AFL and mental illness

[Odysseus]

I dont buy it really. The media use sensationlism all the time. "Murder", "Rape", etc. Young people can copy that too right ?

They can copy those, too. Whether they can cope is another matter. That the media use sensationalism all the time is hardly out of consideration for community mental health; I'm merely saying that in relation to the question of suicide, I think it is good that the media has shown greater sensitivity in regard to using the word "suicide", because I think words matter. At the same time, while I'm not in the "suicide is suicide" camp in regard to the use of language, I deplore their use of sensationalism on this issue:

I find it fascinating when the media sensitively state that 'the family requests privacy', as they are saying this while drawing attention to what has happened.

Agreed. For "fascinating" in an earlier post I used the word "reprehensible".

[CureTheSane]

Agreed. For "fascinating" in an earlier post I used the word "reprehensible".

Yes, poor choice of words. Nothing is surprising or fascinating any more.
TBH, I don't read the papers or watch the new at all any more.
Only way I know what's going on in the world if word of mouth or Facebook.
For instance that Laverne & Shirley actor died today. I know because a few people posted it.

[stevoswan]

Only way I know what's going on in the world is word of mouth or Facebook.

Whoa! That will really give you an accurate and balanced view of the world.......not!

[CureTheSane]

Whoa! That will really give you an accurate and balanced view of the world.......not!

100% it won't
But my life is happy.
The news is full of bad news. Why get depressed for half an hour every night.
Sometimes I wonder what new laws and road rules have come in that I should know about

[ScottH]

I dont buy it really. The media use sensationlism all the time. "Murder", "Rape", etc. Young people can copy that too right ?

The two you mention are crimes.
Suicide is not a crime. It is the last hope for some people. Which is pretty sad that things can get to that. And it is never publicised, but it is always obvious as they have the usual Lifeline, Beyodblue phone numbers at the end of the article.


We have been dealing with the mental health system for the 4 years now.
It is the worst experience. Not just for the person going through it, but the lack of real care and help.

Lifeline, Headspace etc can only do so much, and in our experience have not been of great help. one stating there was nothing more than could do. WTF????
The MHS is broken in a big way and everone knows it, but no one wil fix it.
There is a long way to go to fix it, but there are some very obvious fixes from our perspective that could be implemented quite easily.
Not sure why some of the health professionals can't get things changed.

Even Travel Insurance has a diclaimer for mental health as we found out when we needed it.

It always saddens me to hear young (or any age) people getting to this stage.
I hope he recovers physically and gets the right care for his mind.

[dimelb]

A friend of mine is a child psychiatrist and trainer of psychiatrists. He says the single biggest issue with the MHS is that they are not funding early enough with the result, to use an old comparison, that the emphasis is on the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff instead of the fence at the top. I'm pleased to know - according to another comment on this site - that the Swans have a clinical psychologist rather than a sports psychologist. No offence to sports psychologists, they can do a lot of good, but it seems to me that many of the problems are triggered long before the youngster gets into organised sport.

The other possibility is psychotherapy, which is not restricted to medically trained therapists. The main discouragement is often the length of time taken, but perseverance aided by support from the club could achieve significant change.

[barry]

Lifeline, Headspace etc can only do so much, and in our experience have not been of great help. one stating there was nothing more than could do. WTF????

You get that in all streams of medicine. They reach a limit of what they are prepared to do.

Even Travel Insurance has a diclaimer for mental health as we found out when we needed it.

This is where the real stigma lies. The risk of asking for help is that it will effect other parts of your life.

It always saddens me to hear young (or any age) people getting to this stage.
I hope he recovers physically and gets the right care for his mind

Very true.

[barry]

100% it won't
But my life is happy.
The news is full of bad news. Why get depressed for half an hour every night.
Sometimes I wonder what new laws and road rules have come in that I should know about

Old media is in a death spiral. Even old blokes like me rarely read a paper or watch tv news. Used to be daily occurances back in my youf. Old media gets more sensational and more morbid to try and retain viewers.

A healthy society has a broad selection of news sources. This is getting almost impossible as now the internet tailors the news shown to you by your preferences. Which just polorised people's view even more.

[Blood Fever]

You get that in all streams of medicine. They reach a limit of what they are prepared to do.



This is where the real stigma lies. The risk of asking for help is that it will effect other parts of your life.



Very true.

Notice some very disturbing reports about the side effects, in some cases, of stilnox which apparently he had been using.

[rb4x]

Stillnox was the drug that our swimmers played up with at the London Olympics and which probably cost The Missile a gold medal. Melatonin was the drug that cost Sharapova a ban in tennis. Both drugs need to be treated with respect and certainly not used in combination.

In the Mental Health First Aid course I did we were advised to talk to people that you believe are suicidal and that it is OK after establishing a rapport to ask them directly if they are considering suicide. Most apparently are happy to talk about it and you can then show them how to get help. Fortunately I have never had to put this into practice.

[ScottH]

You get that in all streams of medicine. They reach a limit of what they are prepared to do.

Unfortunately, being turned away from MHS doesn't end well in many cases.

This is where the real stigma lies. The risk of asking for help is that it will effect other parts of your life.

The issue I had is that if you seek medical assistance for a physical issue, the claim would be paid.
Once Mental health is mentioned, sorry you are on your own. The claim was under $200 and they still refused.

I lost a plastic piece of camera equipment on a recent trip worth $50, got paid out within a week.
This is just wrong on so many levels.

[ScottH]

Notice some very disturbing reports about the side effects, in some cases, of stilnox which apparently he had been using.

As I found out recently some people metabolise drugs in different ways.
A DNA test will assess what drugs your body can and can't cope with.

We found Valium had no effect, as it was metabolised too quickly.
It was the first drug of choice issued. Makes sense now why it had no effect.
Where as other people will be knocked out for hours by it.

And yes, side effects are less than what they used to be years ago, but some people will be different.

[Blood Fever]

As I found out recently some people metabolise drugs in different ways.
A DNA test will assess what drugs your body can and can't cope with.

We found Valium had no effect, as it was metabolised too quickly.
It was the first drug of choice issued. Makes sense now why it had no effect.
Where as other people will be knocked out for hours by it.

And yes, side effects are less than what they used to be years ago, but some people will be different.

There was a case in Sydney some years ago where a young woman jumped off harbour bridge and died. Her family were adamant that stilnox payed a big role in that people sleep walk and are not fully aware of what they are doing. Not an isolated case as I understand it. Only speculating, but may have similarities.

[ScottH]

There was a case in Sydney some years ago where a young woman jumped off harbour bridge and died. Her family were adamant that stilnox payed a big role in that people sleep walk and are not fully aware of what they are doing. Not an isolated case as I understand it. Only speculating, but may have similarities.

Very, very scary.
I'm sure there have been other cases for Stilnox in recent years as well.

I have always been wary of these drugs. Glad we have had to deal with that one.
The ones in use for our circumstances seem to be doing there job without side effects...... So Far.

[AnnieH]

Whoa! That will really give you an accurate and balanced view of the world.......not!

The news people only tell you the news that THEY think you should know.
I don't watch the news either.
I read Fairfax online and get the rest of my "news" from other people's feeds.
It's the way of the world.

- - - Updated - - -

The two you mention are crimes.
Suicide is not a crime. It is the last hope for some people. Which is pretty sad that things can get to that. And it is never publicised, but it is always obvious as they have the usual Lifeline, Beyodblue phone numbers at the end of the article.

Suicide IS a chargeable offence in NSW - if you survive the attempt.
I know... what the what????