Services…where art thou?

We had a client from a wealthy area of Sydney recently explain how hard it was for her to get mental health support for her teenager. She said that despite money and living in a richly serviced area, she was still struggling to get the appointments they desperately needed with 6 months.

Then she said something that deeply resonated with us as mothers and mental health workers living in regional NSW.

“If I can’t get help, what hope does someone without my finances

who lives outside the city have?”

The answer isn’t great.

That’s part of the reason we created Support, Trust, Understanding.

Covid has put extra load onto mental health services, but in truth, the system was struggling before the pandemic.

Most of us have been trained in a method of supporting young people with mental health issues that says if we see a crisis or escalating problem, we immediately get them to the professional help, and then we can breathe and know they are safe.

But that’s not how it is right now.

We have example upon example from clients about young people

in crisis being turned away from services because there

just aren’t enough places or beds or staff.

If that’s your child, you are now in the harrowing situation of holding onto them while you tread water just hoping you can keep both your heads above the surface until help arrives.

We like to think of STU as a life jacket or one of those clichéd lifebuoy rings you’ve see on every ship in every movie, ever. We aren’t the only help you need, but we’ll hopefully give you the skills, knowledge and support to keep you and your family safe until the Air Rescue helicopter arrives.

By MG Training and Isabel Fox