Sometimes, the smallest things in life can cause the greatest pain and physical reaction.  A bee’s sting is almost invisible to the naked eye and yet can easily kill someone when they have an allergic reaction.  A mere critical stinging comment can just as easily send a person suffering Borderline Personality Disorder into “emotional anaphylactic shock.”

When a person has a life-threatening reaction to the poison from a bee sting, an ambulance is called and the person is taken to hospital where they receive treatment for their illness as well as respect and dignity but when someone suffering an emotional reaction to life circumstances presents at emergency, they are sometimes treated with rejection, intolerance and disdain.  People can die from a bee sting and Borderlines can “die” from their own personal rage and self-hatred.  If you present at emergency with a swollen face and throat unable to breathe with all your body organs shutting down, is some doctor or nurse going to say, “OMG, it’s a tiny bee sting, how bad can that be, look at you, get over yourself,” like they sometimes do when Borderlines present at hospital with similar symptoms.

Yet both types of people are in much pain and danger. 

PLEASE TWITTER AND FACEBOOK THIS TO OTHER AUSTRALIANS

In Perth, Western Australia this week, Psychologist Ben Mullings and myself talked about the Medicare Better Access Initiative mental health issues on ABC720 Perth radio on Monday 30th May, 2011. It was about our campaign to get the government to reverse its decision to cut the number of Medicare rebated sessions from 12-18 sessions to 6-10 sessions.  Here is the link:

http://blogs.abc.net.au/wa/2011/05/rebates-reduced-for-mental-health-services.html?site=perth&program=720_afternoons

Please see below for our Australian GetUp Action campaign you can vote on (these are the people responsible for the above picture), the petition you can sign, the facebook page you can join, the media release and our first (but not last) piece of publicity.   I have added links if you wish to send emails to Federal and State politicians to protest against these cuts which come into effect 1st November, 2011.

Psychologist Ben Mullings and myself will be talking about mental health issues on ABC720 radio, Perth Western Australia, on Monday 30th May at 1pm. It’s about our campaign to get the Australian Labor government to reverse its decision to cut the number of Medicare rebated sessions from 12-18 sessions to 6-10 sessions starting from 1st November, 2011.

Read about us in the ABC news online:  http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/27/3229499.htm

Here is our facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=221857121175894&id=634354228#!/home.php?sk=group_209575192408227&ap=1

Please join our GetUp Action Group campaign and vote:  http://suggest.getup.org.au/forums/60819-campaign-ideas/suggestions/1833821-better-access-to-psychologists?ref=title

Please sign our petition:  http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/better-access-to-psychologists.html

Please contact Ben Mullings (see below) for further details.

Here is our media release.

There was both bitter and sweet news in this month’s Federal Budget for all Australians suffering mental health issues.  While it is most prudent that the Labor Government is placing much needed funding for people suffering severe mental health issues in low socio-economic, rural and indigenous areas with their early intervention programmes, Headspace Centres for youths and Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centres, this comes at a cost of cutting back the number of sessions available to patients under the Medicare Better Access Initiative with psychologists, both clinical and registered.

These have been sharply reduced from 12 sessions with an additional 6 for exceptional circumstances to 6 sessions with an additional 4 for exceptional circumstances, the Government rationale being, that people who see clinical psychologists suffer from a mild to moderate form of mental illness rather than a severe one.  Here is a section taken from the Federal Budget 2011.