ABC Q&A: **LIVE NOW**

[NikNik]

I hope they do discuss that tonight @Jacques

[Jacques]

everyone says it is a community issue, but how many people in the community know you have a mental illness? and of those people how many treat you differently because of it, no one knows who i am in my community because i have isolated, and i have had friends walked away form me because of MI

[NikNik]

YAY Peer support! Love that Fay talked about the importance of peer support

[chookmojo]

Fantastic points being made by Wayne (?) now about things OTHER than medication which were helpful to him. And for pointing out that medication is very much trial and error, which is a frustrating process.

[Crazy_Bug_Lady]

I'm in adelaide.

I suspect I am behind you gys on the east coast....

Fay just told the story about the drive across the Hay plains. I laughed so hard.

[Jacques]

I am so tired of politicians saying that if you have a job somehow you will magically be better, and i am tired of politicians saying people with MI getting better will contribute to the GDP, it is like you health does not matter, it is about making money!!!!!!!

[chookmojo]

I'd be interested to see the stats Faye was talking about regarding lifespans of people on medications and see what the controls were... A metric-funk-tonne of variables in place makes it tricky to get clear results.

[NikNik]

WOW! What a whirl wind of a discussion.

What did you think?

What was the biggest point you agreed with?

What question do you think was missed?

I would love for our community to continue the discussion!

[chookmojo]

@Jacques  sadly money and the GDP are some of the most effective measures for politicians - they end up being what people vote for..... I feel too that this was a very 'political' appeal to the general public who may not give a stuff about a stranger's health mental or physical. By bringing the societal benefit into focus eg 'when the mentally ill are functional contributing members of society then society benefits', then Joe McDoesn'tCare can see maybe that this is a needed service.

[chookmojo]

Such a huge subject and so little time!

I would have loved to have had more discussion around treatment options and research and development of effective interventions.

I find it alarming that 'big pharma' is pulling out of research into psych medication - when there is SO much need for research and improvement in this area. To me that's like Cancer research just stopping because the current suite of treatments is 'fairly effective for quite a few people'.

I think therapy and psychological treatments are HUGE, but pushing away medication is to separate mental illness from physical illness; it implies that acrtually you COULD just will yourself better. Again, you don't see that standard applied to cancer.