FOR country areas, mental illness can become crippling in isolation.
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A forum held in Tamworth this week was set up precisely to tackle that issue, giving locals a chance to share their stories of their mental health journeys.
Peri O’Shea, CEO of Sydney-based mental health organisation Being, said the forum raised awareness.
A “free dance” workshop highlighted the critical link between mental and physical health.
“It’s about letting go of inhibitions and letting your body do the talking,” Dr O’Shea said.
Keynote speaker Rod Thompson said when he was diagnosed with major depression, he thought he was the only one.
“Mental illness can be very isolating in itself ... but being in the country can be particularly isolating, because it is much harder to be anonymous,” Dr O’Shea said.
“There’s a lot of discrimination ... (as well as) conservative views on mental illness and misconceptions.”
She said although finding and maintaining a job when you had a mental illness could be challenging, there were many people who functioned well and their employers may not even be aware of their condition.
For young Indigenous people in particular, it could be difficult to grow up in a rural area then move to a bigger centre for job opportunities, which meant losing a connection to the land.
She said people needed to end the stigma surrounding mental illness and consider it the same way we did physical illness.
As people with diabetes need regular insulin to function, so too do some people need medications such as lithium or anti-psychotics to manage their mental health.
Although it is an intellectual issue for Dr O’Shea, it is also one she has a personal connection with – she has bipolar disorder and had an abusive childhood.
While acknowledging the ongoing battles, the forum was ultimately a celebration of recovery and survival.
“People talk about ‘severe and persistent mental illness’, but I want to focus on severe and persistent mental wellness,” Dr O’Shea said.
“People have been through horrific things and ongoing discrimination because of mental illness, abuse and poverty, but they are still here and functioning.
“Mostly it’s uplifting – I’m in awe of people’s stories.”