I will tell you this though, suicide is a bloody sight more complex than
most bloody pundits consider.
You have got to have been there to really know what I mean, there is not any
philosophy about it, no fucking Durkheim and his sociology and statistics,
no all sorts of other stuff either,
It's not particularly pretty, well not at all is it.
I have revisited and echoed my own suicidal intent however with the
hindsight of art, that might seem bizarre, distastefull even, but hell it's
authentic which a lot of this
psycho-academical-sociological-ethical-tragical-pastoral-historical-comical
bullshit is not.
Am I maybe unique in that when I was so intent upon it (well maybe only 99%)
and I phoned the Samaritans, and the guy said to me, that he gave up, that
he could not convince me of any reason why not to, that I had gone so far
that I might as well do it because he couldn't stop me.
Well I didn't of course but that was synchronicity
It's fuck all to do with the construct of "mental health" fuck all, you get
that , you get that yet, did you get that? Did you?
Larry
> -----Original Message-----
> From: The Disability-Research Discussion List [mailto:DISABILITY-
> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Frank Hall-Bentick
> Sent: 13 November 2010 22:45
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Human rights and mental health, Thinking about suicide book
launch
>
> Human rights and mental health, Thinking about suicide book launch
> 10/11/2010
>
> Dr Helen Szoke, Commissioner, Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights
> Commission
>
>
> I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land
and to pay
> my respects to elders past and present.
>
> It is interesting being here today to facilitate the Melbourne launch of
David Webb's
> book, Thinking about suicide. David is a good friend of the Commission, is
an active
> campaigner for the human rights of people with disabilities and is a
valued member of
> the Commission's Disability Reference Group. There is much that David and
I agree on
> and there is much that we disagree about. But what I am absolutely sure
about, is the
> importance of giving voice to all points of view, and all considerations
in the
> challenging area of suicide.
>
> David's work, initially on his PhD in 2006, and now in the production of
this book
> http://www.pccs-books.co.uk/product.php?xProd=528, is both courageous and
much
> needed.
>
> Around 2,000 Australians die by suicide ever year,1 affecting families,
friends,
> workplaces and communities. As author Alison Wertheimer has described,
'suicide ... is
> rather like throwing a stone into a pond; the ripples spread and spread'.2
But the story is
> much bigger than this - many more people struggle with life and live with
their stories.
>
> And for some people, these are stories of discrimination. Discrimination
and mental
> health issues are inextricably linked. The conditions and experiences of
discrimination
> can lead to years of confusion, alienation, marginalisation and bullying.
Tragically,
> these types of experiences have been associated with the much higher rates
of suicide
> amongst gay and lesbian young people, for example. One national study
indicated that
> their suicide rate is four times that of heterosexual young people and is
generally
> occurring at a much earlier age - at just 15 years.3
>
> In his book, David tells us his story about living with suicidal impulses
and makes his
> own contribution to the research and methodology of suicidology. David
reminds us
> that sometimes, medical explanations and interventions can get in the way
of
> understanding the suicidal impulse. Fundamentally, he speaks of the
importance of
> listing to people's first-person knowledge and he tells of spiritual
wisdom and an
> understanding of the whole Self as a key to healing for him.
>
> While I am not endorsing any particular approach to health care (and
indeed nor is
> David in this work), he raises some important human rights issues for us
to consider
> and learn from.
>
> Human rights are those rights one needs to live a dignified life - a life
worthy of a
> human being. Yet people who experience psychological distress are often
subject to a
> wide range of human rights violations, including discrimination.
>
> Here in Victoria, the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities
recognises that all
> people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Public authorities
have an
> obligation to uphold these basic human rights and to take a human
rights-based
> approach to their work - to the way they make decisions, create laws, set
policies and
> provide services.
>
> What does this mean for mental health services? It means that people have
the right to
> participate in decisions that affect them - having a say in defining their
own best
> interests, in articulating their needs and in designing their own
solutions. As David puts
> so well in his book, 'suicide prevention needs to hear from those who know
suicide
> "from the inside"'. This is what a human rights-based approach is all
about. We need to
> put the suicidal person in the conversation, recognise their dignity and
individual
> autonomy as a human being.
>
> There are of course many different views about what this means in
practice. But having
> an open conversation in the community about it is vital and I congratulate
David on his
> important contribution.
>
>
________________End of message________________
This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).
Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask]
Archives and tools are located at:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.
|