Vale Ilya Zhitomirskiy

By admin on November 17, 2011

Ilya Zhitomirskiy died by suicide this week. He was 22 and one of the co-founders of the yet to be launched social networking site Diaspora*

He was described as “a great friend and a brilliant person.”

Too few deaths by suicide are reported in the news, the exception is high profile people like Ilya Zhitomirskiy.

There are the inevitable questions of why. The stigma and lack of understanding around suicide results in it being under-reported and not understood. We avoid talking about suicide and reporting it. It is staggering to think that there are at least twice as many deaths by suicide than the road toll. Road accidents are reported, scrutinsed, published, and discussed, deaths by suicide are not.

Isn’t it time we talked more openly about suicide, if only so that more of us understand that depression can be fatal? I don’t know if bringing the topic into the open, and more particularly onto the front page, will help us to appreciate more of the risks of depression but I hope it will.

How do we tell our stories?

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Vale Peter Roebuck

By admin on November 15, 2011

Peter Roebuck was very special to the cricket world, as a broadcaster and sports writer. He will be missed this summer when the game is played.

The early reports of Peter Roebuck’s death included the telling explanation ‘no suspicious circumstances”. A confused story has emerged of an intense and driven man who was in a state of utter despair in the minutes before his death.

It is surprising that someone who was reportedly in a very distressed state was not allowed to have a friend in attendance, a friend who might have been a calming influence. Regrettably hindsight is often clearer than foresight. I have been told that it can be standard practice for police to isolate someone experiencing heightened emotions from friends. I don’t know why that is, and if it is police policy I am advocating for change.

If you, or someone you know, needs emotional support call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia. Crisis counselling is available around the world.

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Antidepressant usage up

By admin on October 23, 2011

A news report published on-line on October 20 2011 states that anti-depressant usage is up by 400% since 2008 in the US. Apparently one in ten people ‘are taking’ anti-depressants, although I suspect a more accurate reporting would be to say have been prescribed anti-depressants. Prescribed and taking are different.

I chatted with a doctor recently who was very unhappy about the metrics around patient care, specifically how many clients should be seen within a given timeframe. This particular doctor felt that with only a few minutes in which to consult with a client there is an unreasonable pressure to prescribe something and move to the next client.

Even so, says this report from October 21 2011 up to one third of people with severe depression are not taking anti-depressants.

I also hear stories of people not taking medication prescribed for them whether the treatment is for the heart, the head, or the chest. The last time I consulted a doctor I was so disappointed with the diagnosis made and advice administered that I didn’t get the prescription filled. There are many stories and lots of opinions, around medication. I don’t quite know what to believe, or who to trust.

“Lies, damned lies, and statistics” Mark Twain has been quoted as saying, showing some disdain for statistics. I share his sentiment after reading these reports, I can’t untangle the figures from the facts. Should more or less of us should be taking ant-depressants? That’s not a question that can be readily answered, one story suggests less and the other directs us to think more, and I suspect both articles could feed opinions, without being particularly helpful.

There must be a for and an against case around medication to treat depression, with lots of factors that influence what is effective and why. I can’t help thinking that treatment options, choice around medication use, and advice one can trust, and monitoring of the effects and outcomes, are more valuable than statistics.

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Distressed by calling Lifeline?

By admin on October 20, 2011

Publishing help line numbers is standard protocol if a story mentions suicide.
This helpline was published in The Age on-line this week and it particularly annoyed me. The structure of the statement and the punctuation means it doesn’t really say what it is trying to say and it has brought out the pedant in me.

Mottsu worked as a journalist and an editor for The Age, he worked on the old fashioned printed newspaper. He would not have liked the clumsy sentence above, it probably would have brought out the pedant in him too. Like the old-fashioned journalist that he was, he knew words grammar and punctuation better than anyone else I know. He was a walking dictionary with no need for a spell-checker. He was unbeatable at Scrabble, so good that I was reluctant to play…

Thanks to that clumsy sentence I am remembering things I loved about him.

I sometimes use a help line at the bottom of a post, because I want to do the right thing and, as I said, it is standard protocol. I also believe that sometimes it is helpful to talk to someone and there are telephone services to do just that. I imagine the service is impersonal, or anonymous, but with people on the other end of the phone who are trained and caring enough to offer the service. I don’t know if Mottsu ever called Lifeline, maybe he would have been distressed by calling Lifeline, I don’t know.
If he called, I don’t know what they might, or might not, have said to him.

If you, or someone you know, needs emotional support call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia. Crisis counselling is available around the world.

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Don’t die yet

By admin on October 12, 2011

“Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Jobs, S. (2005) Steve Jobs: How to Live Before You Die. Retrieved October 12, 2011,

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No suspicious circumstances

By admin on September 12, 2011

The Australian Press Council has released new guidelines about the reporting of suicide, relaxing their previous stance.

Press Council chairman Professor Julian Disney said “The likelihood that people will find out about a suicide through social media is very, very high, this highlights the need for the mainstream media to be engaged in responsible reporting”. I’m glad the voices in social media are having an influence even if it is due to our perceived irresponsible reporting.

Change is as slow as it is inevitable – it is happening. It was November 2009 when I wrote about the language of suicide. I am pleased to read the press Council recommendation that “It may be preferable to use words such as “died by suicide” or “took his life” rather than a term such as “committed suicide” which can imply commission of a crime.”

That’s responsible.

In New Zealand too, changes are being considered too. Last month the Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean said “I have suggested that there may be room for a gentle opening up of the restrictions on media reporting of suicide, but we need to consider all viewpoints – especially those of families – so we can make informed decisions.”

The phrase ‘no suspicious circumstances’ the newspaper euphemism for died by suicide may fade from the news pages. I hope that more open reporting of suicide will support the opening of conversations on the topic, which in turn will engender more understanding.

If you, or someone you know, needs emotional support call Lifeline on 13 11 14, in Australia. Crisis counselling is available around the world.

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Mental illness in the workplace

By admin on September 9, 2011

From the UK National Mental Health Development Unit “Fewer than four in ten employers say that they would consider employing someone with a history of mental health problems.”

It is ironic then to consider research that suggests that one in 25 business leaders may be a psychopath, even though the condition may not be formally recognised and certainly undiagnosed. I happened to hear Jon Ronson the author of ‘The Psychopath test’ being interviewed about his work on the radio last Sunday. What he had to say resonated with my own experience of some senior, and feared, people in the corporate world.

Ronson quoted Robert Hare’s work for a definition of the corporate psychopath ‘People who are psychopathic prey ruthlessly on others using charm, deceit, violence or other methods that allow them to get what they want. The symptoms of psychopathy include: lack of a conscience or sense of guilt, lack of empathy, egocentricity, pathological lying, repeated violations of social norms, disregard for the law, shallow emotions, and a history of victimizing others.’ Hare, Robert D. Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us. New York, NY: The Guilford Press, 1993.

Ronson claims that one in a hundred people are psychopaths and that they present a façade of normality. In his book he has constructed a check list of defining characteristics, that describe psychopaths, noting the primary trait as a lack of empathy. He names a number of well known business identities who pass the test, ostensibly successful business psychopaths. Apparently corporate culture supports callousness, providing an environment where a disregard of the emotions of others can be an asset. A pyschopath can rationalise and intellectualise about what another may be thinking but the can not grasp what another may feel.

If the above doesn’t sound quite right turn to Scientific American and note that psychopaths are rarely psychotic or violent in fact; “Psychopathy reminds us that media depictions of mental illness often contain as much fiction as fact.”

Funny world and I, for one, am not laughing.

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Vale Wade Belak

By admin on September 3, 2011

Wade Belak was a professional ice hockey player. He was found dead on August 31, reports confirm he died by suicide.

A close friend is quoted, saying of Belak’s depression that “I was 100% sure that he was managing it, coping with it…”

His father said he “didn’t see any signs” of trouble.

His mother said, “I don’t know about depression, I don’t know the symptoms or things like that, so I really am uncomfortable talking about that because I just don’t know enough about it.”

Wade Belak was 35, and married with two daughters.

His mother also said that “He was a great husband, a great father, a wonderful son and we were so proud of him”.

If you, or someone you know, needs emotional support call Lifeline on 13 11 14, in Australia. Crisis counselling is available around the world.

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Study shows restraint

By admin on August 28, 2011

I was disturbed this week by a study out of Ontario.

Is this the best we can do for people in crisis?
The report highlights that 80 per cent of people with distress around mental health issues were admitted to general hospitals rather than to specialised psychiatric sites.

On the surface that does not sound like a problem, however we are told that “Compared to psychiatric hospital patients, the study found that control interventions were 1.5 times more likely in a general hospital setting, while the use of physical or mechanical restraints occurred 2.5 times more frequently.”

I am not surprised that the short newspaper article notes there is trauma associated with the use of restraint. I don’t know of the situations being faced by the participants but that doesn’t restrain me from being a little appalled by a few facts.

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Eulogy

By admin on July 16, 2011

A much loved Melbourne football coach died this week, Allan Jeans. Many from the sporting fraternity shared their tributes in the daily paper. Kim Hughes, a former Australian Test Cricket Captain, said “He’s one of the greatest people I’ve ever met. I just wish I’d got to know him a lot more.”

When I read that comment I immediately felt annoyed, on reading it again now I am less annoyed. I think it was the regret Hughes expressed that disturbed me. I am troubled that we harbour regrets after someone dies, and of course there are always regrets.

It seems to be a natural thing to be surprised by death. It is almost as if dying is something that happens to others, and there’s something unexpected in the experience when we are touched by death. I wait for death everyday, I still expect others to die rather than me, but I know it is around. It’s not that I’m dreadfully morbid but maybe realistically so.

Sometimes when the phone rings at night I answer with trepidation expecting sad news. I try to prepare myself for the unexpected. I am saddened by every loss but rarely surprised, and even less often do I feel regret about what I could or should have done.

It might be something I have come to terms with since Mottsu’s death. In the aftermath of the loss of him I felt incredible shock and surprise and regret, for almost everything I had and everything I hadn’t done. Grieving is different altogether to regret and it’s easier now, years later, to accept that people to go when it is their time.

Allan Jeans died at age 77, when exactly was Kim Hughes going to get to know him better? For me it’s an odd, uncomfortable, regret, and I can’t know what Hughes really meant from one brief quote in the newspaper.

Eulogies should celebrate, when eulogies are published and read, it is too late for regrets.

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