouldn't be throwing millions of dollars at a bunch of professors to run "studies" into loneliness.They should be asking lonely people what assistance they need, and then paying helpers to provide that assistance! Simple as that!

And yeah, the same principal holds in the broader realm of mental health. We shouldn't still be sitting around talking, we should be doing what needs to be done.

That being said, I don't believe a significant number of people would benefit if we simply poured a lot more funding into the system as it exists now. Because I firmly believe that most of the system's problems lay in it's core design, not in the fact that it is too underfunded to fully function as it was designed. We need to embrace better ways of helping the suffering; not bolster the broken old approaches with more funding.

Unfortunately, it is woefully apparent that the government STILL does not adequately comprehend what good mental healthcare actually looks like. So until they can be taught to understand this crucial concept, I fear that the ongoing committees and inquiries will remain a necessary evil.

What I'd really love to do is get all the so-called "experts" and big organizations out of these inquiries, and have them populated entirely with everyday suffering people who can tell the government directly what's wrong with their lives, and what help they need. And then, acting solely on that input, the government can just make it happen. Or, at the very least, pour as much money as they are willing towards making it happen.