Australian 2013 Federal Election Megathread

[slothpomba]

In honour of the chasers once again covering this election, i'll be posting some of their best stuff.

[Lolly]

In honour of the chasers once again covering this election, i'll be posting some of their best stuff.

This is the best.

[vox nihili]

Do we really need the Chaser anymore? With Abbott leading and morons like Hockey and Barnaby Joyce kicking around, don't we already have our serve of comedy?

[816]

In honour of the chasers once again covering this election, i'll be posting some of their best stuff.

ROFL SLoth, one of the best links I've seen in a while.

[pi]

Do we really need the Chaser anymore? With Abbott leading and morons like Hockey and Barnaby Joyce kicking around, don't we already have our serve of comedy?

Chaser > all (in election period anyway)

[slothpomba]

A little on an issue close to me both academically and personally from beyondblue.

Last week, the Mental Health Council of Australia called on all Australians to demand mental health reform, now that it has seemingly been dropped from the political agenda. To draw attention to the need to fix the mental health system, the Council released 'Perspectives', a collection of articles from Australia’s leading mental health professionals, including two from beyondblue. Our first article focuses on good mental health in the workplace and outlines the huge productivity benefits for organisations that prioritise workplace mental health. Our second piece focuses on stigma and discrimination and how these factors can have a devastating impact on people’s lives. You can download a copy of 'Perspectives: Mental Health and Wellbeing in Australia' here: http://bit.ly/177oLMo

The leading cause of death for people our age isn't heart attack, stroke or assignments, it's suicide. It's the leading killer of people aged 15-24, anyone who has had the sting of losing a friend will know this all too well; most of us will be simply shocked by the stat. Let's not let it be ignored this election. Great strides have been made with opening things like headspace and allowing people to see psychologists on bulk-billing but so much more still needs to be done and it's painfully obvious by these suicide rates.

Hopefully, without detracting too much from what i said above, here's another one from the Chaser's vault.

[vox nihili]

The leading cause of death for people our age isn't heart attack, stroke or assignments, it's suicide. It's the leading killer of people aged 15-24, anyone who has had the sting of losing a friend will know this all too well; most of us will be simply shocked by the stat. Let's not let it be ignored this election. Great strides have been made with opening things like headspace and allowing people to see psychologists on bulk-billing but so much more still needs to be done and it's painfully obvious by these suicide rates.

Even though we've made strides in the field, it's still pathetically little.

No matter which way you look at it, we haven't allocated health funding appropriately, and the major loser in that is mental health.

Even from an economic standpoint, the burden of mental health is only dwarfed by cardiovascular disease. In a country with a so-called diabetes epidemic and the highest rates of cancer in the world, two facts that aren't lost on Australians and certainly aren't lost on the media, they are still little compared to the monstrous elephant-in-the-corner that are mental health disease. Furthermore, issues with mental health typically arise in the first 25 years or so in life, and tends to stabilise. It isn't a disease, like cancer, like diabetes, like cardiovascular diseases, that preferentially targets people in their 50+s, it is a disease that targets young people. It robs people of a life they could have, not of the precious memories of the life they did have.

It's really saddening that as per usual the facts are ignored in favour of "sexier" diseases, "sexier" health issues that will generate the most interest.

Something to look at:

Interview with Patrick McGorry on ABC's One Plus One: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-15/one-plus-one-patrick-mcgorry/4820904
There's also an audience Q&A in the archives if you're keen, and the interview with Alastair Campbell also on that website is also brilliant; he manages to paint a very picture, that is that depression is a disease.

[slothpomba]

Even though we've made strides in the field, it's still pathetically little.

Definitely but before it was almost nothing. I did a little bit of research and apparently going to a psychologist never used to be covered by medicare (even now that it is, the gap is fairly huge for most apparently, upwards of $50). I found the idea of headspace amazing when i looked into it as well, it's all for young people, they have GP's, Psychologists, Psychiatrists and other health professionals (and youth programs) under one roof. We need more of these.

I'm not saying it's as good as it can or even should be but it seems to be a lot better than it was.

Even from an economic standpoint, the burden of mental health is only dwarfed by cardiovascular disease. In a country with a so-called diabetes epidemic and the highest rates of cancer in the world, two facts that aren't lost on Australians and certainly aren't lost on the media, they are still little compared to the monstrous elephant-in-the-corner that are mental health disease. Furthermore, issues with mental health typically arise in the first 25 years or so in life, and tends to stabilise. It isn't a disease, like cancer, like diabetes, like cardiovascular diseases, that preferentially targets people in their 50+s, it is a disease that targets young people. It robs people of a life they could have, not of the precious memories of the life they did have.

Great way to sum it up, it's all definitely true. Those first 25 years are crucial as well, various kinds of mental health issues could knock people out of the work force or Tertiary education before they even begin. I was reading a review about social anxiety awhile back and they described it as the "disease of lost opportunity" or something like that, people with the condition often feel deeply unfulfilled and deliberately choose jobs and educational positions below their ability just to avoid their anxiety. It's likewise true for things like depression as well, if you can barely roll out of bed, you're not going to do very well in uni or work.

Not to mention the quality of life as well. As Steve Salpolsky points out in this video, sometimes people do get serious ill. They get things like cancer or diabetes but they adjust, they can still live a very fulfilling life. As he points out, people with depression are just totally flatlined about everything in life, it's a daily struggle. The number of good quality life years lost must be insane.

Another sad thing is that a lot of young people aren't enrolled to vote or are fairly apathetic. Not to mention a lot of the funding and decisions are controlled by people who are much older than we are.

----------------

On a totally different issue, anyone know if the debate will be recorded tonight?

Just saw this on The Age website, note the poll...

[Lolly]

The leading cause of death for people our age isn't heart attack, stroke or assignments, it's suicide. It's the leading killer of people aged 15-24, anyone who has had the sting of losing a friend will know this all too well; most of us will be simply shocked by the stat. Let's not let it be ignored this election. Great strides have been made with opening things like headspace and allowing people to see psychologists on bulk-billing but so much more still needs to be done and it's painfully obvious by these suicide rates.

If any party had mental health on their agenda they would get my vote.

[vox nihili]

If any party had mental health on their agenda they would get my vote.

As per usual though, no party has the balls to use facts. It's the one key flaw in democracy, that politicians come into parliament chasing a better Australia and spend their time there chasing the vote. Unfortunately, it's down to the public to advocate for mental health spending, but there's no one who manages to do it properly. Patrick McGorry is probably the leader in this nation of mental health advocacy, and that's really saying something, because he's hopelessly boring.

[pi]

Patrick McGorry is probably the leader in this nation of mental health advocacy, and that's really saying something, because he's hopelessly boring.

Harsh.

Have you ever heard him speak irl?

He's been a guest speaker at the previous "Surviving Medicine" event at Monash last year and will be again on Monday, and I think he's a fantastic speaker and far from boring...

[vox nihili]

Harsh.

Have you ever heard him speak irl?

He's been a guest speaker at the previous "Surviving Medicine" event at Monash last year and will be again on Monday, and I think he's a fantastic speaker and far from boring...

I heard him speak at UniMelb earlier this year. He's a fascinating man, and what he's done in Australia for mental health advocacy is fantastic, but he's not a particularly compelling speaker. His strength is his brains; he's an academic. I have a huge amount of respect for Patrick McGorry, and the work that he has done is absolutely fantastic, but even by his own admission the mental health community (there's not really a good name for it all is there?) has failed catastrophically in advocating for change in the system. There just isn't anyone there who is a particularly effective advocate in front of cameras. He's a great man and has done fantastic work in research and fantastic work advocating in Canberra, but he's a terrible public speaker. I feel sorry for him that he has to take up that role when it really shouldn't be left to him!

Edit: I should add as well that for people like you and I, he is extremely interesting. Despite his bumbling nature and his tendency to rattle of facts and statistics in a monotone, he is really interesting to those sympathetic to what he's talking about and those interested in the science behind it. For campaigns like this to take traction though, they need someone who can tap into the rawest emotions of the layperson. Patrick's a psychiatrist and an academic, it just isn't in his nature to be able to create that drama. Realistically, the most moving stories come from the sufferers, not those who treat the sufferers. I was a bit blunt in what I said about Patrick. For the majority though, he really is boring. That's not to say though that what he has done isn't fantastic. It's just a sad reflection on the situation. The community needs someone who is a campaigner, not a psychiatrist. Someone who can tap into the layperson, whilst Patrick taps into the science and the academics behind the policy.

[alondouek]

Fascinating debate, good to hear direct points from both sides rather than plain electioneering through ads etc

I should add as well that for people like you and I, he is extremely interesting. Despite his bumbling nature and his tendency to rattle of facts and statistics in a monotone, he is really interesting to those sympathetic to what he's talking about and those interested in the science behind it. For campaigns like this to take traction though, they need someone who can tap into the rawest emotions of the layperson. Patrick's a psychiatrist and an academic, it just isn't in his nature to be able to create that drama. Realistically, the most moving stories come from the sufferers, not those who treat the sufferers. I was a bit blunt in what I said about Patrick. For the majority though, he really is boring. That's not to say though that what he has done isn't fantastic. It's just a sad reflection on the situation. The community needs someone who is a campaigner, not a psychiatrist. Someone who can tap into the layperson, whilst Patrick taps into the science and the academics behind the policy.

I'm not sure you and I are thinking of the same Patrick McGorry! I've attended a couple of events where he's given a speech and I've found him absolutely riveting and his work to be utterly fascinating - what's more, I felt that his speeches were very accessible to the layperson.

Also, I'm not sure you meant it quite like it reads - but speaking subtly doth not a boring person make.

[pi]

I'm not sure you and I are thinking of the same Patrick McGorry! I've attended a couple of events where he's given a speech and I've found him absolutely riveting and his work to be utterly fascinating - what's more, I felt that his speeches were very accessible to the layperson.

+1


Enjoyed the debate! Too bad I missed out on the first 10mins or so :/

[vox nihili]

I'm not sure you and I are thinking of the same Patrick McGorry! I've attended a couple of events where he's given a speech and I've found him absolutely riveting and his work to be utterly fascinating - what's more, I felt that his speeches were very accessible to the layperson.

Also, I'm not sure you meant it quite like it reads - but speaking subtly doth not a boring person make.

What he says is accessible to the lay person and he does bring fascinating science and research to the table. The point I'm making is in the context of an advocate. As an advocate, he is extremely boring. His speeches are only substance. There's no audience rapport and no passion in it, and from that angle, and as an advocate for mental health, he is an uninspiring speaker. I quite enjoyed going to see him, but I still stand by the fact that he's as a speaker he is boring. The content of his speeches is interesting, and had me hooked, but I didn't walk out of the theatre really keen to do anything about what he said. He was a bit like Rudd was tonight. Had plenty of fantastic numbers and great intellectual points, but he didn't really get people up and excited. There's no Obama in either of them, and likewise, no Obama in Patrick!

The content and the work he does is fascinating, and that's why he constantly gets an audience, but it's got nothing to do with his speaking abilities, that's all. If someone's going to lead a campaign well, they need to be exciting, need to build a strong and fundamental rapport with their audience and absolutely have to make their listeners feel something. It just doesn't seem to be in Patrick's nature, nor should it be. His responsibility is as a psychiatrist, a scientist and therefore he's required to present the intellectual argument and present the substance. It's frustrating that he is often seen as the "leader of the campaign", he's more the policy maker, the researcher behind it all, who gives us the facts. I adore him, but he's just never going to be a particularly good advocate to the masses because of that.