Most people can relate to the frustration of having a ‘bad hair day’. This anxious feeling can be enough to make you want to pull your hair out! Yet unfortunately for some, the urge to pull out their own hair is a very real battle they face every day.
In SANE's COVID-19 mental health series, SANE staffer, Bronwyn reflects on life during the Melbourne lockdown and shares ways in which she is navigating her way through these challenging times.
Back in March 2020, I wrote a piece describing what it was like to navigate life during the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, alongside my longstanding diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
I decided to write a follow-up, to share my thoughts about how we’ve all banded together to get through the last twelve months, and also because I found it quite cathartic to get all of this down on paper.
I hope that my words resonate with some of you, or maybe you felt the exact opposite of how I did during the lockdown. Either way, we’re all human with valid fears, anxieties and troubles – and not a single person’s experience is lesser than anybody else’s.
“The Help Centre plays an important role in supplementing the public and private mental health systems, which are under great strain – especially during the pandemic.”
With demand for the SANE Help Centre up by more than 50% this year, we had a chat with our dedicated counsellor Gavan, learning more about callers’ concerns during COVID-19, and how SANE pivoted with new technology to meet greater demand.
This year with additional investment we’ve been able to recruit seven new counsellors, as we strive to meet increased demand.
Can you give towards the Help Centre before 31 December 2020 and support the vital work of our counsellors? Click here to donate today.
SANE: Thanks so much for chatting with us, Gavan. How has the transition to working from home been for you as a Help Centre counsellor?
Meet Jenni.
The reality of stigma surrounding mental health issues – Q&A with Jenni.
Jenni is a creative, positive person who believes that “the glass is always half full.” She enjoys sharing her mental health journey with professionals, carers, the general public and with others who have a lived experience of mental health issues.
Jenni is a SANE Australia Peer Ambassador. She has lived with a diagnosis of schizo-affective disorder for over 20 years. Schizo-affective disorder is a mental health condition marked by a combination of schizophrenia symptoms, such as hallucinations or delusions and mood disorder symptoms, such as depression or mania.
In this Q&A guest blog, Jenni shares some of her experiences about the everyday impact of stigma surrounding mental health issues and why she feels so strongly about changing attitudes and educating others about complex mental health issues.
We are delighted to announce the launch of findings from the National Stigma Report Card, the most comprehensive research of its kind in Australia.
As you may be aware, SANE Australia’s Anne Deveson Research Centre, in partnership with the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences and with the support of the Paul Ramsay Foundation, invited people living with complex mental health issues to participate in the Our Turn to Speak survey.
Our Turn to Speak was the first survey of its kind in Australia that sought to comprehensively understand the experiences of people living with complex mental health issues, and how they are affected by stigma and discrimination.
For Schziophrenia Awareness Week we've put together a list of resources that explore issues relating to schizophrenia.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a widely misunderstood and stigmatised illness.
According to Stephanie who has lived with BPD for almost ten years, some people do not understand or even accept that it is an illness. The symptoms of distress associated with BPD can often be dismissed as attention-seeking which creates further stigma.
Caroline Storm began supporting SANE Australia almost 20 years ago after the tragic loss of her daughter, Ann, to mental illness.
'It was really the care and compassion of Barbara that sparked my relationship with SANE. She was a wonderful comfort to me during such a dark period,' says Caroline.
'To this day, it means so much to me to be able to support a cause that works so hard to make a meaningful difference to the lives of people affected by complex mental illness.'
On first impression bipolar disorder is easy to understand. It’s a disorder where a person experiences extreme mood changes, highs and lows, with periods of normality in between.
But, when we look further into the disorder, or we hear people talk about their experiences, it starts to get a little more complex, and the terms bipolar I and bipolar II emerge.
Awareness of Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, is certainly growing.
The term is now commonplace in the Australian vernacular and characters with the disorder are regularly depicted on television and in the movies.
But do these adjectives, analogies and representations come close to depicting the experiences of people living with the disorder?
