Re: Ben Cousins Jailed
Reply #42 –
We need a revolution in mental health care.
There is still so much ignorance around addiction and mental health / illness in general. Sadly, it's often not until our own lives are hit, personally or a loved one, that we begin the journey of understanding just how fragile 'sanity' is.
So important to understand that addiction is an illness which carries with it powerful impulses and compulsions which begin to rule our lives. And there is considerable truth in what you say, DODGE, there comes a time when we sufferers have to say to ourselves, "I have a problem." And then follow it up with relentless treatment/support etc. Many of us, sadly, reach that point when plenty of damage has already been done... to our bodies and the relationships of those around us.
And then there are some of us never reach the point of being fair-dinkum about asking for and accepting help. These folks often become dangerous to themselves and others. Woman tend to internalise these issues and turn on themselves, men lash out. This is a generalisation and there are exceptions.
One of the heinous problems is that, there was a time when folks with serious mental health issues and a danger to themselves and others were sent to 'asylums'... the community was protected but so many of these asylums were just awful in terms of treatment - drug 'em and shut 'em up. In some places -- and I worked in one in the late 80s -- the people with the keys were every bit as dangerous. Then, rather than fix the institutions, we closed them and sent the seriously ill home to be looked after by ill-equipped families... WTF!!! I only know of one psych ward in Victoria that I would trust with ill family members, but it costs a fortune unless you have private health insurance with strong psychiatric.
Until health care ceases to be a political football but rather the no.1 item (equal to education) for strong support, families and communities will suffer... badly.