Through a unified experience, CHANGE is possible. For too long the mentally ill and those that love and support them have spoken in whispers. This is your chance to be heard.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek” -Barack Obama
‘It’s Gotta Change’ is a website dedicated to the people living with or affected by mental illness and addiction. It’s a forum for those to share their experiences.
Their hopes. Their Fears. Their Strengths.
Mental illness, despite the spin put on by politicians and ‘experts’ is still much maligned and misunderstood. The people suffering are subjected to a ludicrous system of healthcare that belies the actual definition of care itself. Families are left to navigate separate bodies and factions of hospitals, varying diagnosis and misdiagnosis, unmonitored treatment plans with no supports or tangible outcomes. All this may sound void of emotion and to a degree, it is. This is the language a person suffering from bi-polar, schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, chronic addiction and a host of other illness’s encounters. It can all seem overwhelming. Imagine trying to get your head around it when that is exactly the problem. One’s head.
So, ‘It’s Gotta Change’ is here to provide an outlet for those that suffer themselves or by association, to have a forum. A voice. And we will be presenting the collective to the powers that be so that for once, things will change. People need to understand that underneath so many incidents of domestic violence, robbery, assault, rape and murder there is a person that slipped through our mental health system. Our system is flawed beyond belief and it’s needs people united for change to occur.
Along with a section to have your say, ‘It’s Gotta Change’ has a resources and contacts page where current services, physicians and politicians are listed with feedback reviews. We need transparency to generate the evolution of what is likely thought of as the world’s oldest illness to the point where it considered to be just that. An illness.
Ironically, the quote about change above is from perhaps the most influential politician in the world. In Australia itself, the mental health act is a jigsaw of misguided, contradictory and archaic guidelines that needs changing from the people instilled to represent us. Our government.
The sum of ourselves is defined in how we treat others. So please, take the time to contribute. To read other people experiences. Be part of the action we are taking as anyone suffering, directly or indirectly, from mental illness and addiction will tell you that NOW is the time IT’S GOTTA CHANGE.