I was driving around yesterday with a few of my less fortunate friends. They suffer from mental illness. The majority of men where i work have never had much of a life. Their backgrounds are about institutions, homelessness, social workers, medications, abuse and turmoil. Knowing these men as i do it is hard to not get emotionally connected to them. Their stories inevitably lead them all to very lonely places with little or no help. During our outing yesterday one of the men asked to visit the Matthew Talbot lane. He was very specific about driving through the lane and not stopping. He had spent years living in the lane before i knew him. It seemed a strange request from him but our outings are always quite strange...hilarious actually. What a sight !. 27 men sprawled around the lane in all different states of degradation and decay. My friend recognised many and noted them. He wished to remain silent and not greet them. We drove off. It was very quite for the next part of the trip till we stopped at watson's bay for sausage rolls. It was not the first time i had been down that lane. Over the years i have been down there many times but what was obvious yesterday was the amount of mentally ill people who are congregating there...more then i have ever seen. Include alcohol and their rotten lot in life and it makes for total disbelief. Where i work could not house a pinch of the beds needed to help these men...and i have not mentioned the women in need yet. We just re-elected a government who spent 106 million on advertising but we cannot get it together to house these unfortunates. something really needs to begin. It is not right that these people are left to rot in laneways and the good people at the Talbot are left to fend for them...

Posted by tricky, Friday, 30 March 2007 7:51:35 AM
“What a sight !. 27 men…”

And there you have it – all men. The reasons for this are not recognized because they involve the violence of women toward men – which in the current milieu is regarded as virtually non-existent.

Women tend to use what psychologists call Relational Aggression, ie the destruction of people’s ‘relationships’ rather than attacks on the person themselves. These kinds of attacks are particularly effective within families and result in people being ostracized by and isolated from the people who would normally care for them.

Women use these forms of aggression, in general, not only much more frequently than men but much more effectively. The result is the huge discrepancy between the number of men who have no familial support and the number of women who have no familial support.

These forms of aggression are just as damaging as physical aggression and they should be just as unacceptable within families as physical violence however not only are they not prohibited but the character assassination and relationship sabotage that are the hallmarks of this type of violence are de rigueur for women in their treatment of their ex-partners.

This poisoning of relationships is particularly brutal when there are children involved because by sabotaging the relationship between a father and his children a mother also sabotages the relationship between the children and their father. The fathers lose some of the most important relationships in their lives and the children lose one of theirs. These forms of violence are designed to leave people isolated and without support and that is exactly what we see in the extraordinary preponderance of male homelessness.

There can't be a discussion about mental illness without talking about the influence of drugs on people. There is by now a well established link-drugs,including alcohol, both trigger and magnify adverse mental states. What we know both instinctivly and by experience is finally being proven by Authority.
Alcohol, and increasingly street and legal drugs, are accepted as valid ways to 'let off steam' or 'relax' or any one of 1000 excuses.
The marketing of cure-alls that suppress symptoms is an epidemic that demonstrates avoidance rather than facing up to issues on a societal level.
Matthew Talbot(for all its good) is the result of our acceptance of chemical solutions to problems of life.

These static’s are extremely high everywhere in Australia. This is because we have a federal and regional state system that largely runs on CRISIS MEDICALCARE.

This leads to a structural abuse of valuable resources. The tendency is to rely on the Police, Charity organisations and the goodwill of communities. The cost incurred both financially and emotionally is shifted to those unable to obtain better resources. It is a highly neglectful process.

There is a lack of communication, respect and follow-up in all these areas, and little support for those offering community their support to change this phenomenon.

Prevention is undermined by the systems failure to engage with community and other networks and services to work to solve problems, before they become critical.

This burden unshared shifts the burden onto those in dis-stress and there families/communities. I.e.: While Child Safety has had some focus over the past two years, mothers are still left unsupported, as are adults generally (which include these men) experiencing a diverse range of problems. I.e., suicidal ideation drug dependancies or homelessness due to a lack of care. All these problems are related issues associated to a alienation and disconnected resulting in a ill-sense of emotional well-being.

It is well documented that Server Community Isolation, Vilifications and Social Drift are key causal elements, which are linked to many cases of violence, suicide and degree’s of self-medication or other forms of risk behaviours, which contribute to not coping well and many result in self-harm.

There is a lack of self-help programs available or education related to self-determination, and a lack of resources to encourage sustainable well-being through rehabilitation support and and recovery.

We need a NO WRONG DOOR POLICY in all States of Australia, yesterday!

http://www.miacat.com/

These forms of violence are designed to leave people isolated and without support and that is exactly what we see in the extraordinary preponderance of male homelessness.
Posted by Rob513264, Friday, 30 March 2007 3:34:35 PM

If you think this is the main reason why there are mostly homeless men on the streets I am sure that you are wrong. Have you considered that in the case of mental illness a man may be unbearable to live with particularly if he becomes violent. No one may be able to cope with living with him and or supporting him. On the other hand a woman may be less threatening to a male who is prepared to take her in even though she may be difficult in the hope that there will be some sexual trade off even though she may have little else to offer. These women may have a roof over there head therefore you wont see them on the street. However they may well be in abusive relationships for the luxury. Other women may be involved in prostitution which may support a drug habit that also may mask mental illness and manage to stay off the street.

My ex and i had been together three years, the 1st year was great the 2nd year we lost a baby in a terrible situation, in the 3rd we had another baby. after our daughter was born our worlds changed we were happy parents and loved everyday. a month ago my ex comes out in the middle of general conversation and says she wants out of the relationship. When i asked her about it she said she wasnt happy and didnt want this life anymore. So she left. Im now a single father battling on in a state where i have no friends or family or support what so ever. Over the last month that we have been broken up she has done and said some horrible things. 2 weeks ago me and my x went out for drinks at the local pub. she picked up another guy then last night we went to a night club. she picked up with 4 blokes and asked the dude behind the bar if he was up for a car parky. (sneak out and have sex in the car park). Today i told her how much that hurt and i asked her what her plans are. She said she just wants to have fun. she is young she wants to enjoy it. she regrets having our daughter. She feels nothing about anything she is doing. she doesnt think there is anything wrong with what she is doing. she has become such a nasty person. Right now i am at work and i rang to find out where to pick my daughter up from and she is at drug dealers houses. She swears black and blue that she isnt touching anything.
My question is does this sound like a girl who just wants to have fun or is this a girl who is burning her bridges because she feels she has no where to turn and nothing to live for? And if its the second one. how can i get her back home with her family where she belongs,