Susan’s Story
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...
View ArticleBeautiful Quote from Carer
” 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...
View ArticleQuote from Carer
” 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....
View ArticleResilience
“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...
View ArticleDreams
” 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.”...
View ArticleCommunity Treatment Orders & How They Affect The Real Lives Of Carers
“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...
View ArticleMaking Sense of Words and Senses Poem by Carer Magali Mumby
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...
View Article‘It is up to me’ Poem by Carer
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...
View ArticleMy Story – Judy Nicholas
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...
View ArticleBen’s* Story
*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,...
View ArticleChristine’s Story
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...
View ArticleEmotional Abuse – Judy Nicholas
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...
View ArticleMy Boy, Poem by Julianna
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...
View ArticleCharlie and the Possum Plan
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...
View ArticleCarer Experience of Art Therapy Session at Wesley Mission
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...
View ArticleWhat I Realized About My Teenage Self Through Poetry
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...
View ArticleA Carer’s Life by Paula
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,...
View Article“Do not look at the man behind the glass booth!”– Mental Health Unit, The...
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...
View Article‘An Elusive Opponent’ By Carer
“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...
View ArticleCarers as Leaders and Influencers
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....
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