Table of Contents
What is mental illness?
What Makes Vision in Mind So Uniquely Special?
Should people with mental illness be given time off work?
Can people with a mental illness be an assess to our work
environment?
Can people with a mental illness drive machinery?
Can people with a mental illness be trusted?
Can students with a mental illness complete HSC, TAFE
or a University course?
Can mental illness affect the ability of Carers
to work and study?
Is mental illness a disability?
Can mental illness be prevented?
What is mental illness?
The term Mental Illness covers a gamut of illnesses
including such things as:
- Depression
- Post Natal Depression
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Bipolar Disorder (once called Manic
Depression)
- Anxiety Disorders
- Schizophrenia
- ADD, ADHD etc
- Personality Disorder
- Eating Disorders
- Many others
These illnesses are chemical imbalances of
the brain. Just as people with diabetes have a chemical
imbalance in their body and
need
to take insulin to manage their illness. People with mental
health issues need a variety of medications, psychotherapy,
exercise, good diet, no
drug use, little alcohol and coffee, a lot of water, etc
to keep them well. Mental illness is a physical illness which
manifests itself psychologically.
It is nothing to be ashamed of just as people are not ashamed
of having diabetes or asthma. Our community must stop the
stigma surrounding mental
illness to ensure that people with concerns about their mental
health get help quickly. If people are helped early, very
often an acute illness
can be avoided and a complete recovery may take place.
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What Makes Vision
in Mind So Uniquely Special?
As you can see when you
view the page called Fay
Jackson - Profile, our CEO has had a great deal of experience
in working in mental health in acute wards
and in the community. She has received many
awards for her work including the prestigious
ARHRF Medal for Meritorious Service to Community.
Fay also has Bipolar Disorder.
Fay managers her condition
in a variety of ways and has learnt to control
it and turn what was considered to be a disability
into an asset. “Mental illness can
be seen as not a disability, but a different
ability when accepted and used to the best
of a persons full potential. With a realistic
estimate being that 1:3 people by the year
2020 will have a mental health issue to contend
with it must now be considered NORMAL to
have mental illness. The current figure of
1:5 people having a mental illness is shows
how common it is. If 1:5 people have blonde
hair and that is considered normal; If 1:5
people have blue eyes and that is considered
normal, then 1:5 people having a mental health
issue is normal. It is just a different kind
of normal. We are all different otherwise
the world would be filled with clones and
lacking in culture and wonder. What is normal?
What does a normal gum tree look like?”
Fay is proud to be the complete
person she is, in control of her life and
career and has been recognized across our
nation as the face of Mental Health by many
people (she has been used in two TV add campaigns
by the ARHRF). She is also a Carer and Fays
wonderful brother Peter Jackson who was the
children’s programming officer for
the ABC television, and wrote and directed
such programs as Blinky Bill, Ship To Shore, ‘Round
the Twist, who unfortunately died 7 years
ago, also had bipolar disorder.
Fay has an amazing knack
of engaging individuals, groups and communities.
People feel safe with Fay and know that they
will have the expertise and opinions of a
person who has experienced mental health
as a manager within a large mental health
service, as a performance and public participation
manager, an advocate and from a very personal
perspective. Fay is able to guide people
to full acceptance and understanding of their
own mental health issues and those of their
staff, colleagues, students, community and
their Carers and families. After knowing
Fay, people’s attitudes to themselves
and life change. Give yourself, your company
and community the leading edge and ask Vision
in Mind to recognize your needs and to help
you.
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Should people with a mental illness be given time off
work?
Usually this is not the best long term option for the work
place or the person experiencing mental health concerns.
The study undertaken by Beyondblue (see Links page) points out that very
often
the
best thing
for a speedy recovery and to ensure that you do not loose
a valuable employee is to keep the person at work and in their
usual social environment. If
a person is forced to take time off work, against their will,
they may feel that it is too embarrassing to return to work
when they are well
enough to do so. If the person is able to stay in work, perhaps
with some adjustments, then this is the better option. Some
people do their best
work when they are experiencing an episode of mental illness,
e.g. most creative, most visionary, and most confident when
experiencing mania.
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Can people with a mental illness be an asset to our
work environment?
Absolutely!!!!! And this may very well be an understatement.
Many people who have mental illness are extremely intelligent
and creative. Many studies are currently underway into why
it is that
so many geniuses,
artists, scientists, mathematicians etc have mental illness.
The other thing to remember is that people who are given
employment and are supported
in their health feel that they have something to prove. I
have seen figures which suggest that people who are employed and
are supported in their
mental health actually have fewer days off work than people
who do not have mental illness.
Studies show that people with bipolar disorder are particularly creative,
gregarious, are lateral thinkers, problem solvers and great “people
people”.
Many managers and company directors have mental health issues yet they
are just the people that give companies the leading edge.
It is also important that mental illness is represented across all intellectual
groups, all races, sexes, ages, religions etc.
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Can people with mental illness operate machinery?
Of course they can, provided that they are not currently taking
tranquilizing type medication. If this is needed for a short
while it may be better to give them different duties for
those few days, but this
is no different to a person who has a sore back and are given
lighter duties until their back heals. There are other things
you can do about
Mental Health to ensure that your WHS standards are high and your
premiums are lowered. And yes, most people with mental illness do have
good driving records.
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Can people with a mental illness be trusted?
Again the answer is “of course”. In fact I have found, working
with hundreds of people with mental health issues, that the greater difficulty
with them is that they are too honest. There may be a problem with a person
who is experiencing mania being overly generous and making fantastic plans
which are a little ahead of the business plan your company may have, however
if you and your employees are aware of the signs of mania and support
your valuable employee or manager during this time you can safe guard
and prevent problems occurring. You should also make the most of these
manic phases because the person with mania will come up with incredibly
creative and visionary ideas for your business or service. If a person
is experiencing psychosis and says some really strange things, this is
not because they are dishonest, it is indeed because they believe everything
they hear see and feel to be real although it may not be at the time.
Again, if the person who has mental illness is supported they are much
more likely to be accepting of their condition and recognize the early
signs of their illness and seek timely help. There is no need for the
person to take time off work provided things are under control. If you
and your workplace, school, etc are aware of the warning signs you too
can help the person to get help quickly. Workplace agreements that are
drawn up with compassion, acceptance and support are a great deterrent
from people becoming unwell or difficulties arising from this. Prevention
is always better than cure.
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Can students with mental illness complete HSC, TAFE or University
course?
Definitely! As mentioned above prevention is always better
than response and cure so if the supports are in place for
the entire school,
TAFE or Uni population, ensuring students know that they will
not be ostracized or stigmatized in anyway when seeking help,
problems are much less likely
to occur. These people may need extra support in times leading
up to exams or having major works marked. The biggest problem
experienced by many
students with mental illness is that they are often perfectionists
and may need to be encouraged that “good enough is in fact good enough”.
People with obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar and other illnesses
often want things to be perfect. Vision in Mind recommends that your staff
and students consider doing the Mental Health First Aid Course. You could
in fact make this a part of your curriculum e.g. as a part of you PDHPE
program or your interdisciplinary projects in Uni. Your staff will benefit
greatly from this and will feel much more peaceful about their abilities
to help all students and other staff members.
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Can mental illness affect the ability of carers to
work and study?
Unfortunately the answer is yes. People who are caring for
someone who has a mental illness may be tired, fearful, irritable
and lacking
in concentration if they are experiencing lack of sleep and
stress due to their loved one vacuuming the house in the
middle of the night with
all the house lights on and the stereo on full blast (some
symptoms of mania). People who know that they can be honest
with their work colleagues
and teachers about what is happening in their life will be
much better off. Workplace adjustments may need to be made
for a short while during
the acute stage of the illness.
Of course there is the terrifying issue that some people face of their
loved one being suicidal, self harming or may have in fact taken their
own lives. This person needs support, understanding, compassion and to
know that they should not be embarrassed or ashamed of what is happening
to them and their loved one. Mental illness is a physical illness which
is a chemical imbalance of the brain. The stigmatizing language used around
mental illness is particularly harmful at this stage. If a person dies
from mental illness, please do not use the terminology of “he/she
committed suicide”. People commit crimes and commit sins. Suicide
is neither of these. When a person dies from mental illness they are dying
from an illness as physical as cancer. People do not “commit cancer” when
they die from their illness. There are many other forms of stigmatizing
language which people need to eradicate from their vocabulary.
Always remember that a Carer may be a young child, a teenager, a neighbours
a colleague, or anyone else who is placed in this position.
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Is mental illness a disability?
Yes. By law mental illness is considered to be a disability,
therefore antidiscrimination legislation relates to Mental
Illness. As an employer, teacher, service etc you need to
be aware that if you do
not treat a person with mental illness equitably there are
laws to support these peoples needs. People with mental illness
must be treated with respect
and given every opportunity to advance in work, studies etc.
Employees may be eligible to some subsidies when employing some people
with a mental illness.
Many people with mental illness do not consider it to be a disability
and may even consider it to be an asset as Fay Jackson does.
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Can mental illness be prevented?
There is much debate about this and as yet there is no scientific
conclusion. However we do know that if a person has mental
illness in their family then the likelihood of another family
member contracting
mental illness is increased. There are ways that a person
can decrease their chances of getting mental illness. Some of the
things
that can be
done are:
Avoid all illegal drugs including marijuana, speed, cocaine, ice, ecstasy
etc. It is believed that a person carrying mental illness within their
genes is at a greatly increased risk of getting mental illness if parting
in drugs. A drug induced psychosis may also take place.
Avoid too much stress over a prolonged period.
Take regular exercise.
Make sure your diet contains all vital minerals, vitamins, proteins
etc.
Do not drink very much alcohol and never binge drink.
Take great care of your physical health before, during and after
viruses.
Avoid situations which may place you at risk of receiving a heavy
blow to the head including during childhood and adolescents.
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Bookings and Pricing
To book Fay for your next function or to attend one of the
fabulous workshops offered please contact Fay. It is not
possible to list a generic
pricelist on this site as pricing will vary dependant upon
the desired program, length of presentation, or degree of
consultancy. For further
information or to make a booking please contact Fay by phone:
0438 472 254 (within Australia) or email: fay@visioninmind.com
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