I think it is very easy, in a forum such as this, to perpetuate and strengthen the demons that can keep us captive. They may manifest themselves as human figures for some, while others sense an ethereal and indistinct cloud that descends and suffocates reason.
What I believe is that to battle your demons you must first acknowledge your own complicity in their existence. This is a difficult step but, as strange as it may seem, it can be empowering. The recognition that your own decisions had a part to play in situations that on the surface are all too easily attributable to another person or situation, carries with it an inherent possibility that decisions that affect the course of your life are well within your own ability.
An army of psychologists and psychiatrists with a mountain of medication are not going to alter the fact that the answer lies within us. That we may need their assistance in taking steps is not, in itself, a panacea. Ultimately we all want to be responsible for the road that our lives take and, just perhaps, we need to take some responsibility for the road that led us to where we are.
As I said, this is not an easy exercise but it has given me strength from time to time. It does not always work, but, then again, a single answer may lie in a thousand little pieces in a hundred locations. Maybe this is one of them.

Excellent post Craig, both the content and the way it was written.

Scout

I am very surprised that you are not offered long term and consistent counselling with the same therapist in Vic community mental health. That it disgraceful.

I must have been really lucky. I worked with a wonderful dedicated team. In the main, we had the same staff for the five years that I was there. We always saw our clients face to face on a regular basis - sometimes three times a week when a person was very ill, and every other day was phone contact. Sometimes, when clients were seriously ill, we did home visits every day. That was the philosophy and practice of our team.

Also, we made sure that we all knew each others' clients - in the event of staff absence or an unexpected emergency. That way, our clients always had continuity. Continuity, mutual respect and trust were essential elements within our team.

We allowed our clients to "sack" us, in the event that they thought that they were not getting the best from their therapist, or that they were not appropriately matched to their therapist (by, the way, mental health nurses assess, diagnose, counsel, and are therapists).

We had mini reviews of our clients on a daily basis - and major team reviews every three months. Our clients always had on-going counselling and support - some for many, many years. This reduced the need for repeated hospitalisation.

Case managers could be: mental health nurses, psychologists, rehab professionals, or social workers. The hierarchy was flat. I am amazed that Vic does not offer what I have proudly experienced. No wonder you are frustrated! I could rave on forever.

Great post Craig. Yes, we all have an internal therapist.

Cheers to all
Kay

Plantagenet

What general area do you live in? Would love to find an accessible psychiatrist, and my bipolar partner would love it even more - hardly surprisingly, he's far more sick of the psychotic episodes than I am, and sicker still of being spoken at, not to, as though he's mentally defective when he's very, very much not so.

Third try! Let's see if I can make my point a bit clearer this time! I've been ignored up till now (with the exception of Scout and Shonga) and I know you're discounting my contribution as irrelevant to your situations! That's fine, I was a total sceptic on things like this too at one stage.

While environmental factors undoubtedly contribute, depression is largely caused by a chemical imbalance or to be more precise not enough glucose reaching the brain. It results from a complex blood-sugar condition where too much insulin is produced in response to any sugar or stimulant. A person suffering from this condition, or Hypoglycemia as it is called, has a big spike in their blood sugar levels when they ingest something sweet, an over supply of insulin then kicks in, blood sugar levels then drop to really low levels, causing tiredness, foggy headedness, depression, forgetfulness, ... there's a long list of symptoms. It affects the adrenal glands as well as they produce too much adrenalin as the body's way of counteracting the insulin spike. This leads to problems with anxiety, insomnia and irritability.

This condition affects 4% of the population or nearly a million Australians. The numbers I suspect are probably much higher. Most people just live with the condition without really knowing what it is. The medical profession in general does not recognize the condition though there are increasingly doctors who do. It's a lifetime condition, largely heriditary, and if left untreated leads to mental health problems and to adult-onset diabetes.

Continued

If you're sceptical, which I know you all are and I was too to begin with, just try omitting sugar, white flour, alcohol and caffeine completely from your diet, up your protein intake and eat smallish amounts every 2-3 hours. You could feel worse to begin with but if you stay with it and keep refining it you should improve. Nutritional supplement is vital also but I won't go into that here.

I was beginning to develop mental health problems and really could feel myself going mad. Like most of you I'm sure, I had considered myself intelligent and in control of my life until that point. It's an increasingly common illness in western society - brought on by the coming together of genes, stress, chemical overload, indifferent nutrition and our sedentary lifestyle.

If interested, check out the website I mentioned previously. If not, I really do give up this time!