My name is “Susan”. I would like to share with you my own journey and my family’s experience of mental illness. I consider myself to be both a consumer and carer. Both my sister and I have been diagnosed with mental illness as well as my late father. My childhood was generally happy, like most […]
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” While it is exhausting and draining to be constantly strong with nerves of steel, in an odd parallel, it allows sensitivity and compassion to blossom on a bigger scale. It takes someone extremely special to be a carer, for we are survivors with empathy, always seeking for an everlasting source of HOPE.. We should […]
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” If you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, know that the day will rise again. You will eventually see a feeble spark far away that will end up brightening and warming up your world again. In the meantime, build up your own torch, keep on walking ahead, never looking back, […]
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“It is the silver lining stuck at the bottom of our keepsake box of emotions. It only shows through, when all feelings have been used in vain and shuffled aside. It then stares as us, tenacious in its grip at the core of us. Once an insignificant, ignored ally, back in the days when life […]
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” Dreams are the light ahead of us we strive towards, Human support is the hand that pulls us out of the abyss, While we try to find our footing here and there, in our will power, to step out.” Magali M (carer)
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“We can all agree that yes in fact CTOs do violate the right to free and informed consent, however while I am no expert on the matter, it is not possible for me to completely dismiss CTOs given my personal experience with them as a young carer of a parent with a severe mental illness. […]
The post Community Treatment Orders & How They Affect The Real Lives Of Carers appeared first on ARAFMI NSW Inc..
Magali is a mental health carer who is an active advocate for mental health reform in our Peak Advisory Committees. Magali submitted the poem to MHCN to be shared with other carers in our community. If you would like to submit a piece of creative writing, artwork or write about your own carer experiences in […]
The post Making Sense of Words and Senses Poem by Carer Magali Mumby appeared first on Mental Health Carers NSW.
IT IS UP TO ME When the sky dresses in clouds of all kinds, It doesn’t mean the sun stopped shining fiercely behind. When my day is gloomy and all I can see is grey, It doesn’t mean joy isn’t screaming relentlessly to find a way. IT IS UP TO ME … It is up […]
The post ‘It is up to me’ Poem by Carer appeared first on Mental Health Carers NSW.
Recently at Parliament House I met and 83 year old carer I had met over twenty years ago as I began the journey in advocacy. My sister (Executive Officer of Arafmi for over 20 years) recognised this carer also and the three of us were aware that we were disillusioned as to the few changes […]
The post My Story – Judy Nicholas appeared first on Mental Health Carers NSW.
*Name was changed to protect privacy. The story of Ben* a man from country NSW is a heartbreaking demonstration of the failure of mental health and other human services in Australia. At an early age, around seven or eight years old, Ben developed behavioural problems and began to frequently get into trouble at school. Although […]
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When our daughter becomes unwell and ends up being admitted to hospital she invariably excludes me. She nominates her partner and her father – the two people who are not able to fully support her at this time. Even trying to find out whether she has been admitted to the Mental Health Unit becomes a […]
The post Christine’s Story appeared first on Mental Health Carers NSW.
My experience of “domestic violence” in the form of emotional abuse. “I married in 1969 in expectation of a long and happy life with a man I still love despite separation after 40 years of trying to find harmony. We both shared similar childhoods of dysfunctional parenting, associated with poverty. This drove us to imagine […]
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Imagine a boy whose life has been hell, too frightened to talk and even tell. A boy whose life eroded all trust, someone who lives because he must. A child who was never allowed to be, a person who could never disagree. Who’s every choice was taken away, who dreaded to wake up every […]
The post My Boy, Poem by Julianna appeared first on Mental Health Carers NSW.
I lost my partner to a mental illness. Bipolar disorder. Not physical violence, but an emotional firestorm. The trauma of seeing a kind, switched-on dad, a concerned community member, a dedicated journalist, a friend, disappear beneath an internal whirlwind. This storm took him from us, while leaving him functioning, to some degree, in the world. […]
The post Charlie and the Possum Plan appeared first on Mental Health Carers NSW.
I was extremely lucky to attend an art therapy session recently, organised by Wesley Mission, run by two lovely, inspiring young art therapists, Talia Kredo and Pensri Rowe. To all above, please don’t underestimate the power of your support and getaways (physical and mental). It all allows us not only to survive but also to […]
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Note: This piece is a reflective piece on a person’s mental health journey to recovery. It is helpful because the author realised they were in need of assistance after re-reading their work later in life. Others may see their own needs evoked, but the poem may be triggering for those currently navigating their own mental health […]
The post What I Realized About My Teenage Self Through Poetry appeared first on Mental Health Carers NSW.
Only a carer knows a carer’s life. Our family and friends see our loved ones clean, happy and they think all is well, it’s not that hard. They don’t see the frustration behind the scenes. Some say, they know so much about the illness that they take on their symptoms and their pain, then reality […]
The post A Carer’s Life by Paula appeared first on Mental Health Carers NSW.
Jason has been a carer for 17 years and uses humour as a way to process and make sense of the things that happened as a mental health carer. “Do not look at the man behind the glass booth!” – Mental Health Unit, The Musical by Carer Jason The hallway stretches into infinity and beyond. Behind […]
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“I realise more and more each day, that mental illness is a nightmare we (consumers and carers) never completely wake up from. With time, we might land in the twilight zone, close to the awakened state, without quite getting there. Our sole option is to learn to befriend the intruder and “its” area, study it, […]
The post ‘An Elusive Opponent’ By Carer appeared first on Mental Health Carers NSW.
Eight mental health carers passionate about increasing carer participation, influence and leadership have shared what they’ve learned on their own caring journeys in a series of new written stories. The ‘Carer pathway stories’ were written by members of the NSW Mental Health Commission’s Carer Lived Experience Steering Group. Established by the Commission in early 2017, […]
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