Failures of mental health system is costing lives

Too many lives have been lost through failures in our mental health system (“Fight for answers over son’s death”, June 7). Problems that existed long before public hospital psychiatrists went on strike remain unresolved. The shortage of mental health workers has put doctors and nurses at risk and left patients with less than ideal care. As a retired doctor, I’ve been an advocate for a patient in a mental health facility for the past two years. During that time my friend has had four different psychiatrists and four different psychiatry registrars. Most of these doctors moved on without even telling their patients. Lack of continuity is but one of the flaws in the system. Despite this, my friend has benefited from being in that system. Others haven’t been so fortunate. Graham Lum, North Rocks

The Sun-Herald covered the suicide of a young man after being discharged from a mental health unit (“Silence on suicide won’t help families trying to keep loved ones safe”, June 7). As distressing as this is, your readers should know a number of facts about schizophrenia, as discussed in the Internal Medicine Journal. Unfortunately, there have been no significant advances in the development of medicines for psychoses over recent decades. Both anxiety and depression are part of the clinical presentation of schizophrenia and also require treatment. While remission of symptoms has improved, full remission occurs in only 13.5 per cent of people, a number that also has not changed in decades. About 22 per cent of people never respond to treatment at all, even at their first presentation to support services. It appears, therefore, that even if we do everything we can, we still do not know how to prevent tragedies like the one you featured happening with every patient. Ben Basger, UNSW Sydney

Replay TV hits

It’s a great shame about the lack of new Australian children’s television programs (“Alarming collapse of Australian children’s TV”, June 7). On the bright side, there is a backlog of wonderful shows and series that new generations of children have never seen. Let them be replayed for the delight of today’s kids, while agitating for the creation of new material. In the meantime, it’s not necessary to fill the void with American shows. Let what is old (and Aussie) be new again! Barry Lamb, Eastwood

Tale of two women

Parnell Palme McGuinness tries to compare Pauline Hanson with Julia Gillard (“Women voting with their feet: This One Nation shift shouldn’t shock us”, June 7). To me, the only thing they have in common is being women. While Hanson remains firmly attached to her original prejudices against Muslims and Indigenous Australians, plus apparently anyone in need of social welfare, Gillard worked for all Australians. Hanson is openly divisive, with no interest in the future of our planet. She is clearly influenced by people like Gina Rinehart and Donald Trump. Basically, I suppose Hanson is filling the gap left by the collapse of the Coalition. There is little else to recommend her. Nola Tucker, Kiama

Step forward at the park

Creating interactive space for young women in parks is a commendable idea for all councils and schools (“Sydney park will make space for women”, June 7). As a supervisor of girls in a public comprehensive school for more than 20 years, I often had requests for inclusive seating and non-competitive activity zones for girls. These were downplayed for the sporting field – and their upkeep in costs. It is exciting for me to see councils taking the initiative. Sometimes a young woman’s needs may involve a bat or a ball but communication with each other is often a bigger priority. Encouraging young people to take part in direct conversation away from their screens is surely an enormous step forward. Who knows? Young men may find a similar path. Janice Creenaune, Austinmer

Truth about tax

So often we hear about Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard’s disastrous mining taxes that delivered nothing like the revenue forecast (Letters, June 7), but we seldom get the full story. This tax was based on profits. At that time, we were in the middle of the global financial crisis. Mining profits were not high, so consequently little tax was collected. It is about time we were fair about this.
Ray Armstrong, Tweed Heads

One-hit wonders

Perhaps the launch of Stormer Music on a vessel named Aquarius might have set the brothers on a journey guided by a moon in the seventh house, with Jupiter aligned with Mars (“Australia’s first music school empire collapses”, June 7). However, the dawning of this new age of music appears to have struck a sour note, with creditors looking to settle the score of a failed one-hit wonder. Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook

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