Holding the event involves workplaces, schools, social clubs, senior citizen clubs etc to wear (self supplied) coloured socks or stockings during one day of the week, and making a donation of a gold coin for the privilege.
We would greatly appreciate your support with this endeavour and hope it is a fun day for all.
Enamel sock pins (1inch diameter) are now available for $3 each. If you wish to order or buy please contact head office or vist our website (Donate/Shop Page) to place your order.
- Top
_________________________________________________________________________________
WISH LIST
“DONATIONS TAX DEDUCTIBLE”
Stamps, Copy Paper, DL Envelopes, Volunteers Aust/Wide
OR YOU MAY LIKE TO DONATE
1. Via our credit card facility posted on our Website www.whitewreath.com then follow the instructions.
2. Directly/Direct Transfer into any Westpac Bank
Account Name White Wreath Association Ltd
BSB No 034-109 Account No 210509
3. Cheque/Money Order to White Wreath Association Ltd
PO Box 1078 , Browns Plains Qld 4118
WE ARE NOW TAX DEDUCTIBLE
- Top
_________________________________________________________________________________
CORRESPONENCE
My name is L B and I am currently living in the UK. My brother David who suffers from schizophrenia lives in…. He has been ill for many years and has attempted suicide on a number of occasions. My brother is very trusting, naive and unfortunately people tend to take advantage of him. I am particularly concerned at the moment as he has got himself involved with a woman and her family who appear to have many problems which David has become involved in. The woman and her ex-husband are apparently in court next week on criminal charges and my brother as far as I can make out is being interviewed. He lives in sheltered housing, which has been provided by the government. He tells me that because of his contact with this woman they are threatening to evict him. I know it’s a big ask but can you point me in the right direction as I don’t know where to start. If he lived here he would have a social worker that he could contact but I don’t think one would be available to him where he is, so basically he is on his own. I am intending to return to Australia at the end of the year but that is no help to him at the moment.
Many thanks ..L
Hi Fanita
I wanted to thank you for the wonderful job you are doing with the White Wreath Association to remember all the people who have died from suicide, like your son.
I attended today's remembrance service in the city and I am at a loss for words to describe how I felt. I was touched and saddened by the amount of white wreaths on the lawn in Queens Park and as you said, that's only a small amount of the real percentage of suicides. I bought a wreath to remember my uncle and friends who have passed and left a page of photos and a poem on top of the wreath. I also purchased several lapel pins to send to my Nana, my mother and other relatives.
I was interviewed by the ABC news crew at the ceremony and I'm pleased you managed to get some TV coverage to raise awareness. I am in public relations myself and manage many press conferences and event launches for various clients so it was strange to be on the other side of the TV camera for once! By all means let me know if you require assistance with publicity or media because I would be happy to help out.
I am keen on becoming a member of your organisation and will ask other family members if they too are interested. I would like to also tell my story as part of your promotional messages so I will write something and send it to you.
Are you involved in planning White Wreath Day events for other states? Relatives of my uncle are located in South Australia and Sydney and I believe they would like to attend services in coming years.
Once again, thank you and I will be in touch.
Kind regards
J A
Briefly, my name is D B and I live in Fairfax Virginia. I am sending this email for a very good friend of mine that does not currently have access to the internet.
My friends name is D and she lives in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Her mother committed suicide 16 years ago.
D got sober 2 ½ years ago and is doing very well at the moment in the AA program. However, as typical of someone on their journey in recovery, the alcoholic will eventually come face to face with a lot of the painful past they choose to ignore by using alcohol. In fact, the AA program teaches us that these are usually the very things that may have caused alcoholics to hide in alcohol in the first place. In D’s case, her mothers suicide was certainly part of her problem and continues to haunt her.
She has made some efforts to contact support groups in the Atlantic City area with very limited success. I was wondering if you have any guidance to impart on this matter.
Thank you so, so, so much for your time.
D
- Top
_________________________________________________________________________________
CAMERON'S DIARY
Sadly he took his life October 2006
I dream about my children
My beautiful daughter and son
I want them to be as proud of me
As I am of them
And above all I want them to believe
That I am not a loser.
I dream of having a job
Where my workmates don’t make cracks
About my mental state
Or think I am some sort of a freak
I dream one day
They will learn and try to understand
That I am a human being too with real feelings.
I dream about a relationship
Somewhere down the track
I dream of meeting a soul mate
Who will not try to mould or manipulate me
I want us both to be honest with each other
I want her to know the REAL me –
Not the one at the moment trapped inside
A vortex of drugs and pills and pain
After all they say there is somebody out there for everyone.
I dream that one day I will fly down the highway
On a Harley – free as the breeze and experience
The vibrant colours of life – the blue of the sky
The green of the trees and feel
The soft rain on my face as I ride
I don’t want to be locked up any more in this world
Where there is no hope
And the only colours of my life are black and red –
Black for my moods
And red for my pain
I dream of the fellow sufferers I have met in hospital
Over the years
I have learned to know how they feel
I dream that they too will get out and have a go
Just like I have tried to do
Even if they are told they are nothing
I want them to know that they are really somebody
I say to them, “Have a go mate and to hell
With what others think!”
So these are my dreams
My kids, a job, a happy relationship;
A “Harley”, my fellow sufferers finding peace.
But most of all I dream of being a worthwhile person
Just doing the ordinary things in Life;
In fact just being able to cope
One day at a time;
For a start this will do,
Then I’ll have it all, Mate;
And my life will be real!
- Top
_________________________________________________________________________________
MENTAL ILLNESS TERMINOLOGY
A brief description of the mental illnesses that are most frequently mentioned in the Mental Illness Report can be found below. This information is provided by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), a grassroots advocacy organization in the USA. This and further information can be accessed at www.nami.org. Information can also be accessed on the website of the National Institute of Mental Health.
Bipolar disorder, or manic depressive illness, is a serious brain disorder that causes extreme shifts in mood, energy, and functioning. It affects 2.3 million adults in the USA, and is characterized by episodes of mania and depression that can last from days to months. It can run in families. Bipolar disorder is a chronic and generally lifelong condition with recurring episodes that often begin in adolescence or early adulthood, and occasionally even in children. It generally requires lifelong treatment, and recovery between episodes is often poor.
Brain damage
Also of relevance to this report is the issue of serious brain damage that may be equivalent to mental retardation, but which would not be defined as such because it occurred not as a lifelong developmental disability, but as the result of an accident or other traumatic event. The case of Nicholas Hardy in Florida is instructive. In February 1993, 18-year-old Hardy shot himself in the head after he had shot and killed James Hunt, a police officer who had stopped Hardy and three other youths. The suicide attempt left Nicholas Hardy in a coma for several weeks, after which he slowly regained the ability to speak and walk. A competency hearing was held in August 1993 to determine if he could stand trial. He was found to be incompetent due to his self-inflicted brain damage, and he was sent to the Mentally Retarded Defendant Program at Florida State Hospital. There he received training in an effort to restore him to competency. In February 1995, he was found competent to stand trial, and on 14 February 1996, he was sentenced to death. In June 1998, the Florida Supreme Court re-evaluated the aggravating factors in the crime and found that they were outweighed by the mitigating circumstances. The Court noted that the neurological experts who had examined Hardy concluded that his brain damage meant that he "was no longer the same person who killed Sergeant Hunt." It commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment without parole.
Competence
Like insanity, competence is a legal, rather than medical, term. In the USA and many countries, an accused or convicted person must have a capacity to understand the legal process they face and the possible consequences of that process in order to be liable to trial or punishment. Competence must be demonstrated to proceed with a trial, with sentencing the prisoner or with carrying out an execution.
Dissociative disorders
These are so called because they are marked by a dissociation from or interruption of a person's fundamental aspects of consciousness (such as one's identity and history). There are many forms, the best known of which is dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder) where an individual has one or more distinct identity or personality that surfaces on a recurring basis. All of the dissociative disorders are thought to stem from trauma experienced by the sufferer.
Insanity
The definition of insanity is a legal rather than medical concept. The first concept of insanity was drawn from English common law (the M'Naghten Rule) and stated that accused persons were absolved of criminal responsibility if they were incapable of understanding their action or its wrongfulness. A finding of insanity could lead to acquittal on these grounds. More recently the concept of "volition" – the capacity of the person to ensure that their behaviour conforms to the law – was introduced in US jurisprudence. A person unable to conform to legal requirements may be ruled to have a diminished level of responsibility.
Major depression
Major depression is a serious medical illness affecting nearly 10 million people in the USA in any given year. It can significantly interfere with an individual's thoughts, behaviour, mood, activity, and physical health. Left untreated, depression can lead to suicide.
Mental disorder
This term encompasses all types of problem with mental function including mental illness, arrested or incomplete development of mind (known as mental retardation), psychopathic disorder and any other disorder or disability of the mind.
Mental illness
This term refers to disorders of thought, mood or behaviour. They are unrelated to intelligence and many can be treated effectively. Examples include depression, anxiety, and psychosis.
Mental retardation
This refers to arrested or incomplete development of intellectual capacity. It starts in childhood and is irreversible. It is not curable, though education and training can improve the life skills of many of those with this disability.
Organic brain syndrome
Organic brain syndrome (also known as organic mental disorder, chronic organic brain syndrome). Organic brain syndrome is a general term referring to physical disorders of the brain arising from disease or trauma that cause decreased mental function such as problems with attention, concentration and memory, confusion, anxiety and depression.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can occur after someone experiences a traumatic event that caused intense fear, helplessness, or horror. The traumatic events can include war, childhood abuse, rape, natural disasters, accidents and captivity. Symptoms include re-experiencing (e.g. nightmares, flashbacks, hallucinations); avoidance (e.g. lack of recall of the traumatic event, limited range of emotion, feelings of detachment from others, feelings of hopelessness about the future); and increased arousal (e.g. inability to sleep, irritability, outbursts of anger, inability to concentrate, watchfulness, jumpiness).
This illness is characterized by a combination of symptoms of schizophrenia and an affective (mood) disorder. Today, most clinicians and researchers agree that it is primarily a form of schizophrenia. For a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, a person must have primary symptoms of schizophrenia (such as delusions, hallucinations or disorganized speech or behaviour) as well as prolonged symptoms of major depression or a manic episode.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a devastating brain disorder that affects approximately 2.2 million adults in the USA. Schizophrenia interferes with a person's ability to think clearly, to distinguish reality from fantasy, to manage emotions, make decisions and relate to others. The first signs of schizophrenia typically emerge in the teenage years or early 20s. Most people with schizophrenia suffer chronically or episodically throughout their lives, and are often stigmatized by a lack of public understanding about the disease. A person with schizophrenia does not have a "split personality", and almost all people with schizophrenia are not dangerous or violent towards others when they are receiving treatment. The World Health Organization has identified schizophrenia as one of the 10 most debilitating diseases affecting humans. Symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations – hearing or seeing voices or things that are not there – and delusions such as believing that people are reading their mind, controlling their thoughts or plotting against them.
This information is adapted from that provided by the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, and MedicineNet.com
- Top
