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<h1>The Travels of the <br> Techno-Freedom-Fighter</h1>

The Travels of the
Techno-Freedom-Fighter

hows your mental 'elf
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic


Unfortunately the account given on Stateline by one mother of her daughter’s experience in the system is not a one-off. She was just the one who went public—and good on her. Anyone with friends in that unit know how the system treats people—and that the fault does not lie with the nursing staff, who are doing the best they can with the facilities and resources they have. The ACT has the highest rate of long-term mental health and behavioural conditions (13.8% of the population in 2004–05) in the country. This is clearly an area that we need to do more in

Fortunately mental illness no longer carries the stigma that it did even a decade ago, but it is still difficult for people with an illness. The first episode can bring feelings of deep shame that do not accompany an episode of the flu or cancer, making it socially isolating and deeply traumatic for people who are unwell and their friends and family alike. Unfortunately the ACT mental health system does not seem to have caught up with the wider community.

Families have difficulty getting appropriate diagnosis and treatment for their children, being told that the behaviour is just characteristic of ‘a difficult child’ or ‘typical for a teenager’. The focus needs to be on early detection and intervention, community care and appropriate and caring acute care where this is necessary, and on the family and supporting family as the primary caring unit

The government, for example, has been promising an acute care psychiatric facility for children for more than four years, but has not yet delivered. The high dependency unit (once known as the locked ward) is as dangerous as it has ever been. Our first step will be to look at all the multi-million dollar promises for infrastructure and facilities, and sit down with patients, their families and nursing staff and, if necessary, redesign the proposed facilities to create something that will work.

October 6, 2008 | 5:01 PM Comments  0 comments

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