I applaud the ABC Q and A for braodcasting this, but to be honest,apart from Fay,i wasn't impressed with the programme at all and didnt see it as anything different than whats been said before.
None of the REAL issues were discussed like what causes stigmatising and discriminating attitutdes both from the public and from medical practitioners themselves-all that was said was the same repeated line that stigma shouldnt exist and that mental ilnesses should be treated the same as physical illnesses.
Also what wasn't addressed is how some commonly used words perpetuate stigma and also give a notion that Psychiatrists etc are someow more qualified then people with "lived experience" to be experts etc.
Eg:i wasn't impressed with terrms such as "take my meds" being used and the way one male panellist would keep saying "im not a qualified professional....."when he spoke.
The factors that lead to indigenous suicides were barely touched on.
There was so many realissues/problems that could be been talked about but wern't (and not for a lack of time).
It mainly just seemed like another "Beyond Blue" sanitised version of mental illness.
IE:the person gets a mental ilness,they then "get help",then they recover from the mental illness.
Reality is this isnt the case for everybody and for some people there are no effective treatments but this wan't mentioned on tonights show.
The show certainly represented some people with mental illness but doesnt represent everyone.
