The Bridge

[MAPLEMAN]

Watched a d.v.d tonight...'The Bridge'
A documentary focusing on the plight of the many people that have taken their life by jumping from the 'Golden Gate' bridge in San Francisco
Made me realize the importance of helping those that can't see past the dark clouds in their life and also the act of being kind to one another...as opposed to being mean and nasty!
A lot of seriously sad people in this world folks
We should ALL raise our efforts in our daily life to ensure that the ones we love KNOW that they are loved and to help those that are emotionally alienated and less fortunate!...MM

[doug3030]

A lot of seriously sad people in this world folks
We should ALL raise our efforts in our daily life to ensure that the ones we love KNOW that they are loved and to help those that are emotionally alienated and less fortunate!

You were obviously moved by what you saw Chris. Thanks for posting about it.

Closer to home, Australia is losing far too many veterans of our defence forces who have served overseas to suicide. Sadly, nobody evaen has accurate figures of how many as nobody is looking after their mental health after they are discharged. It is believed that many of them take their own lives because they are sick of fighting the government for their entitlements/compensation that they are supposed to be getting.

Ex-Service organisations are calling for a Royal Commission into the Department of Veterans Affairs about how they are treating these veterans who put their lives on the line for their country and now need help themselves.

Cheers

Doug

[MAPLEMAN]

You were obviously moved by what you saw Chris. Thanks for posting about it.

Closer to home, Australia is losing far too many veterans of our defence forces who have served overseas to suicide. Sadly, nobody evaen has accurate figures of how many as nobody is looking after their mental health after they are discharged. It is believed that many of them take their own lives because they are sick of fighting the government for their entitlements/compensation that they are supposed to be getting.

Ex-Service organisations are calling for a Royal Commission into the Department of Veterans Affairs about how they are treating these veterans who put their lives on the line for their country and now need help themselves.

Cheers

Doug

Was very moved by it Doug..sobbed my way through most of it actually!
Totally agree with you about the plight of many of our ex service men and women
The National Disability Insurance scheme will be supporting only a fraction of those diagnosed with severe mental illness.
Apparently if your mental illness is 'episodic' then you don't qualify for 'Tier 1' support
Whatever...it is about time Government starting taking 'mental health' and its consequences a lot more seriously...MM

[rrich]

I'm not sure if it is the same one, but I've seen the documentary. It was disturbing to say the least. Sort of related, a 14 YO girl next door took her life several years ago.

Long story short version. Her parents went through a exceptionally nasty divorce. The mom would doctor shop for opioid prescriptions. Dad had been arrested several times for driving under the influence. The girl was on anti-depressants. The dad not wanting the girl to be like mom, took her off of the anti-depressants. As she was coming down from the anti-depressants that she hung herself, at 14 years old. About a year after the daughters suicide, mom died of an overdose. Dad was and still is devastated.

And here is the lesson for everyone.

When someone is depressed, they can't do anything, not even harm themselves. When someone is on anti-depressants, they feel great and have no desire to harm themselves. When someone is coming down off of anti-depressants, there is period of time where they aren't fully depressed nor are they fully well. It is during this time that most suicides of depressed people occur.

The problem with anti-depressants is that they tend make the user feel great but also the user is in a fog. After a while on anti-depressants the person feels great but wants to shed the fog. They think that since they feel great they can get rid of the fog by stopping or cutting back on the drug. It is a vicious circle.

If we know someone that is taking anti-depressants, we need to give them all the attention and love that they need plus more love and attention that they don't realize that they need. We need to be alert for a sudden mood changes in the person as they may have stopped taking their anti-depressants.

[AlexS]

Rrich, thanks for that clear-language explanation.

[MAPLEMAN]

I'm not sure if it is the same one, but I've seen the documentary. It was disturbing to say the least. Sort of related, a 14 YO girl next door took her life several years ago.

Long story short version. Her parents went through a exceptionally nasty divorce. The mom would doctor shop for opioid prescriptions. Dad had been arrested several times for driving under the influence. The girl was on anti-depressants. The dad not wanting the girl to be like mom, took her off of the anti-depressants. As she was coming down from the anti-depressants that she hung herself, at 14 years old. About a year after the daughters suicide, mom died of an overdose. Dad was and still is devastated.

And here is the lesson for everyone.

When someone is depressed, they can't do anything, not even harm themselves. When someone is on anti-depressants, they feel great and have no desire to harm themselves. When someone is coming down off of anti-depressants, there is period of time where they aren't fully depressed nor are they fully well. It is during this time that most suicides of depressed people occur.

The problem with anti-depressants is that they tend make the user feel great but also the user is in a fog. After a while on anti-depressants the person feels great but wants to shed the fog. They think that since they feel great they can get rid of the fog by stopping or cutting back on the drug. It is a vicious circle.

If we know someone that is taking anti-depressants, we need to give them all the attention and love that they need plus more love and attention that they don't realize that they need. We need to be alert for a sudden mood changes in the person as they may have stopped taking their anti-depressants.

Rich...thank you for your reply
Feel i need to correct the statement...When someone is depressed,they can't do anything,not even harm themselves'
The person i care for,suffering depression most of her life, had attempted suicide and self harm way before she started taking medication...her issues are profoundly deep
Certainly withdrawing from anti depressants can produce significant problems...i agree with that...MM

[rrich]

MM,
From what I've been told by medical people, the AD bring the person from the dark and into the light. But unfortunately the light is foggy. The patient is so overwhelmed by the light that the fog doesn't matter, for awhile. Then they want to get out of the fog and the problem starts all over again.

The best advice that I've ever heard is to rotate the drugs. Keep trying the newer ones until the fog stays away.

I hope that the person in your care can find that magic bullet that keeps her in the light without the fog. Eventually science will find that magic bullet.

[Chris Parks]

So many sad stories. Geriatric suicide is on the increase as the elderly live longer and their ailments overcome their will to live but still the medical profession continue their crusade to make us live longer. There was a story some time ago of an elderly lady who chose to end her time on this earth by jumping from a bridge which she did. A teenager saw this and risked his life to do what comes naturally and save her which he did. It turns out that she had willingly jumped and the last thing she wanted was to be saved. Tragedy all round I think.

[rustynail]

Just lost a mate recently who decided he had had enough and ended it with a pistol shot to the head. As for being "too depressed to do anything," He proved that theory wrong.

[MAPLEMAN]

Just lost a mate recently who decided he had had enough and ended it with a pistol shot to the head. As for being "too depressed to do anything," He proved that theory wrong.

Sad to hear that Rustynail.
Let me say that looking after someone with mental illness is no easy job
There is very little 'real' support for those with mental illness in this country
All i'm hearing from so called 'loved ones' is quote...'nothing wrong with you'...'stop rorting the system'...'wake up to yourself and get a job'...the list goes on
The health professionals are saying quote...'your one of thousands in the same boat'...'sorry but there is no funding'...'nothing else we can do'
Took my friend off to the hospital last year only to have her berated by the attending mental health professionals ...they were useless and failed to deliver her any help!!
Denial is the easy way out...lets pretend mental illness doesn't happen
All politicians are worried about is 'jobs and growth...jobs and growth'...polly want a cracker
Never do you hear them talking about the 600,000 people(that are recorded as having)in this country that suffer mental illness...the number i am sure is much greater
Look at the transport industry...they have folk topping themselves at an alarming rate...people aren't coping!
If government wants to be innovative then START getting serious about helping those with mental illness!
Forget about $50 billion worth of submarines
Lets work out WHY people are getting sick mentally in the first place
And not only fix the cause but treat the symptoms as well...MM

[kiwigeo]

One of the biggest problems is society's attitude towards people with mental illness.....how often do you see someone with a mental illness treated like they have a contagious disease?