Lived Experience Forum

[Faith-and-Hope]

Hi @Orwellian 👋 

Maybe get the chest pain checked ?  It can be linked to digestion and be an easy-ish fix .... so you wouldn’t have to suffer it like you do.  Same if it’s some sort of muscle spasm ..... 

Hearing you with the mental health system.  So much more needs to be done.

[Orwellian]

Thanks @Faith-and-Hope 

It is not that easy. To see someone I have to go interstate to be seen. The local Private Hospital only does procedures which are very profitable. They know the correct priorities for health care is to maximise the income for doctors and shareholders.

Much of my mental health has been caused by the local public health service. I have a letter which excludes me from going there. It probably is not valid anymore but that is irrelevant. Going there would be too traumatic. The local GP's will also just charge a fee then send you there too.

I rang the Health Line. They wanted my location so they could send an Ambulance based on the symptoms. No thanks. The costs of an Ambulance are incredible. Having no income now that is a luxury I cannot afford.

As I said I am getting used to the pain now and in a way it's almost a comfort.

[Orwellian]

I did find someone to see and have been having weekly appointments with a therapist. We have developed a good level of trust and can talk about a variety of subjects in an open manner. It is a pity the majority of mental health workers are not so honest.

Last week he told me my sessions will have to be cut right back now. His hours have been reduced so he now has to cut hours he sees patients. I was quite devastated by this news.

I rang the body which funds the service. I told them I was upset by the cuts. They told me there had not been a cut, in fact there had been an increase in funding. This was news to me. It turns out they have recently raised the hourly rates of the therapists. So technically it was correct. However those funds now have to be spread over a larger footprint. So my services have been cut back. I was offered other services, which I do not want. It took long enough to find a safe place and now that has been threatened.

Seems they only take note of numbers on spreadsheets, of which I am one. Maybe I should add myself to other statistical data.