Lived Experience Forum

[Historylover]

Thank you for broaching this subject, @Jacques. No-one knows him or the troubled life he has lived. He, like so many others, simply didn't receive the help he so obviously needed. He snapped with tragic consequences. A lot of people have blxxd on their hands. He wasn't a monster. He was a deeply troubled man. These things don't 'just happen'; they are caused by a succession of life events. Vale to him too.

These things will continue to happen as long as therapists think a person's problems are solved with a diagnosis—however inappropriate—and medication alone. 

[Jacques]

just had an interaction on Facebook, it is starting with the stigma. i wanted to post this to show how much the media has to play in all this

[PinkFlamingo]

sorry @Jacques youre witnessing some pretty bad behaviour there. 

My nana used to say "empty vessels make the most noise", and in this instance, this vessel is reverberating with nothing inside but baseless misinformation.

The good thing about empty vessels is that they eventually run out of usefulness - nothing inside, therefore there is very little value. 

Keep your chin up, and gently remember that we have purpose, and that purpose is to share, care, and be there 🙂 xx

[Salvia]

Im devastated  about this, We'll never know why he became so violent. Witnesses said his eyes we're blank "he wasn't there"  I saw His parents interview on tv tonight, theyr'e devastated! said he was slowly taken off medication as he was doing so well and moved away to the city. His mum thinks something must have triggered him into a psychotic episode, and if he knew what he did he'd be devastated himself as this was so 'out of character' 😔 

I hope SANE and MH outlets boost help at this time 'cause it's affecting a lot of us.

I am close to two ppl with h/o psychosis who've come off  meds after being let go by MH into the care of their GP (that didn't work, drr!). I do wonder if they're capable of physical violence as they get so upset at times. And what of my own MI?  not psychosis (to my knowledge lol) am i a 'potential' mass murderer now? the media are So ignorant to the complexities of MH & just seem to want that quick shock headline.

Anyway, a person doesnt have to have MI to murder. 

I wish I didn't live alone / have someone to talk to, I can't function this week, need a shower. Tried to ring the sane helpline tonight  but they put me on hold too long 😔

[Funnelweb]

I find it interesting how this crime is being reported in the media-absent any accurate information about mental illness, in particular, psychosis. Just piecing together the information that has been reported, the offender was in Queensland living an "itinerant" lifestyle- meaning he was drifting from place to place, estranged from his family, then a month ago he hit Sydney. He didn't have fixed accommodation, only hiring a small storage unit he may have been sleeping in. The media are also reporting he worked as a male escort- some reports stating he was living a "double life" which I find quite ridiculous- it seems to me he was living one life and it was pretty rough going- being an escort is a way of making money when you can't work any other job and if he was experiencing mental health difficulties he likely couldn't work. This type of life lived on the margins of society or on the streets is stressful and can trigger psychosis- a condition where the person loses touch with reality. Although every psychosis is different, what is common is a tendency toward extreme interpretations. For example, if in psychosis you are experiencing paranoia, it feels like there is not one person in the world you can trust. Similarly, if your psychosis produces ideas or plans, you may be plunged into desperate action, guided by voices or intrusive thoughts- to the psychotic mind these plans feel like the correct course of action- and the person feels extreme confidence in carrying out sometimes horrific courses of action. Once a person is in this state, it is often pointless trying to reason with them.

I very much see this crime as a consequence of society and its treatment of the mentally ill. This offender was left to his own devices- probably due to his strange behaviour- he arrived in Sydney which is a tough town to master for a homeless tourist- and it seems his brain got boiling with an idea. It is important to realise that psychosis is a desperate state in response to survival stress perceived or real- a last ditch attempt by the organism to change his or her fortune in life, so it follows that behaviour in psychosis is dramatic and determined. I see this stabbing crime as a clear message: what happens when society fails to accommodate the vulnerable- sometimes they lash back in spectacular fashion.

So, the question to ask now is how many other vulnerable and mentally ill people do we have roaming the streets on the brink of psychosis? Of significant concern is the fact that vulnerable people often have difficulty engaging with government support services because of the rigidity of the bureaucracy- which is a challenge at the best of times, but often becomes overwhelming for the mentally ill- and they fall further through the cracks.

My recommendation would be for society to stop treating the mentally ill as if they are Somebody Else's Problem. Families in modern society often choose to reject the mentally ill family member which only serves to increase the vulnerability of that individual and hence the likelihood of psychosis and the associated loss of behavioural control.

So society, the ball is now in your court. If you object to displays of random violence such as that seen in the Bondi stabbing, it might be time to face up to the reality that there are many vulnerable mentally ill people in society. Add to this mix the stress caused by the cost-of-living crisis, resulting in an increase in homelessness, and you have the right conditions to trigger psychosis. So ignore us at your own risk. We are dangerous in psychosis as we have little or no control over our behaviour in that state and can become hell bent on retaliation at a society that treats us like we don't exist.

[Funnelweb]

My comments on the Bondi incident: 

I find it interesting how this crime is being reported in the media-absent any accurate information about mental illness, in particular, psychosis. Just piecing together the information that has been reported, the offender was in Queensland living an "itinerant" lifestyle- meaning he was drifting from place to place, estranged from his family, then a month ago he hit Sydney. He didn't have fixed accommodation, only hiring a small storage unit he may have been sleeping in. The media are also reporting he worked as a male escort- some reports stating he was living a "double life" which I find quite ridiculous- it seems to me he was living one life and it was pretty rough going- being an escort is a way of making money when you can't work any other job and if he was experiencing mental health difficulties he likely couldn't work. This type of life lived on the margins of society or on the streets is stressful and can trigger psychosis- a condition where the person loses touch with reality. Although every psychosis is different, what is common is a tendency toward extreme interpretations. For example, if in psychosis you are experiencing paranoia, it feels like there is not one person in the world you can trust. Similarly, if your psychosis produces ideas or plans, you may be plunged into desperate action, guided by voices or intrusive thoughts- to the psychotic mind these plans feel like the correct course of action- and the person feels extreme confidence in carrying out sometimes horrific courses of action. Once a person is in this state, it is often pointless trying to reason with them.

I very much see this crime as a consequence of society and its treatment of the mentally ill. This offender was left to his own devices- probably due to his strange behaviour- he arrived in Sydney which is a tough town to master for a homeless tourist- and it seems his brain got boiling with an idea. It is important to realise that psychosis is a desperate state in response to survival stress perceived or real- a last ditch attempt by the organism to change his or her fortune in life, so it follows that behaviour in psychosis is dramatic and determined. I see this stabbing crime as a clear message: what happens when society fails to accommodate the vulnerable- sometimes they lash back in spectacular fashion.

So, the question to ask now is how many other vulnerable and mentally ill people do we have roaming the streets on the brink of psychosis? Of significant concern is the fact that vulnerable people often have difficulty engaging with government support services because of the rigidity of the bureaucracy- which is a challenge at the best of times, but often becomes overwhelming for the mentally ill- and they fall further through the cracks.

My recommendation would be for society to stop treating the mentally ill as if they are Somebody Else's Problem. Families in modern society often choose to reject the mentally ill family member which only serves to increase the vulnerability of that individual and hence the likelihood of psychosis and the associated loss of behavioural control.

So society, the ball is now in your court. If you object to displays of random violence such as that seen in the Bondi stabbing, it might be time to face up to the reality that there are many vulnerable mentally ill people in society. Add to this mix the stress caused by the cost-of-living crisis, resulting in an increase in homelessness, and you have the right conditions to trigger psychosis. So ignore us at your own risk. We are dangerous in psychosis as we have little or no control over our behaviour in that state and can become hell bent on retaliation at a society that treats us like we don't exist.

[Gwynn]

Thousands of people who have severe mental illnesses don’t target women like that. It’s interesting how when people thought the assailant was nonwhite the purported rationale was terrorism but now it’s mental illness. I hope SANE’s stigma watch is keeping an eye on the repercussions of this kind of reporting.

[chibam]

I see a lot of the people in this thread commenting about the Bondi Junction Incident man's homelessness as a contributing factor.

Keep in mind that there's a massive homelessness crisis in Sydney right now even amongst the "sane" population who, aside from being homeless, conform to all of conventional society's other expectations for them. So, right now, outliers like the Bondi man have no chance.

The government isn't just gonna "wake up" in response to this, and assign addresses to all the mentally ill people wandering around Sydney before winter sets in; because it doesn't have any empty homes to give them!

[Zoe7]

@Jacques Thank you for sharing - people like that just do not get it. Absolutely we all want to feel safe but where is the help, compassion and support for those who are very unwell. 

[chibam]

@Jacques  One thing I would argue (I'm assuming that you made the middle post in that screencap) is that I don't believe that the government is the principal factor in peoples' inability to get help. I believe that the difficulty in getting proper help is more down to the senior figures (i.e. "experts" et al.) who govern the mental health system.

Government can be a bit stingy with their funding of programmes; but essentially, whatever money they are willing to part with is divvied out according to where the "experts" tell them to send it. And policy formation is likewise based off of what the "experts" tell them to think; government members are rarely inclined to think for themselves on these issues, I've found.

That's why it was such a relief to hear last year that the government was setting up a new advocacy agency for the "lived experiance" community. Though, as I understand it, that agency hasn't yet been actually formed.

Anyway, maybe a bit off topic, but I thought that was important to clarify.

I have a lot to say about this whole situation but I think it's probably best, for everybody's sanity, that I spare SANE from yet another of my 12-page rambles.