At last some good news on suicide – Mental Health programs save lives.

There is new hope for people in poor mental health as Australia’s suicide rate falls by almost half in ten years. see abc.net.au/lateline story below.

The good news is tempered by serious problems in dispensing opiates recently revealed in W.A. and the lingering, deadly stigma of being mentally unwell.

But isn’t it great and encouraging that the death toll is finally falling.

And please check this link for a preview of some amazing stories and useful first hand advice from those who are unwell and hear the voices of their children. http://mentalmedia.wordpress.com/

the very welcome abc item follows…

Reaching out for help as Australian suicides fall

By John Stewart for Lateline

Posted 3 hours 28 minutes ago
Updated 3 hours 15 minutes ago

Despair: But Australian youth suicide rates have tumbled in the past decade (ABC News: Giulio Saggin, file photo)

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• Related Link: Reach Out website

During the past decade the suicide rate among young Australians has almost halved.

It is an extraordinary public health achievement, but one which has received little publicity.

Experts say a massive public education campaign and improvement in the treatment of depression are the key reasons for the success.

But with bad economic times upon us, psychologists are warning the suicide rate may begin to rise.

Doug Millen, a 20-year-old university student based in Melbourne, is studying hard and his life is back on track.

But during his final years at high school he suffered from depression and did not know who to turn to.

“I did what young people do and I jumped on the internet and Google for some kind of help,” he said.

He found a website called Reach Out, which had been set up to prevent youth suicide and help young people suffering from depression.

“When I was feeling like I wouldn’t achieve in year 12 and trying to figure out my sexuality, Reach Out was great because it was there when I needed it,” he said.

“It’s completely anonymous and I didn’t have to talk to anyone.”

The online advantage

The Reach Out website now gets 130,000 visits per month from young people.

The website’s managers say being online is a big advantage.

“For a young person who suspects things are not OK, they might not know who to turn to or be afraid to talk to someone about it because they are afraid they will be judged,” project manager Anna McKenzie said.

“So to be able to simply go online, Google something and have a look without anyone needing to know, that’s really invaluable and that’s what a lot of young people are doing at Reachout.”

The Reach Out website was set up 10 years ago when Australia had one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the western world.

But that rate has seen a massive decline in the decade since 1997.

Professor Ian Hickie from Sydney University says suicide rates have fallen internationally, but Australia has benefited from one of the best public health campaigns in recent times.

“In general, a period of strong economic growth and a period of increased awareness around mental health problems and a need to focus on suicide reduction has contributed in most developed countries throughout that time,” he said.

“Additionally in Australia there have been extra efforts in the medical world to treat depression, identify problems and respond appropriately, but also, in Australia, a tremendous community response.”

The Howard government‘s tightening of gun laws after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre also contributed to the decline in suicides, especially among young men.

“After the new gun laws were introduced, the rate of gun suicide dropped twice as fast,” Sydney University’s associate professor Philip Alpers said.

“If you reduce the availability of firearms, especially to impulsive young men, then the number of people dying by gunshot reduces.”

But suicide rates in many Aboriginal communities are still high and despite the overall drop in the suicide rate, reports of depression and anxiety are on the rise.

More than 12 million prescriptions for anti-depressants are filled in Australia each year.

“We’ve just had a national survey of mental health in Australia, rates of illness are as high as they ever were,” Professor Hickie said.

“The good thing is that rates of suicide have gone down so we haven’t yet dealt with the underlying problem, but we have got better at dealing with one of the worst outcomes.

“The greater availability of anti-depressants is also believed to have played a role in lowering the suicide rate, but prescribing the drugs to young people is controversial.”

Experts are concerned that if more jobs are lost, the suicide rate may begin to rise.

It is a trend that has already started overseas and workers at Reachout fear that stressful times may be ahead, especially for young Australians trying to find their first job.

For more information, head to the Reach Out website.

Tags: community-and-society, suicide, youth-issues, australia

Stigma and shame leads to tragedy for mentally ill people “sane” people need to “get over it” :*)

An important event in Perth W.A. to discuss ways to reduce shame & stigma

shame kills - help reduce stigma & visit http://www.comicwa.org/

I interviewed Dr Alun Jones using Skype & Call Recorder on  a MacBook.   ( see above for related local forum info)

You are welcome to listen to, download, or better still, link to the audio below. ( click the blue link and the blue link it goes to )

Dr Alun Jones speaks to Tony Serve on the stigma of Mental Illness          *Recorded March 24 2009 for COMIC.org    23 mins 44 secs

Comments, feedback and guest posts on mental health are very welcome –

{ especially you ” Abeeliever”   and all the twitter folk }

Phone or Skype calls are welcome to my auto-recorder which has up to 10 minutes time for your comments, stories, questions.

Skype perthtones or phone +61 8 94672264

Meanwhile…think of the Children

It’s common sense that an ill parent will have an affect on the entire family, but all too often around the world, the children of people being treated are left out in several ways.

There are further complications because it is often the case that genes determining aspects of mental health are shared by some family members

Follow this link to coverage of new research on affected families and suggestions for professionals on more effective, holistic treatments.

Relax and destress with Guided imagery meditation – it’s free, it works and it’s fun to make your own

Iguazu-Falls © scribeworks.com.au - check out Chris's site

Guided meditation links here are free. One from the US and one from me.
As my page says – don’t pay for guided meditation audio, there’s plenty of excellent audio free – including good sound FX and binaural beats ( see my page for wiki link with info on binaurals.)

http://serve.tony.googlepages.com/guidedimagery

Here is a great 10 minute guided meditation – you just sit or lie down with earphones on and let your mind go for a walk. This link will open at a University of Michigan’s complementary medicine site for cancer patients which has the 10 min “walk” and other cool stuff that has been scientifically shown to help anyone feel better. Take a walk, go on.

Brain Training, Plasticity and You – how have you changed your life by changing the way your brain works

In the last 8 years I’ve recovered from PTSD ( Clinical Depression and Anxiety ) to the stage where my health is actually better than before I became ill.

  

The three main areas that have kept me alive and then allowed me to thrive again are based on Brain Plasticity, the ability to “rewire” your own  brain. ( see the website for Norman Doidge’s inspiring book on the subject in the right sidebar of this blog )

Prescribed drugs may help some, but without proper diagnosis using fMRI it’s guesswork, and my Doctor guessed wrong – the SSRI’s made me suicidal.

The therapies/treatments that have allowed me to build new ways of thinking are neurofeedback, cognitive behaviour therapy and meditation/hypnotherapy.( see my guided imagery page – also in the right sidebar )

Since going public with my illness 8 years ago and on  talkback radio here in Perth recently I have been swamped by people struggling with depression, panic and many other challenges. Almost without exception they have received little help and only grief from the “system” of health professionals who often just hand out potentially deadly pills, even giving SSRI’s to infants!  Just last week a mate who was close to the end of his tether was told by his family doctor to “get over it” – I wonder if someone with a broken leg is told to “run away”

When I return to fill in at 6PR there are always calls from my fellow travellers battling the “black dog” and the common theme is that very few doctors, hospitals or health systems have any idea what to do in the short medium, or long term.

Anyway it’s become clear that the most reliable and effective help available comes through fellow sufferers or their devoted families and carers.

So let’s do something about that.

I am keen to work with anyone who has stories and info on recovery and resilience. I will post text audio and video here and you can make a big difference if you are able to pass on details of your journey and links to any useful sources of help or inspiration.

Clinical work on brain plasticity ( the ability to forge new neuronal pathways in the brain ) by amazing people all over the world has provided us with the means to share effective treatments for illnesses and genetic disorders such as;

depression, panic, anxiety, schizophrenia, epilepsy, autism, tourettes, closed head injury, head trauma, genetically related disability, stroke, paralysis, alzheimers, dementure, addiction, OCD, bipolar, bulemia, anorexia, fibromyalgia, body dysmorphia and more.

So please join in and contribute, especially if your story or info can help sufferers and reduce the deadly stigma that comes with brain related illness.

Please comment by clicking the button below, and you’re welcome to submit text pics, audio or video.

You’re welcome to send comments or materials by email to serve.tony@gmail.com

You can also call and leave your spoken thoughts or info on my recording service +61 8  9467 2264 – you have several minutes to speak and I’ll post the audio here for you.

Anyone can contribute, so don’t feel your input isn’t valuable because you’re ill or feel small inside, we need to hear from you and welcome questions or solutions equally.

I hope to hear from you soon… and you’re welcome to join me on my last 4 nights at 6PR midnight to dawn – that’s 882 6PR in Perth, globally at 6pr.com.au    

local time is daylight saving and it’s midnight to 0600 sat & sun, then midnight til 0500 mon & tue.

 Perth time is GMT/UTC PLUS 9 hours

Early Sunday morning I’ll have 2 teenage guests in the studio who have worked out effective ways to overcome eating disorders and depression. Join me, Travis and Alicia and about 30 thousand listeners and see if we can make a difference.

John Lennon asks us to join One Laptop Per Child – well sorta, and it’s OK with Yoko ONO

The One Laptop Per Child group has produced a new ad  ( click here to view it on Youtube ) featuring a remixed voice and video package that at least gives the feeling that the Beatle was supporting it.

It’s not exactly slick, but if it continues to focus on the needs of children it’s okay with me too Yoko.

By the way, here in Australia John Lennon’s “Double Fantasy” Album was number one on this day back in 1980, the year I started as a radio journalist.

Click here for the website of One Laptop, and see the mission statement below.

To create educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning. When children have access to this type of tool they get engaged in their own education. They learn, share, create, and collaborate. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future.

 

We all know that the biggest challenges for children in our world are war, disease, famine, drought and neglect.

We desperately need energy money and resources there, but this campaign looks worthwhile for some fairly obvious reasons.

Please let me know if you support or see other advocacy and advocate stuff that might be worth republishing here.

 

BlogBack - talkback to this blog - you are most welcome to;

email submissions   serve.tony@gmail.com ,

post new material in comments,

share websites or media,

leave a voice comment  - phone +61 8 9467 2264

contribute in any way.

I’m particularly keen to hear from people who are working in area of mental health with stories or help finding useful treatments based on brain plasticity.

Everything from meditation to; neurofeedback, analysis, CBT and guided imagery works on “rewiring” the neuron circuits of the brain after damage, disease or deterioration.

Exciting and hopeful clinical work being done in many areas, such as stroke and HI recovery and many  ”disabilities” are turning out to be treatable conditions.

It’s been exciting to see mainstream media at least begin to pick up on the great work being done, and the ongoing success of Norman Doidge’s book ( and PBS special ) has been an important starting point or focus for those unaware of the new treatments that continue to evolve.

That  ”brain training” software and games we see being advertised are just a small part of the real and repeatable effects of “rewiring” the brain.  They are becoming more and more widely used as theraputic devices in private homes, business, hospitals and nursing homes.

The possibilities, even in the short term, for better treatment and some cures are inspiring, but there will soon be debate about some key elements of life and law.

It’s become clear that all crime and substance abuse are related to mental health.

It is self evident that no-one in their right mind kills, rapes, tortures or neglects. No-one in their right mind uses substances that make them ill, violent, impulsive or an addict.

It stands to reason that Governments as providors of health care could ( and I say should) be held accountable for not

providing mental health care when someone comes to grief.

Maybe that will be a good thing in the this risk averse corporate world.

Perhaps if lawyers and activisits around the world began a concerted series of claims for individuals and groups based on their known mental health issues not being addressed we may see less seriosuly ill people released from jail or hospitals and into a new tragedy.

Once again it comes down to whether we care enough about our safety, health and the future to spend money and energy on better diagnosis and treatment for brain related illnesses.

We have the knowledge, but the will is yet to come and there are  also the hurdles of  stigma and cost. Change will come though, we’re evolving. 

Anyhow, I’m just a madman with a will to make a difference, it’s what YOU think and do that will make a difference.

You’re welcome to check out this list of web/news articles I’ve enjoyed learning from and noted over the past year or 2

There are about 402 entries in the notebook page below, many are likely to be of interest to people interested enough to visit this blog.

http://www.google.com/notebook/html?nbid=BDQO8IgoQ96-lyKsi