We’re at the end of 2019’s first quarter and tragically the Australian suicide toll stands at 750 thus far. Suicide is the leading cause of unnatural deaths, yet suicide prevention is not a national priority. The Australian suicide toll is: more than two and a half times the national road toll; more than 30 times […]
Health and Wellness
We, as a nation, have always prided ourselves on the quality, accessibility and affordability of our health system. Particularly when we make comparisons to the cost of the system in places such as America etc, we come out looking particularly strong. The Health Department makes the following statements on its website: Australia’s health system is […]
Homelessness can be ended but the will to do so is not a universal one. In the world’s 12th biggest economy, Australia, the number of older women who are homeless has doubled in the past four years. Australia has among the world’s highest median wages, argues itself as a global social justice warrior but the […]
Gerry Georgatos (The Stringer, 17 November 2017) argues that we should not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed and dominated by trauma, that we should get back on our feet, strengthened by our scars. He is right, of course, that trauma does not have to be a life sentence, but the question is … how do […]
Our days on this earth are not many and what we do with our days matters, not only for us but for those around us and for those whom we leave behind. Trauma is a part of life, few are unscarred. However for far too many, trauma overwhelms them and subsumes their personality. Trauma becomes […]
In the last few years I have written more than 300 articles on the suicide crises and on suicide prevention. In those same years I have supported hundreds of suicide affected families and thousands of critically at-risk individuals. There has never been an article I have written that in its midst I was not notified […]
More Australians suicided in the one year, 2015, than in any other year and sadly it may soon be reported that just as many or more suicided in 2016. Though I pray I am proven wrong it is likely that in the years to come that the harrowing toll of 2015 will be exceeded in […]
There are many people out there who send me emails and Facebook posts accusing me of “social engineering”, “political correctness” and all variety of society destroying activities as I have attempted to raise issues of vilification and discrimination on the basis of race, religion and other ethno cultural attributes. It has often been hard to […]
Writing in the ABC Online magazine The Drum, John Mendoza has described the Abbott/Turnbull Government’s recently announced mental health reform package as ”the most transformative reform package in a generation”. Mendoza, who was previously chair of the National Advisory Council on Mental Health and CEO of the Mental Health Council of Australia, is a respected figure in […]
Under normal circumstances I would be writing stories about issues of race and religion and problems that may have arisen thereof. Today, I am writing something of issues I deal with in the area of my work. I want to bring to you two stories related to Epilepsy and its treatment with medical marijuana. It […]
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