WayAhead

Mental Health - Education, Support and Prevention

Cabramatta Mental Health

For many years, Cabramatta was known as the heroin capital of Australia. Crime on the streets was rife, so was racism, and people were scared. I have many memories of wanting to play in the park but not being allowed to because there were needles on the ground.

There are lots of those stories in the media, and elsewhere, but there is also an untold story. One about the community’s mental health.

A Little History…

Before Australia opened its borders, there were only about 700 Vietnamese people living in Australia, mostly tertiary educated students or wives of the Australian Defence Force from their time during the Vietnam War (Department of Immigration and Citizenship, 2014).

But by early 1980s, the Vietnamese community had multiplied exponentially. Currently, there are about 190,000 Vietnamese immigrants (Census of Population and Housing, 2016) now living in Australia. In particular, Cabramatta is home to the largest concentration of Hoa Vietnamese immigrants in southwest Sydney. Hoa Vietnamese people are a minority group in Vietnam with Chinese ancestry, with which I personally identify. Since the fall of their government to the Communist regime in the 1970s, about two million Vietnamese fled their homeland by boat in search for freedom.

One of their destinations was Australia.

Cabramatta Mental Health Issues

According to the Australian Social Trends 2014 Report (ABS, 2014), a total of more than 20,000 residents were born in Vietnam and are now living in Cabramatta and surrounds. It is the third-most populated local government area of Sydney and the fourth-most disadvantaged.

Since leaving Vietnam, some Vietnamese people have been through war, violence, isolation, racism, stress and difficulty adapting to their new country. Looking back on its history, it is unsurprising that existing mental health studies of Vietnamese refugees have found to have high levels of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (Hinton et al, 1993). The Fairfield City Health Framework 2012 reported that Fairfield City residents have high incidences of suicide, mood disorders and other mental health issues.

But interestingly, this is not reflected in their access to mental health services where it was reported in the 2009-2010 Social Health Atlas that Fairfield City residents accessed psychiatrists at a much lower rate than elsewhere in Sydney.

Dr David Rouen, from the Bankstown Anxiety Clinic, treats two major cultural communities: the Vietnamese and the Arabic. In his experience, considering the long history of trauma and displacement, the Vietnamese community is very underrepresented in the clinic. He believes that psychological treatment does not fit well with their cultural understanding as it is traditionally not acceptable to seek out treatment for things such as anxiety disorders.

Because of this, patients often misdiagnose themselves. Dr Rouen explained that sometimes when a patient is having a panic attack, they will call the ambulance, believing that they are having a heart attack. Once the hospital confirms that their heart is fine, then that is the end of that. They cannot see that their symptoms could be anything other than a physical illness.

“Sometimes the only way we get into contact with the Vietnamese community is when their doctor or GP has to convince them to go but by the time that they do, we find that it is a much more severe psychological illness,” explained Dr Rouen.

It is hard for a community to see an invisible mental health issue when they often have more pressing matters at hand such as work or family responsibilities and teaching their children not to play with things they find on the ground. Dr Rouen also often wondered if the underrepresentation of patients could be attributed to their work ethic and strong sense of self-diligence as the Vietnamese community prioritise their work and family responsibilities over engaging with their mental health.

Barriers

I asked my mother recently, what she thought mental illness was, or whether she knew anyone with depression or anxiety. I struggled to describe the conditions to her and she struggled to understand me.

There is relatively little research into Vietnamese communities utilising mental health services in Australia, contributing to a greater cultural divide and miscommunication. I found a study into the research of the characteristics of Vietnamese patients attending an anxiety clinic in Australia and it found that Vietnamese people did not differentiate between concepts of ‘stress’, ‘anxiety’, and ‘depression’, believing that they were synonymous with each other (Wagner et al, 2006).

Like my mother who came to Australia from Vietnam, many Vietnamese people have very traditional beliefs about mental health – that it is a shameful and humiliating thing that must be kept hidden within the family for fear of ‘losing face’.

‘Losing face’ is an interesting concept; it means losing pride or respect and it is seen as a weakness – it is a shameful, dishonourable thing to admit that you need help. Social stigma has a strong hold and Vietnamese families prefer to hide their mentally ill family members until the problem becomes severe and professional help is needed (Chiu, 1994).

Apart from internalised stigma, external factors such as a lack of cultural awareness can also hinder communication (Sozomenou et al, 2000). According to one study, consumers thought that health professionals generally lacked cultural awareness when dealing with a diverse community.

Overcoming Barriers

Some of the barriers could be overcome by addressing the lack of knowledge about mental health services within the Vietnamese community. Transcultural Psychiatry (Wagner et al, 2006) suggests that by educating the community on these issues, including doctors and primary carers, would lead to better identification and treatment of mental illness. It is through education and awareness that mental illness can be destigmatised and understood.

In a western society, there is a reliance on the western biomedical model which is based on biological factors to the exclusion of environmental and social factors. This model, while very successful in treating illness in most western countries, could be incompatible or inappropriate for certain cultures. (Sozomenou et al, 2000).

It is also very important to have trained bilingual staff and interpreters who are able to overcome language and cultural barriers as they encourage more access to mental health services for those who share the language (Sozomenou et al, 2000). Jacky Yeung, a Fairfield Community Mental Health nurse, believes that their capacity to accommodate patients with a migrant background by having bilingual workers allows for better communication and engagement. Without this bridge, Mr Yeung says there are wild misconceptions about the mental health industry.

“Unfortunately, what I find with the Vietnamese community is that if there was no hospital or police involvement then we won’t know about what is happening; they tend to hide it within their family and we don’t know about it until something big happens because they think don’t trust mental health services. . . They think that they are being experimented on or that we are conspiring against them,” he said.

Concluding Thoughts

On a Sunday afternoon in December, we celebrated International Human Rights Day in Cabramatta. Many Vietnamese people came on stage in true Vietnamese style, took hold of the mic and belted out songs about their suffering and anguish since the fall of their country. While not understanding much of the lyrics, I could hear the emotions flowing through their words and heartbreak through their falsetto. This says to me that the community in Cabramatta is still recovering from their history and they are still dealing with their mental health.

But I also understand now that this community is dealing with its mental health every day but in a variety of different ways. They like community gatherings and they like karaoke.

From my findings, it is clear that mental health services are not very popular, but it is still important to provide access to such services that cater for this community because they experience mental health issues just as any people of any culture would. With continual training for professional staff alongside education and awareness in the community, Cabramatta will know where to seek the help it needs.

By Cindee Duong

 

Bibliography
  1. Sozomenou, P. Mitchell, M. H. Fitzgerald, A. E,. Malak, D. Silove. Mental Health in a Culturally Diverse Society. National Mental Health Strategy, Mental Health Consumer Participation in a Culturally Diverse Society 2000, 89-131.
  2. Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2014, Australian Social Trends 2014 Report, viewed 11 September 2016, < http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features102014>
  3. Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Community Information Summary: Vietnam-born, Commonwealth of Australia 2014, viewed 17 September 2016, <https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/02_2014/vietnam.pdf>
  4. Fairfield City council: Social, Health and Housing, 2012, Fairfield City Mental Health Framework, viewed 30 September 2016, <http://www.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/downloads/file/384/fairfield_city_health_framework>
  5. R. Wagner, V. Manicavasagar, D. Silove, C. Marnane, V.T. Tran. Characteristics of Vietnamese Patients Attending an Anxiety Clinic in Australia and Perceptions of the Wider Vietnamese Community about Anxiety. Transcultural Psychiatry 1996, 259-271.
  6. W.L. Hinton, J.D. Chen, C.G. Tran, J Miranda, S. Fraust. DSM-III-R Disorders in Vietnamese Refugees: Prevalence and Correlates. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 1993, 1113-1122.

CEO Report – Winter 2017

Dear Readers

Welcome to the latest edition of Mental Health Matters. We have included a variety of articles that will touch your heart and others that will open your mind to new ways of communicating with others whether it be as a vlogger or a photographer. It is uplifting to read the stories of migrants and refugees who are happy to tell their stories of hardship and the friendship that has sustained them over time. This makes me think of the reports from the 2016 census that shows that Australia reached a tipping point in 2016 where only slightly more than half our residents had two Australian born parents and looking around the WayAhead office I see a cultural complement that reflects the make-up of the community we live in. It is an enriching experience to be part of it.

Right now it is a time for us to say goodbye to 2 people who have had a significant influence on WayAhead. Our long time Board Director and Chairperson Dr Nick O’Connor resigned from our board after 24 years as an active and supportive director. Nick has been elected to the board of the Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatry, a very prestigious appointment. He will be a valuable addition to the RANZCP and a loss to WayAhead but we thank him sincerely for all the time and expertise he contributed.

Nick O’Connor

John Feneley

Another loss is the resignation of John Feneley, Commissioner of the Mental Health Commission of NSW. John was the first ever Commissioner. He served for 5 years and has been a breath of fresh air in providing a vehicle for the consumer and carer voice to be heard. John has been a friend to WayAhead, as he has been to many mental health organisations, and we hope that the friendship will continue long past his term as Commissioner.

Please enjoy this edition of Mental Health Matters and remember, we welcome suggestions from our readers and we are also open to receiving articles that we will consider publishing.

Elizabeth Priestley

Interview with Sharon Leadbetter – WayAhead Workplaces Coordinator

At WayAhead, we are lucky to work with some very keen minds, working on some very important issues. Before the WayAhead Workplaces Annual Members Forum, we had a chance to sit down with Sharon Leadbetter, the WayAhead Workplaces Coordinator, to have a chat about the program and the latest research and trends in mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

Workplace wellbeing feels like it’s becoming increasingly important and that more people are talking about it. Is that actually the case and why do you think that is?

I do think that that’s the case, it’s an exciting time to be working in workplace health and wellbeing because it does feel like there’s a lot of positive momentum. When I started in the role four years ago, there were a few conferences a year at most on mental health in the workplace or wellbeing and now, the calendar is full. The other exciting thing is the amount of research coming out of Australia, focussed on workplace mental health or workplace health and wellbeing. The international research has always been really helpful and has guided a lot of people in Australia but to have research coming from your own country is really valuable.

I think there’s been a lot of good work done around promoting mental health and drawing attention to mental illness. There is a growing awareness of the statistics, an awareness of just how prevalent it is, and to battle the stigma that still exists quite strongly. I think there has been a lot more public discussion and public cases where well-known figures in the celebrity world or sporting world have experienced an illness and it’s become known and talked about and debated.

Then there are the facts and the stats about workplace health. You can’t escape the prevalence rates of mental illnesses in the community. It’s showing up in workers’ compensation rates, absenteeism and sickness. Even in things like the life insurance sector, it’s showing up through suicide statistics. People weren’t really connecting the dots and I think they are starting to now.

People are talking about it and putting programs into place, but are mental health and wellbeing programs really only something that larger corporations or the “big end of town” can pursue or prioritise?

Sharon Leadbetter – WayAhead Workplaces Coordinator

I can understand why people would think that and I will say that up to this point, from an Australian perspective, it has focussed on what I call “the big end of town” and that’s for reasons that are quite practical. They do have the money to actually look at, test and trial things. Testing and piloting the theories, approaches and programs is actually really valuable for the sector because we need to know what works and what doesn’t. They actually do provide a valuable resource to small or medium sized businesses. Where the trickiness comes in is the adaptability of the approach, but researchers are now getting better at recognising “one size fits all” is not the way. The tailoring of the message is quite important, recognising the different job sectors, different job types, workers who work indoors versus outdoors, isolated or in cities, there are so many nuances to workplace mental health, which is what makes it complex. Some themes are starting to emerge about what we know, what works or doesn’t.

In regards to small business, some of our contacts and researchers have been working behind the scenes on focus groups, researching and surveying small business communities and there’s going to be a rollout of some new resources. We recognise that there are some issues that are unique to small business, in particular, family-owned small business, where mental health is compromised not just because it’s their business but it’s their family – sometimes their house – is on the line and there’s a lot at stake for them, which makes their situations quite unique. There’s a lot of resources out there now, even in the four years that I’ve been here, a lot of places have been very generous in making them free or easily accessible or for a very small cost. And then there are networks like ours, organisations can join and be part of to get that wider support or some guidance to help them.

How can employers best support their staff who may be experiencing mental illness or distress?

There’s two parts to that question really. There’s the part of before someone does get ill and then there’s the part afterwards. The way I like to explain it is “life happens”, things happen to people and life gets hard and we need support. So we want workplaces to be thinking about it and looking at strategies, policies and processes around staff wellbeing. As employers, you have legal requirements but there are also things such as flexible work arrangements and reasonable adjustments available for employees to access. Are there things that can be tweaked or be made available to staff in case it’s needed? Do you have an employee assistance program for staff so that they’ve got somewhere to call? Are your managers and leaders trained to recognise when someone’s not doing so well? We don’t expect managers or leaders to be counsellors or psychologists, their job is to recognise when someone’s not doing so well and do something about it, and that’s creating effective referral pathways. That’s through HR, through your EAP or by having information that you can physically give people about local health services, websites and places you can refer them to. That way, you’re still being helpful, you’re still providing your duty of care but you’re not expecting to be the person that fixes their problem.

And then, from the other side of the coin, once someone is unwell, or perhaps they have to leave work for a time, looking at your return to work processes around helping bring someone back into the business. Research has shown that the previous approach of keeping people away from work for months at a time until they were 100 per cent well is actually not effective and doesn’t work. So there’s a real push to keep people in work, as long as that’s appropriate, and to start bringing them back earlier in a graded, phased return so that they still have the connection to their workplace, a sense of competence, a sense of independence and that financial security. Research also shows the importance of regular communication between the workplace and employee whilst they are on leave. Involving the person in that process to say “what will help you get back on track?” is important. You might have two colleagues who have been out of work with depression but their needs coming back could be quite different so you can’t assume it will be the same for everyone.

What does the ideal mentally healthy workplace look like? What are the outcomes we want out of a really well-rounded mental health and wellbeing approach in that case?

There is no ideal. It is aspirational because it’s not like any workplace is perfect or you have a mountaintop to get to and you think “right, we’re here.” It’s something a good organisation will be constantly reviewing and assessing and making adjustments on. The key factor is leadership, that the leaders are on-board, supportive and actively involved. That means talking about mental health, breaking the stigma around it, creating an environment which engenders trust (because disclosure will only happen when people feel that there’s trust), that they will be supported and listened to. Leaders are a huge part of creating the feel and the culture of a place. People disclosing can be a positive sign that you’re doing things well.

The leaders set the tone for an organisation – in regards to what is expected and acceptable behaviour – so investing in training your managers and supporting them to have those difficult conversations and recognise if staff aren’t doing well is important. To help them be brave and say “hey, are you okay? Do we need to talk?” We find a lot of workplaces are still going down the performance management route when they notice a change in someone’s work performance and they’re not stopping to think, “well, hang on a second, is that typical of this person? Has something changed in their life recently? Should I actually be asking some care and concern and welfare questions before I actually jump down the performance management route?” That’s what we advocate for because a lot of times, you’ll actually find that there are other things going on and there are reasons for that change in behaviour which can hopefully be addressed or supported. Mentally healthy workplaces also recognise people’s strengths and focus on what people are good at.

Research shows that the relationship between an employee and their manager is one of the most crucial in a workplace and influences a lot of the behaviour that will occur. I think for many organisations, conflict, misunderstandings or poor behaviour is accepted and tolerated and that can fester and lead to much bigger problems later down the track. I don’t think there’s enough recognition around the importance of dealing with those conflicts, to not be dismissive of them, taking people’s feelings seriously and making sure that the issues are adequately resolved. There’s a lot of factors, really, and like I say it’s not a “one size fits all”. The workplaces I see doing really well in this space are those that are willing to put their hand up and say “You know what? We’re not doing so well on this” or “I think we could be doing better” or “We actually don’t understand this and we need to get some help or some guidance on that”. They’re not afraid to admit they’re struggling with something. They don’t see it as a weakness, they don’t see it is a failing. They treat it as any other part of the business that needs their attention or may need to bring in specialists to help. Ideally, what we would like is that mental health and wellbeing is up there with all the KPIs in the business, it’s valued as much as all the other parts of the business, it’s championed by the top leadership level who are checking in on their deliverables in this area and that everything’s functioning okay. That then filters down into the way the business operates and they tend to find, in those organisations, that absenteeism drops, productivity increases, and its pretty hard to gauge creativity, but in the industries where they can gauge that, they notice increases in that as well.

Who are the kinds of people and organisations that you work with, through WayAhead Workplaces its programs?

What I love about our network is our diversity and I actually think it is one of our strengths that makes us interesting and relevant to our members. I jokingly say we’ll accept anyone and everyone, we don’t have a caveat on size of business, job title, job sector. We think it’s important to minimise as many barriers as we can for people accessing information and support around this issue because it’s an issue that affects everyone. Everyone’s in a workplace, everyone can think of good workplace and bad workplace stories. Our members are from a variety of sectors – law, education, government, health, not-for-profit – we’ve got small business, medium business, large, private sector.

The network initially started as a place for human resource and occupational health and safety people but now – and I think this is a reflection of how this sector is growing – our membership includes return to work, injury management, health and wellbeing coordinators. We have psychologists, we have nurses, we’ve got researchers, which excites me. I think the phrase is “mental health is everyone’s business” and I feel our network represents that. The only caveat we put on someone signing up with that is that their job role must be to do with employee health and wellbeing. We have tiered pricing because we don’t like money being a barrier for people accessing services. We know of other networks out there; there are HR-specific networks or safety networks or government-sector networks but we haven’t come across any others like ours.

Why do you think WayAhead has taken on this specific role of working with organisations and employers in tackling having better mental health in the workplace?

The program is eleven years old this year and when we had our tenth birthday last year, I tracked down all the people who have had this job and I’ve actually met everyone who has been the co-ordinator for this program so I’m in a very unique position. I asked the lady that started it, expecting some very thoughtful answer about why, but it wasn’t. The charity was just getting enquiries from workplaces around mental health issues and they were struggling to know what do with it and how to do it. They thought “well, why don’t we just have a meeting and see if we can help?” So it started as simply as that and a lot of our programs here at WayAhead, from what I understand of our history, have started like that, with people who just cared or people who thought “well, let’s try something”. I was quite proud to know that the Workplace program was around right at the beginning when all the other big players were starting this work too. We have just been a bit more under the radar. I’d say the reason we’re still doing it, the reason the project’s grown, is because of the recognition of the impact mental health issues and illness has on the community. The research shows that if we invest in our mental health and wellbeing, then we can actually have healthy, happy and productive lives as people, so it becomes a people issue, not just a workplace one, which I really like.

By Tasnim Hossain

Top 5 ways organisations can support their employee’s mental health – By Sharon Leadbetter

Mandarin Speakers Support Group – Ryde

When Bi Yun Huang started volunteering for Mental Health Carers NSW, (a community-based organisation supporting carers, family and friends of those suffering from mental illness, she wanted to look into how to best have other carers like herself engage in support groups and share their experiences.

Chinese-Australians often deal with significant stigma regarding mental health. There are varying levels of understanding about mental health and too often it is a subject that is taboo for the community. As a result, Chinese carers feel isolated, without support and in need of a place to find and exchange information.

The Chinese community is one of the largest Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) groups living in Australia. In the 2011 Census, 4 per cent of people reported having Chinese ancestry and almost 320,000 people reported speaking Mandarin at home.

“Stigma is a very big issue especially in the Chinese community. They feel that it is very shameful to talk about these things but they do need to face all these difficulties.,” says Bi. “When they can’t talk about it to their friends and families, even if they wanted to get help from mental health services, it is incredibly challenging.”

Bi had been from support group to support group, but felt dissatisfied with how the groups were run and what they were offering. She believed that it wasn’t the Chinese way to have a support leader simply ‘run things’. Chinese people love to talk and participate in activities together, prompting Bi to start a support group that encouraged open communication in Mandarin Chinese for participants to actively discuss issues.

With the support of Mental Health Carers NSW and the involvement of the Chinese community, Bi established the Ryde Mandarin Speaking Carer Support Group in 2014. According to Bi, Jonathan Harms, the CEO of Mental Health Carers NSW, was the key person to make it happen.

“Behind his support there was a deep understanding and insight,” says Bi. “He embraced the CALD community where we know there is tremendous discrimination and stigma about mental illness.”

The Chinese Mental Health Carer Support Group, with support from Mental Health Carers NSW, began with six members but now there are 94 participants, with the number still growing. The group comes together every month; each month with a theme or presentation. The Support Group has had presentations from Ability Links, a non-government organisation supporting disability system reforms in NSW, Care NSW, a Wellbeing Check Program by Northside Community Forum, as well as recreational activities including Flower Arrangement Therapy.

However, the main focus of these meetings is the face-to-face discussions that the carers have with each other. Once a month, carers are free to discuss their issues and create personal bonds without feeling embarrassed or ashamed about themselves or their situation.

The Support Group also takes the carers out to yum cha – a popular Chinese-style brunch – after the meetings. Food is very important in Chinese culture and especially shared meals with friends and family. Jonathan Harms explained that many Chinese carers had not had time to enjoy yum cha in many years because of the demands of their carer roles. The Support Group has become a haven for Chinese carers to connect with one another.

Hideki Yamaguchi has been managing this Support Group for nearly two years now and continues to do so because he believes that it is important for this community for the group to keep running.

“It is a very good group with very capable and committed people. I want to have this group for mutual support and exchange of latest information,” he explained.

In March 2017, the support group changed its name to Northside CALD Carers Network to expand its services and reach out to a wider variety of CALD communities to help carers in need.

It was this leadership in building support amongst their community that lead WayAhead to ask them to participate in their recently held Mandarin speaker Anxiety Forum and Mental Health Expo in Chatswood. WayAhead believed that the experience of the community in Ryde could help the quickly growing Chinese community in the Willoughby Local Government area through the sharing of ideas.

Bi is very pleased with how the group has evolved because her original intent was to start a group for Mandarin speakers that have lived experience as mental health carers. Only such a group, made up of people with a common experience and culture, could fully understand other carers’ needs and provide appropriate information, mutual support and referrals. With its new focus on a reaching a range of different CALD groups, the Northside CALD Carers Network can continue meeting the needs of carers and their families, now and into the future.

 

Northside CALD Carers Network (NCCN)
When

3rd Thursday of every Month
每個月的第三的星期四

Time

10:00 am to 12:00pm.
從早上 十點到中午的十二點聚會

Where

Ryde Community Mental Health Centre, 39-41, Fourth Avenue, Eastwood NSW 2122

Refreshments

Morning tea provided.
茶點招待
Call or Email
若欲知詳情請聯絡
Please feel free to join us.

Contact

Hideki Yamauchi
yamajii@optusnet.com.au

Recent Workings Within

WayAhead’s scope of interests covers a range of different issues relating to mental health and wellbeing. Our public statements, a key part of our work, are now all available online to read.

Read our response to the Federal Budget and the proposed investments in improving Australia’s mental health sector.

We have also written a statement for the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, in support of members of the LGBTI community who experience disproportionately higher levels of ill mental health than the wider community.

As part of our WayAhead Workplaces Annual Members Forum, we shared a statement from Sharon Leadbetter, our WayAhead Workplaces Coordinator, about the top 5 ways organisations can support their employee’s mental health, with practical actions that be taken no matter how big or small the workplace.

Our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy is also available, outlining our commitment to supporting and including all members of the communities in which we work, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, the LGBTI community, multicultural Australia and people living with a mental health condition.

We also released a statement celebrating NAIDOC Week and drawing attention to the importance of whole-of-life approaches to healthcare and wellbeing programs within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The latest in Australian memoirs

A number of new memoirs have been released in the last few months, exploring the experiences of those who have either experienced illness first hand or have cared for those with mental ill health.

Addiction in women isn’t often talked about but Woman of Substances, Jenny Valentish’s research treatise and memoir, never shies away. Having started drinking at 13, she writes about using drugs such as marijuana, ecstasy, speed, heroin, and crack in her late teens and early 20s. Valentish pairs her experiences with the latest in neuroscience and insights from social workers, academics and others experiencing addiction, in order to highlight the gendered elements of addiction and treatment.

 

 

 

Simon Gillard’s memoir, Life Sentence: A Police Officer’s Battle with PTSD, written with Libby Harkness, explores the highs and lows of his life as a police officer. Despite achieving his childhood dreams of joining the police force, the traumatic things Gillard saw and experienced had a profound impact on him. Despite experiencing nightmares, panic attacks and thoughts of suicide, he knew speaking about his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder would end his career. However, he shares his experiences in the book to help others and tackle the stigma.

 

 

 

Cold Vein, written by Anne Tonner, a human rights lawyer and mother of four, details the harrowing struggle she and her family faced while supporting her 13-year-old daughter, Chloe, through an eating disorder. Tonner writes of her despair and desperation as treatments in Australia repeatedly fail and the eventual decision to fly Chloe to a specialist treatment clinic in Sweden as a last attempt. This beautifully written and unflinching book also won the 2017 Finch Memoir Prize.

By Tasnim Hossain

In Two Minds

Professor Gordon Parker founder of the Black Dog Institute has released a new fictional novel “In Two Minds” featuring characters with complex mental health issues. There is positive press around the book and one of our staff members who has read the book says ” it’s an easy read and an interesting story”. You can read a review here. or listen to a interview with Professor Parker on ABC’s Nightlife here.

Young and Promising

SBS has a streaming video service called SBS On Demand and it is a great way to catch up on shows you may have missed or didn’t know existed.

The Scandinavian countries are excellent producers of television content and having plenty of it to catch through the On Demand service can provide many hours of enjoyment.

One show I caught recently was “Young and Promising” – it is two series of six half-hour programs from Norway about three young women transitioning into adulthood. It has much to like about it and the fact that one of the three central women experiences a Bipolar episode makes it particularly interesting to those of us who have an active interest in mental health.

The women have middle class backgrounds and all are pursuing individual approaches to early adult life. Alex is an actress who fails to get into acting school but seems to have success in getting parts because she is attractive and a target of male directors. She is self-centred but in a relationship with a really sincere and nice bloke. Elise is trying to be stand-up comedian – she has a father who is about to have child with his mistress who she has disdain for and she uses the family as material for her stand up routine. Lastly, there is Nenne, a promising and ambitious writer who is going to be published by a respected publisher but the publisher is also a drunk. It is Nenne who experiences Bipolar Disorder.

The series is not about one character rather than another and it is definitely not simply about the bipolar experience, but the illness and the resulting psychosis is portrayed in a believable way. There is nothing about treatment – in the first series, she has the bipolar episode and in the second, she is recovered but not so drawn to her previous ambitions.

All of the three characters are believable, each is flawed but their situations and actions provide challenges where their behaviour and sense of morality is sometimes questionable. Of course, being set in a fairly liberal country some of the behaviour is perhaps more normal than we would expect but the show keeps on challenging the viewer’s sense of what growing up, or maturing adult behaviour, is. The mental health issues aren’t confined to Nenne; others in the cast are also struggling. But, Nenne argues for less stigma for people who are open about their mental health and Nenne’s plot is one of the reasons why I felt the series was worth watching.

Though it had tough competition! The father who is having the child sees a counsellor with his wife, two children – including acerbic Elise, the stand-up comic – and his girlfriend who’s the mother of his newborn. It is a great scene and scenario.

Highly recommended, I am accepting of subtitles now, and it might put some people off, but watching this series made me laugh, cry but above all else, always remain interested.

By Matthew Keighery

The strength of online communities – how YouTube stars tackle poor mental health

Social media is meant to benefit its users by bringing people closer together. You can follow your favourite actor’s day on Instagram, see what your high school crushes are up to on Facebook and even bring powerful politicians down a peg on Twitter.

However, recent research has found that for young users, the majority of common social media sites have an overall negative impact. The Royal Society of Public Health in the UK surveyed 1479 young people, aged 14 to 24, and published the results in their #StatusofMind: Social Media + its Impact report.

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter all have negative results for a range of markers from FOMO – fear or missing out – to bullying and negative body image. Of the five apps studied, only YouTube has been found to have an overall positive benefit for young users.

The report found that of all the criteria assessed, YouTube scored most positively on raising awareness and understanding of other people’s health experiences, more so than any other platform. YouTube also scored particularly positively on measures of self-expression, community building and self-identity.

The most significant community builders within the online world of YouTube are its vloggers, content creators who film and share everything from makeup tutorials and a capella pop covers, to video diaries and comedy skits. Their confessional-style vlogs and personable social media presences have created huge networks of dedicated fans, watching and sharing their videos around the globe. More and more celebrities have been opening up about their personal journeys with poor mental health [link to Ben’s article] and vloggers have likewise been spending years having conversations about mental health with their vast, young audiences via YouTube channels.

 

 

Zoe Sugg, an English beauty and makeup vlogger better known as Zoella, has built up an active social media community, with more than 11 million followers on YouTube. Her Anxiety Q&A video  has more than 3 million views and her video on her personal experiences dealing with panic attacks and anxiety has more than 4 million views. Mind, the UK-based mental health organization, went on to invite Sugg to be their first Digital Ambassador and to work with them and YouTube to promote better mental health among young people.

In a statement for Mind, Sugg said, “I know just how isolating it can feel to experience severe anxiety. However, the overwhelming response I’ve received every time I’ve spoken out online, shows just how many young people confront it every day.”

“For many, the internet and social media can be a lifeline. By connecting people with similar experiences and providing access to information and support, the online world has a significant role to play increasing awareness about mental health problems,” said the CEO of Mind in the same statement.

Although vlogs are in no way a substitute for therapy and other mental health interventions, the sense of community and strong connections created by vlogging can have a huge impact on young people experiencing poor mental health. In a 2014 article for The Guardian, Scarlett Curtis, a young writer based in New York, shared how watching Sugg and other vloggers helped her through her depression and severe anxiety, claiming that “millions of people around the world find solace, comfort and joy in the videos they [vloggers] make every single day…They have managed to help more people get through the never-ending battle that is growing up than anyone I can think of since The Beatles.”

Closer to home, Troye Sivan, one of Australia’s best-known vloggers and now a successful pop singer, reached out to his millions of viewers who may be experiencing depression in a video which has been viewed more than 2.6 million times. In the video, Sivan acknowledges his love for his fans and his sadness that there are those amongst that community who are “not feeling great at the moment”. Sivan has also been an outspoken advocate for LGBTI youth and for better awareness around mental health issues more broadly.

Natalie Tran, another Australian vlogger, who goes by the handle communitychannel on YouTube, usually uploads funny monologues or sketches which have gathered her more than 1.8 million follows. A few years ago, she uploaded a video for R U OK Day encouraging people to “embrace the awkward” and support their friends, family and colleagues who may be experiencing mental health issues. To date, the video has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.

Vloggers like Sugg, Sivan and Tran are channelling the best of new forms of media in order reach other young people with positive messages and build supportive communities. In their videos, they encourage seeking help, providing support for friends and reaching out to each other. Through their honesty and approachability, these young YouTube stars are tackling stigma and creating spaces to talk about mental health.

In the words of Scarlett Curtis, the young woman helped through her mental illness by the videos she watched every day, these vloggers are a “new kind of talent, the talent of being a friend, of being a light in a day that might have otherwise been dark, of being a YouTuber.”

By Tasnim Hossain

Tackling Illness Through Art: An Interview with Christie Begnell

Photograph By Jennifer Blau

At WayAhead, we first met Christie Begnell as a participant in our Eating Disorders: Dispelling the Myths video installation at Parramatta Library for Mental Health Month last year. Christie is a 24-year-old occupational therapist and artist who has a lived experience of having an eating disorder (ED). Recently, she has been using her prodigious artistic talent to share her thoughts and experiences in books and on her popular Instagram account, meandmyed. Through her online presence, she has created both a community for other people with eating disorders to connect and support each other, as well as a resource providing others with insights into an often-maligned, often-misunderstood, yet very serious, mental illness. Christie spoke to us about her experiences creating art and writing a book about her eating disorder.

You initially started drawing to be able to share what you felt with your family and with healthcare professionals. What made you start sharing your art on social media and putting together a book?

Last year while I was an inpatient, I quickly became known as “the girl who was always drawing”. I found drawing to be the most therapeutic thing for me, as I could visually express what I couldn’t verbalise. Eventually the therapists asked me about what I was drawing, and they took a keen interest in my artworks. One therapist actually asked if she could photocopy some of my drawings to use with her clients. It was that same therapist who suggested I put all of my drawings together as a book. I was a bit hesitant about the idea to begin with, but once they convinced me that it’d be helpful for other people with EDs, I was raring to go.

In regards to sharing it on social media, @meandmyed.art initially just became a way of promoting my book, but as I was still navigating early recovery, I still needed to draw in order to cope. I figured I may as well share what I was drawing, as I followed so many inspiring artists on Instagram and I aspired to be like them. My account is now a whole lot more than just a way to promote my book. It’s a platform for me to support others, to provide recovery resources, to provide psychoeducation and help challenge ED and mental health stigmas. Most importantly though, my account has become a place for my followers and myself to connect and remind ourselves why we’re enduring this pain to recover.

Recent research has found that teens rate Instagram as having the most negative impact compared to other social media sites. Instagram scored particularly negatively on body image and FoMO (fear of missing out), but also particularly positively on self-expression and self-identity. What have your experiences on Instagram and other social media sites been?

Social media can be a very deceiving reflection of a person’s true life. I’ve followed many people who present themselves as being more fulfilled than they actually are. In my experience, that happens more on Instagram than Facebook. That might have to do with the fact that Instagram seems to be more of a popularity contest than any other social media platform. There’s a big unspoken competition to get more followers and more likes on your pictures. Being in that online environment would certainly cause people to filter out the bad. As for poor body image, there are A LOT of fitness models and young girls using their bodies as a means of gaining more followers and attention. That doesn’t happen so much on Facebook, because you usually have your family as friends, and they can see and comment on everything you post.

A post shared by Christie (@meandmyed.art) on

My experience with Instagram however has been very positive, especially within the body positive community. There is a whole world of female role models with different shaped bodies showing us that we can love ourselves regardless of what we look. This movement has changed my relationship with my body so much. Before discovering the body positive (bopo) community on Instagram, I only ever saw what is represented in mainstream media, which is always “you have to weigh x kg, and fit into x clothing size before you can love your body”. This, again, isn’t as accessible on Facebook, because most bopo accounts (men and women) have started and have built themselves up on Instagram.

As for the hate I receive, it has been interestingly worse on Facebook. I’ve had a lot of people try to argue the whole “obesity is unhealthy” point on Instagram whenever I preach self-love at larger sizes. For me, that point is merely an excuse these people use to justify their bullying online. It is heartbreaking to see some of these bopo accounts get messages telling them to die, etc. when all they are doing is existing and being good role models for young girls. The nasty feedback I’ve had on Facebook has started from having articles shared about me on Buzzfeed, The Daily Mail, etc. People claiming that my illness isn’t real and that my artwork is amateur. To me, it makes no sense that people would be nastier on Facebook, as they can’t hide behind an anonymous account like they can on Instagram.

What role do you think social media can play more broadly in its contribution to good mental health?

I’ve noticed social media working best when it is challenging mainstream media, and filling in the gaps that mainstream media so often leaves. So many people use social media, but it is still filled with trashy stories, quick sales and images that make us feel insecure in ourselves. Social media should bring people together and empower them. It should be informative and interesting. It should be interactive and create communities where people feel safe expressing themselves and seeking help. Most importantly though, it should be honest.

A post shared by Christie (@meandmyed.art) on

Posting a picture of a fit woman in a bikini, while visually pleasing, isn’t doing any of the above things. On the other hand, posting a picture of a woman in a bikini who is insecure in herself, but is sharing her insecurity with the world while trying to find confidence, is. I know media is all about sales and viewers, but if it’s putting us at risk of decreased mental health, it’s not working properly.

You have a really interesting background, including a Bachelor is Health Sciences, a Masters in Occupational Therapy and you’re currently undertaking a Masters of Psychology. How does your academic background inform your drawings?

My education has been a huge help. It has given me the ‘clinician perspective’, which guides a lot of my drawings and the recovery tools I make. I now understand how mental illness functions on a physiological level, and I’m gaining more and more insight into why somebody might behave in a particular way. I try to put what I know into interactive and accessible illustrations/guides, because when it comes to EDs, there’s really nothing else like it out there. I would’ve loved to have had visual resources like mine while I was first developing my illness.

What do you think the most important things are for carers, families and healthcare professionals to know about the experiences of someone with an eating disorder?

I think it’s really easy to forget that people with EDs are really just terrified. Having a voice inside your head telling you to starve yourself to death is hard, and rebelling against the voice by doing something like eating, just makes it worse. For the majority of us who have EDs, we’ve been through really difficult, and sometimes traumatic periods of our life, and living with this illness is like experiencing trauma over and over again. When we lash out, get angry, become manipulative, and withdraw, we do so because we’re terrified of being hurt, and this is the only way we know how to protect ourselves.

The most important thing to practice is patience. Recovery takes time.

A post shared by Christie (@meandmyed.art) on

And finally, what are the things that you hope change regarding the way we, as a society, think and talk about eating disorders?

We need to stop viewing Eating Disorders as glamorous, or as something young, white girls develop to get attention. When we only talk about eating disorders when a celebrity loses too much weight, we paint the picture of a fad diet and obsession with body image.

I want society to learn about Eating Disorders as deadly mental illnesses with a strong biological basis. I want them to know that anorexia is not the only classification and that men and women of all ages, and cultural backgrounds experience them. It’s especially important for society to understand that weight does not indicate the severity of an Eating Disorder. People die from Eating Disorders at healthy and larger weights. We should not be laughing at people and turning them away from services because they’re not underweight. It is not acceptable to be excluding people with mental illnesses because they physically appear healthy.

I want all health professionals to have to undergo mandatory education in Eating Disorders in the way of either workshops, in-services or online activities that can contribute to professional development. If everybody, both professionals and society, can understand what Eating Disorders are and how they should be treated, we can tackle the stigmas surrounding them, and achieve better health outcomes.

By Tasnim Hossain

Connect with Us

WayAhead is an ACNC registered Australian Charity and is endorsed by the Quality Improvement Council.

Supported by