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Re: Confused About Mental Health Policy (TW: Politics)


@hanami wrote:

Hey @chibam 

 

I used to work in community mental health and sat next to a mental health OT and this description here pretty much sums up what they used to do with the people they supported. So even though the title says 'occupational' the role is actually not job/employment related.

 

hanami💮


So once again we find that the help that is so desparately needed isn't actually offered by the system at all. And judging a particular type of therapist "occupational therapist" when their job has nothing to do with employment? It's almost as if this whole system has been set up to confuse people!

 

Honestly, the whole thing is so bad, sometimes I genuinely wonder if it was deliberately set up to fail.

Re: Confused About Mental Health Policy (TW: Politics)

@chibam, I know that my occupational therapist, on hearing that I wanted to become a librarian, helped me with my negative and cognitive symptoms so I would appear more 'normal' and took me to a makeup artist to help me learn how to apply makeup nicely, so I could appear more 'polished' in social situations. She talked to me about librarianship, why I liked it, and said she thought I'd be good at it because of some personal attributes she'd noticed. She got me into a volunteer work position where I could brush up on my customer service skills, because my health precluded me from being a checkout/fastfood person in my teens, by being my second referee as well as telling me about it. She even came down and had a chat with my new boss to figure out if I'd have any foreseeable problems, such as the accessibility of the toilets, or if I could manage the clothes hangers ok with my good hand. She has also kept an eye out for entry-level library jobs and passed them on to me to apply for, and has offered to look over my applications before I send them in.

I think that what @hanami meant to say was that occupational therapy is not solely job related - if you look at the page hanami linked, it talks about meaningful activities - which could be a job, or it could be a volunteer position, or it could be participating in a sport or a hobby. Occupational therapists are very practical people, in my experience. They also look at breaking down the prerequisites for participating in an activity, such as what you need to live independently, that you need to structure your days so that you can participate in everything that you want to. If you say to your OT 'I want a job that's not a desk job' they will tease out some more specifics from you (like, if you prefer gardening work or some other kind of work) and they will help you towards something that you want to do.

Re: Confused About Mental Health Policy (TW: Politics)

@GwynnBetween you and @hanami , I'm getting the impression that seeing an occupational therapist is very much a game of russian roulette; you may strike one that will actually help you, or you may not. Very worrying, especially when you considder the question of what happens if you strike a therapist who is determined not to help you. I know all too well the perils of getting stuck with a therapist like that.

 

Equally worrying is that webpage (along with your story) seem to indicate that occupational therapists, much like other therapists, have a strong focus on "fixing the patient", rather then fixing their lives. Fixing the patients' lives doesn't seem to be an outright taboo for them, but it worries me how much leeway they have to decide that it is the patient that needs to be fixed, rather then their circumstances.

 

I wonder if there is a type of therapist that is duty-bound to focus entirely upon fixing the patient's life, and is not aloud to try to "fix" the patient themself?

Re: Confused About Mental Health Policy (TW: Politics)

Hi @Gwynn 

Thank you for talking about your own experience with an occupational therapist. Indeed you explained it way better than I did!

My old job was in an older person's service so my explanation was remiss of having an OT support/prepare you for future job roles as the people I worked with were all retired. 

🤗

hanami 💮

Re: Confused About Mental Health Policy (TW: Politics)

Hi @hanami , @chibam , @Gwynn , @Historylover , @TideisTurning 

 

I have a feeling that the policies may be around using big data in new ways like in this video (especially the train station part). This video from Osher Günsberg shows how Australia is exploring mental health (focus on suicide) through different technologies. I don’t think it’s meant to replace in person support and care but run parallel to it to find the best ways to reduce suicide in particularly. 

https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/watch/1939588163734

 

Re: Confused About Mental Health Policy (TW: Politics)


@Teej wrote:

Hi @hanami , @chibam , @Gwynn , @Historylover , @TideisTurning 

 

I have a feeling that the policies may be around using big data in new ways like in this video (especially the train station part). This video from Osher Günsberg shows how Australia is exploring mental health (focus on suicide) through different technologies. I don’t think it’s meant to replace in person support and care but run parallel to it to find the best ways to reduce suicide in particularly. 

https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/watch/1939588163734

 


Thanks, @Teej .🙂

 

I'm afraid I'm not up for watching a full documentary on suicide at the moment, so I won't have the context to respond properly.

 

My concerns have always dwelt in the realm that it's not suicide that needs to be prevented, it's all the fates that are worse then it that need to be prevented. And when you focus on preventing suicide instead of the fates that are worse, that's when the real tragedies occur.

 

So I just wish I could trust that the powers-that-be were committed to using their powers and resources to eliminate the worst of fates, instead of the considderably more merciful (albeit more controversial) ones.

Re: Confused About Mental Health Policy (TW: Politics)

If that was the program I watched quite a few months ago, @Teej, I was disturbed to see that it was more about what they were 'experimenting' with now in the name of 'treatment', but not to do with actual causes.

Re: Confused About Mental Health Policy (TW: Politics)

I really liked that documentary but I do remember hearing criticisms around it too. There are so many different takes on what ideal mental health policy should entail. I think what Osher was getting at on this documentary was that there is not a one size fits all. Very complex indeed.

 

hanami 💮