Mental health focus

LOCAL residents are concerned over a lack of funding and services allocated to the area of mental health in the Illawarra.

A public forum addressing the issue of mental health was held in Wollongong last week.

About 60 people attended the forum including Gladys Berejiklian, State Shadow Minister for Mental Health.

Youth Adult Mental Health Action Group (YAMHAG) hosted the forum. YAMHAG founder Kelly said despite being branded a Liberal stunt by David Campbell the aim of the forum was to provide an outlet for the public to voice their concerns, frustrations and ideas. She said many local members of parliament were approached to attend the forum however declined the invitation.

People from all walks of life attended, expressing their thoughts on the subject and listening to the stories and idea of others.

Kelly said YAMHAG is all about the families and the sufferer.

Our main aim is to encourage other families to speak up, she said.

YAMHAG was formed after Kellys son was diagnosed with a mental illness. His illness caused such stress and anxiety in Kelly she was admitted to hospital herself. Her experiences with her son and as a patient showed her a distinct lack of services and a lack of cohesion between the services that do exist.

Ive seen from the inside of the system, she said.

While there are no easy answers Kelly believes steps must be taken and taken fast to improve the system. She said it is important for local members of parliament to acknowledge the issues faced by families.

We would be getting a lot further a lot quicker is government was concerned. We are real people with real families, real lives and real issues, she said.

She said schools need more youth workers to detect issues before they escalate.

I watched my son fall through the education system, she said.

She said procedures when mentally ill sufferers attend hospitals also need to be looked at. People with physical injuries are prioritised and attended to before those with mental health concerns. Kelly believes a casualty area in the mental health ward could help eliminate pressure on current casualty wards and provide an avenue for mentally ill sufferers. She said it is often difficult for carers to keep the sufferer at the hospital when they are forced to wait for extensive periods.

YAMHAG member Linda sympathised with Kellys stance on the issue. Like Kelly her son has a mental illness. Linda said one of the hardest things about being the mother of a son with a mental illness is going to wake him up in the morning and not knowing if he is going to be dead or alive, suicide is such a real risk when adequate attention and diagnosis is not given to the sufferer.

A local funeral attendant attended the forum to provide his views on the topic. He said out of the last 15 call outs he has had, eight have been suicides. He said there is a definite escalation in the number of local suicides and attributes that to the crisis situation mental health is in.

Gladys Berejiklian said she was shocked at the number of examples of mental health cases in the area.

The absolute distress families go through because they can not access services is shocking. The meeting was a real eye opener, if people are in any doubt about the state of mental health they shouldnt be. she said.

She said mental health is a state wide issue however is particularly pronounced in the Illawarra because of geography and distance. Services that are provided only in Sydney are often out of reach for locals who suffer a mental illness.

She said the NSW mental health system is in a state of crisis.

Funding is part of the solution but the Labor party really needs to accept the magnitude of the problem, she said.