For Kerry, the responsibilities often create anxiety and frustration. She remembers when her daughter was happy and well. She enjoyed sports, studies and employment. She socialised. She grieves for her daughter and suffers confusion and disempowerment in the wake of her daughter’s illness and trauma.
“Institutions were closed years ago and we were promised community care. But without sufficient funding, it seems there’s no care at all. It’s very disabling. We’ve faced the same cycles of humiliation and mistreatment, again and again. Jan suffered some kind of abuse as a child and needs psychosocial treatment – not just hospitalisation and not just medication.”
Mental health services frequently fail to meet the needs of people living with mental health issues. Medications have many side effects. Despite improvements in trauma-informed care, services to deal with trauma remain limited. Community-based mental health care is hard to come by, as are more general socially-based services and activities.
“At times the police have found Jan wandering the streets or shops and taken her to hospital. This can be very traumatising for her – she can be so upset she won’t even enter a doctor’s room or a medical centre.”
Some days are more chaotic than others. Kerry appreciates the kindness of police who do their best to deal patiently and creatively with potentially dangerous or stressful situations. She has known the support of community groups and the positive influence of exercise, yoga, art and horticultural therapy, street art projects, group drumming and other musical activities.
“Increased funding for these kinds of things would be wonderful,” she says. “Local and state governments could do so much more to encourage and integrate community support – activities like community gardening and kite-flying not only help people suffering with a mental illness but also help to reduce and dispel the associated stigma.”
Of course, another major factor is housing. In order to qualify for assistance with residential art therapy sessions, for example, the house where Kerry and Jan live needed safety upgrades. At the same time, they have been on a long waiting list for basic repairs to their floors, plumbing and kitchen.
Much is still unknown about mental illness, both causes and treatment. Kerry raises questions about the role of various hormones, genetic dispositions and the role of metabolism with regard to certain medications. She has sometimes felt anger towards a system slow to respond to her daughter’s pain. Some psychiatrists have seemed not to recognise patterns of abuse and trauma, and have seemed overly eager to prescribe medications. Others have shown real wisdom and offered holistic care – concern for all aspects of Jan’s experience and treatment.
Kerry pays tribute to the “brilliant treatment team” based at Rozelle and Croydon hospitals. She cites as inspirations Dr Jayshari Kulkirni, a psychiatrist from Monash University who specialises in women’s mental health, and Associate Professor Alan Rosen, formerly at Royal North Shore Hospital and currently on faculty at Sydney University’s Brain and Mind Centre.
“My daughter is a wonderful and complicated person. She is more than her illness. Medicines are not the only solution. I know there are others in our street who are suffering, too. I’m hoping we can come together and help one another. Funding is needed for our local gardens and parks, for local festivals and activities that promote sharing of stories and burdens.”
