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Fire Saturday 8 September 2007
Aboriginal & Islander Health Worker Journal - Nov/Dec 2006
Mentally Ill Turned Away - Courier Mail Aug 2006
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The Australian Weekend Magazine Oct 2005
The Australian WeekendMagazine Oct 2005 The White Wreath Association Inc Director Fanita Clark apologises unreservedly to my husbands side of our family for the error of one sentence/phrase "I found out after my mother-In-Law suicided"as this is factually incorrect and this was an error by the reporter. |
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Mt Gambier South Australia 2004
Push To Prevent Suicide
The Age newspaper
29 May 2002
Suicide and depression a big worry
By Olivia Hill-Douglas
May 30 2002
Picture: Joe Armao |
Wreaths are laid on the steps of Parliament House yesterday in memory of the victims of suicide. White Wreath Day is dedicated to increasing awareness of suicide. |
Young people in Australia rank suicide and depression as the most important issues facing them and their peers, a national survey has found.
More than 2500 young people, mostly aged from 12 to 17, were asked to rank their concerns by community service organisation Mission Australia.
Suicide and depression was ranked first among the top three concerns by 53 per cent of respondents. This was followed by abuse and sexual assault and drugs, including alcohol, both listed by 39 per cent of respondents. Other worries were bullying, school-related issues, homelessness, unemployment and family issues.
More girls than boys were concerned about suicide and depression. Sixty per cent of girls rated it their top concern, compared with 42 per cent of boys.
"Particularly for young women, depression and suicide is a serious issue," said Mission Australia's Claire Field. "Suicide is often highlighted in the media and it is talked about at a general level in the community."
There were differences in the concerns listed by boys and girls. Boys rated family issues as their top concern (45 per cent), followed by depression and suicide, and alcohol and drugs.
Girls rated suicide and depression as their top concern, followed by abuse and sexual assault (44 per cent), and alcohol and drugs (41 per cent).
The survey was conducted online, through a popular magazine, and in schools and TAFE colleges. It found 87 per cent of young people were most likely to turn to a friend for help with a personal problem. Parents were next on the list, followed by a family friend or relative.
The suicide rate in Australia in 2000 was 12.2 deaths per 100,000 of population.
In the 25-34 age group, there were 20.1 deaths per 100,000.
In the 15-24 group, there were 12.5 deaths per 100,000.
Mental Health Foundation of Victoria chairman Professor Graham Burrows said one in five people would suffer from a depressive illness, a major cause of suicide, during their lives. "Of them probably only one in 25 who are diagnosed with depression get to a psychiatrist," he said. Symptoms of depression include disturbed sleep, lowered mood, feelings of hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, and headaches.
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Brisbane News
Edition 7-13 August 2002
Northern News
(Quest Newspapers)
29th August 2002
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Two years on, a young father's unheeded cry for help haunts his family 
Picture: SIMON O'DWYER
Flawed system failed Daniel at every turn
Grieving: Joan Castree, left, with Whitney, 4, and her daughter, Jo-lene Castree, with Mykie, 2, and Aleshia, 4.
By CLAIRE HALLIDAY
Whitney and Aleshia were two years old when they found their father hanging in the garage. More than two years later, it's an image that still disturbs the twins.
Their mother, Jo-lene Castree, 22, shares the memory of that day in January, 1999. That she felt sure the day would come hasn't made it any easier to accept.
"I knew that Daniel was going to die but there was nothing I could do," she says. Her husband, Daniel Chambers, was 22 when he committed suicide.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Daniel was just one of 2492 deaths that year attributed to "intentional self harm".
Fanita Clark, Director and founder of the Brisbane based White Wreath Association, believes Daniel's story is sadly typical.
This year, what began as a way to commemorate the 1999 death of Fanita Clark's own son, Jason, 19, National White Wreath Day, on May 29, has been added to the national health events calendar.
The association has offices in Brisbane, Townsville, Perth and Melbourne and is implementing support in Sydney, Canberra and Hobart. In Geelong, Jo-lene's mother, Joan Castree, 48, is the official contact and organiser of the local service.
Joan believes problems in the health system need to be changed. The attitude towards confidentiality issues, she says, is the main thing. "Getting Daniel help was totally impossible because they wouldn't talk to any of us about his case. They couldn't discuss his case with anyone else but him."
In the midst of depressive or psychotic episode though, in which he would often smash windows and punch walls, Daniel was in no mood to come to the telephone. |
On the day he died, Jo-lene was trying to get help from the mental health service. Told that his case couldn't be discussed with her, she was asked to bring Daniel to the phone.
"He just laught at me. Just laughed at me and walked out to the garage. That was the last time I saw him," Jo-lene says.
She remained on the phone, telling the person on the other end that she needed intervention, that her husband was going to kill himself. She said he had locked himself in the garage, hoping they would take her seriously.
"They told me people don't go into a garage to kill themselves. They said he'd get in the car and leave the house if he was going to do it."
The response from the police was just as frustrating. With Daniel's past aggressive behavior already known to them, they told her to "leave the bastard".
"That's not what he needed. Daniel needed help," Jo-lene says.
She was on the phone again when she heard a strange noise. "I walked into the garage and the girls were both hanging on to his legs and saying, 'Daddy won't move'." She tried to get him down but couldn't. "He was already dead anyway."
Jo-lene believes Daniel was continually let down by the system. When police were called during a previous incident, the result was a court case a month before he died, with Daniel charged with resisting arrest. A combined sentence of community work and psychological counselling was agreed upon.
The next day Daniel was assigned community work, Jo-lene says. "But he never got his counselling."
When he did get an assessment appointment two days before he died, Jo-lene says he was excited.
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"He was saying, 'they're going to fix me'," she says. Instead, Daniel only saw a social worker. To Daniel, it seemed the final betrayal.
Despite stating his intention to commit suicide, he wasn't categorised as high risk because he couldn't tell the social worker when or how he intended to do it.
Although Jo-lene can't guarantee he would still be alive today if things had been handled differently, she feels that Daniel would not have died as hi did - on that Saturday in the garage in her back yard. Her mother agrees.
"It's a terminal illness," Joan says. "Daniel's trajectory towards death was so clear to anyone who knew him well.
"He was dying... He talked more and more of suicide. I'm not talking about cures. There's no cure for cancer or AIDS but they prolong life and make the person comfortable and they are working towards a cure.
"They need to do the same for suicide, because it is a disease. The mind is ill. It shuts down its normal function and homes in on death."
Joan's hope for this Tuesday, and future White Wreath Days, is that people left picking up their lives after a loved one's suicide will realise they are not alone.
"If it had just happened to us I would say, 'OK, we didn't know how to work the system', or that there was a breakdown in communication. But it's not just us. A lot of suicide victims left behind have the story we have; that's the real story.
"The government needs to spend just as much on suicide prevention as they do on anti smoking or road accidents. if you've got to wait 12 months, or even three weeks to get into counselling, that's too long when someone is in crisis. If you can keep someone alive just enough to change the system, you can help."
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Even if time is slowly healing the scars, the memories continue to emerge. While Joan was picking her husband up from work recently, she heard a choking sound from the back seat and turned to see Whitney playing with a piece of colored ribbon, wrapping it around her neck. "She said, 'If I put this around my neck I'll go to heaven to be with Daddy'," Joan says.
So, to counter their original stories of heaven as a wonderful place where "Daddy is happy", Joan and Jo-lene have had to amend the fairy tale.
"I told her that if she goes to heaven she can never, ever come back to see mummy. That Daddy can't ever come back, " Joan says.
Aleshia seems to have realized it. "Last week she came in to me and told me that it was time she had a new daddy, so I told her to speak to her mother, " Joan says. "She went to Jo-lene and said, 'Mum, I've got to find a new daddy but please let him live long. I don't want one that lives short'."
On May 29 a service to mark National White Wreath Day will be held at Rosanna Baptist Church, Rosanna, at 10:30am. In Geelong, a service will be held in Johnstone Park at noon.
www.whitewreath.com
(White Wreath Association) |
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Telstra.com - May 29, 2001
| Tragic history - White Wreath Day On May 29th, "White Wreath Day", thousands of wreaths are laid out across the country to remember those who have committed suicide. Wendy Champagne reports.
In 1999, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that two thousand four hundred and ninety-two people died of intentional self-harm in Australia. A further one thousand nine hundred and forty-four people died of mental disorders - including paranoia, schizophrenia, depressive disorder and dependence syndrome. Four thousand wreaths will be laid out across Australia to remember these people today.
May 29th holds special significance for White Wreath Association director Fanita Clark - it is the day her son Jason committed suicide in 1999. In the two years since Jason's death, Mrs Clark and a team of volunteers have worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the link between mental illness and suicide.
"Our focus is to try and stop these deaths from happening," says Mrs Clark. "This is one of the biggest epidemics this country has ever known, and yet the cover-up is enormous."
Suicide kills more people every year than motor accidents, and the trend is increasing. In August 2000, The Federal Health Minister Dr Wooldridge announced a new National Advisory Council for Suicide Prevention to help "address and minimise" the devastating impact of suicide on our communities. The council will widen its focus to include all the high-risk groups: young males, rural and remote residents, the elderly, people with mental illnesses, people in prison, people with substance abuse problems and indigenous Australians.
Fanita Clark has had first-hand experience of the inadequacies of the existing protocol for dealing with attempted suicide. Whereas a heart attack victim would be rushed to hospital, monitored, stabilised, medicated and then released, she claims that people who attempt suicide are lucky if they're even admitted to hospital." If it's a serious attempt, people are likely to remain in hospital a few days, given scripts for five or six weeks medication and then released back into the community with no follow-up whatsoever."
At the heart of the "White Wreath" campaign is a determination to rid society of the stigma attached to suicide. In many of us there is a mistaken belief of wilfulness or culpability on the part of the suicide victim, when in many cases there is an underlying mental illness fuelling the desire for death.
"No person in their right mind would attempt suicide," says Mrs Clark. When her son Jason first attempted suicide at nineteen, he was chastised by a medical attendant for "doing this to himself", prescribed 18 different medications with no remedial treatments and discharged. "I want people with serious problems like my son to be treated with respect and dignity; in exactly the same manner as people with other illnesses," says Mrs Clark.
Most illnesses draw families closer together yet suicide tears them apart, according to Fanita Clark. Warning signs amongst young people include withdrawal from friends, family and regular activities, anti-social behaviour, angry or aggressive outbursts and marked personality changes - all symptoms that place a great deal of pressure on parent/child relationships.
Suicide is now the leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year-olds in Australia and it's ranked seventh in terms of all recorded deaths in this country. Males are four times as likely to commit suicide as females, but twice as many females as males die as a direct consequence of their mental illness or drug dependence.
Depression and suicidal feelings are treatable psychological disorders and sufferers need to have their illness recognised, diagnosed and treated. The best thing you can do for a friend or family member who is feeling down is to listen to them and help them to open up without offering advice or judgement. Just be supportive. And most importantly, if suicide is mentioned or inferred, don't keep it a secret. Seek professional help immediately.
The ultimate goal of the White Wreath Association is to build an in/out patient care centre. "It will be a place of safety for people who have attempted suicide," says Fanita Clark. "Somewhere for them to go after their release from hospital where they can be monitored for a minimum of two or three weeks before returning into the community."
References: Write Wreath Association, Fanita Clark 07 3803 1266
Suicide - Year Book Australia 2000
Australian Bureau of Statistics - Death by Suicide 1999
National Advisory Council for Suicide Prevention
By Wendy Champagne
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Queensland Pride
Issue #107 April 2000
White wreaths on displayDear Editor,
Suicide has no boundaries and effects people from all walks of life.
Each of us can call to mind someone we know or have heard of who has committed suicide.
We ask Why? Often that question has never been answered.
The White Wreath Association was formed to support the families and friends of victims of suicide and to try to prevent suicide in the community.
Everyone is invited to share in a memorial service where we will remember those people who have died through suicide. 3000 White Wreaths with photographs will be laid in King George Square on April 19th. The memorial service will commence at 11am with guest speakers from the Association and the GLBT community, religious leaders and others.
You are invited to show your support by making a donation or becoming a member of the White Wreath Association.
Heather Creighton.
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The Chronical
20 April 2000
Memorial service highlights suicides tollBRISBANE: Hundreds of people took part in a memorial service in Brisbane yesterday for Australia's suicide victims.
Organiser Mrs Fanita Clark, whose son committed suicide almost 12 months ago, said governments were not doing enough to combat the problem.
"We hear all the time about the dangers of drink-driving, or prostate cancer and things like that, but we hear very little about the disastrous effects of mental illness and stress," Mrs Clark said.
"It is important to remove the stigmas associated with suicide and to make governments and the public understand the victims are not just statistics but dearly loved family members."
Statistics show suicides easily outnumber road fatalities as the cause of death in Australia.
The national road toll last year was 1731, 952 below the suicide figure.
Yesterday's memorial service was the second of its kind in Australia following the inaugural White Wreath Service in Canberra last November, attended by government leaders including the Prime Minister.
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City & Shire Leader
25 April 2000
Timely reminderTHOUSANDS of people attended White Wreath Day in Brisbane last Wednesday.
The memorial day aimed to create awareness of the high level of suicide in Australia. It was organised by Heritage Park's Fanita Clark, whose son Jason committed suicide last year.
As part of the service at King George Square, photos of victims, letters from those affected and 3000 white wreaths were displayed.
The wreaths represented the 2683 people who committed suicide in Australia last year.
Mrs Clark said thousands of people attended the event. Speakers included Opposition health spokeswoman Fiona Simpson, Federal Member for Rankin Craig Emerson and Dr Wendell Rosevear.
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Veteran Affairs Newspaper
May 2000
'God weeps with us' 
White wreaths, notes and photographs form a memorial
for suicide victims in Brisbane's King George Square.
SUICIDE was not only a personal tragedy, but a tragedy for God and the community, according to Bishop Ron Williams.
"I believe that God weeps with us," he told family members and friends of suicide victims at the White Wreath Memorial Service held in King George Square, Brisbane, on April 19.
"Can we, through this remembering of love and its tragic separation from us through suicide, make, as an Australian community, a fresh commitment to the ministry of acceptance, belonging and hope, which as a Christian, I find in the life of Jesus Christ, who is God's expression of deep and abiding love for every one of God's creations?" Bishop Williams said.
He said it was significant that the event, organised by the White Wreath Association, took place during Holy Week.
"We watch through the Passion, suffering and death of Jesus and celebrate His victory over death, and reality of His new life, and the hope that brings," he said.
More than 3000 white wreaths were laid in the square, each bearing the name of a suicide victim; some with photographs
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Breaking 'silence' for suicide victimsSUICIDE is not often discussed in public.
It tends to be confined to whispered conversations behind hands or closed doors.
For many victims of suicide - those left behind - this silence is heavy with grief, guilt and blame from others.
But one former Burdekin resident has vowed to break the silence.
Susan Brabon-Whitton will mark the anniversary of her fiance, Phil Whitton's suicide with the publication of poetry written by the couple.
"Most of it was written before Phil died but I have written some since he passed away," she said.
"I'm sure people who have been in a similar situation can relate to it," she said.
Ms Brabon-Whitton said she felt she could not face the small Burdekin community after her fiance's death.
She said Phil had been a well-liked and popular man around town and it had been a struggle to work through her feelings in order to carry on with her life and be there for their two children.
"People just don't want to talk about it so you get angry, make excuses... you blame yourself," she said.
Ms Brabon-Whitton finally turned to an organisation called White Reef - which offered supoort and counselling to victims of suicide.
She said all proceeds from the sale of the book would be donated to the group which was trying to raise money to conduct a memorial service in North Queensland.
"The book is called ;Life Cycles: A Collection of Poems About Love and Life and Death," she said.
"I'm publishing about 100 and they will only be sold in the Burdekin.
"It is my little way of celebrating his memory."
The book 'Life Cycles' will be for sale in Woods Newsagency, Ayr.
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Veteran Affairs Newspaper
September 2000
Support for people affected by suicideWhite Wreath Association Inc is an organisation supporting victims of suicide. It is a non-denominational, non-political and anti discriminatory body that will support people who have been directly affected by suicide and those who are affected by mental illness.
Its first aim is to promote awareness by educating the public to the alarming increase in suicide deaths and mental illness within the society in which we live and the urgent need to try to combat this epidemic. The Association will be holding Memorial Services to focus media and public attention onto this very serious health issue, leading to a National Day in Canberra each November.
Secondly, it intends to approach governments on the urgent need to make change to the confidentiality laws to acknowledge that carers and families of people with mental illness must be informed of their loved one's treatment at the time these people are least able to care for themselves. They will then know how to care for their home environment.
The Association would like to remove the unfounded myths and stigmas often associated with suicide. It is aiming to raise funds through sponsorship, fundraising events and the sale of miniature White Wreath badges to ultimately result in the establishment of In-Outpatient care centre for people with mental illness where no one will be denied treatment.
Finally, the Association wants to remind the whole of Australia that every life is precious, that these people are not just statistics but dearly loved human beings, loved by their families and carers.
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The Tuggeranong Chronicle
14 November 2000
Wreathed in tears 
Picture: HARINA SMITH
FIONA Lee, of Kambah, (below) reflects on the loss of her husband, one of many suicide victims remembered at the White Wreath Day ceremony outside Parliament House last Wednesday.
After Michael Lee took his own life in April, Fiona found a lack of support services for those who have lost loved ones to suicide. Although she was fortunate to have the support of family and friends, she wondered about those that did not have such help.
She and her children, Kayla, 8, and Matthew, 3, attend a support group for children who have lost a parent.
She said it was important that people become more aware of the issue of suicide. Her husband had depression for 18 months and felt as though he was the only person in the world with the problem.
Fiona said it was important to ensure people did not feel ashamed about seeking help.
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The Australian Magazine 53 November 18 - 19 2000
Fanita Clark reflects after the memorial service
for her son Jason at the Gold Coast's Broadbeach,
just one of the places he loved to surf.
Australia's suicide rate exceeds our road toll, yet little has been done to redress it.
One victim's mother began her own campaign of awareness.
WASTED LIVES
Story Matt Thrower - photography Andrew Merry
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 Above: Wreaths laid at the service, in the shadow of the Gold Coast monorail
Top left: A mourner at the Broadbeach memorial service.
Left: Fanita Clark's son, Jason. |
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Fanita Clark's Brisbane house is a typically neat, comfortable suburban home with photos on the mantelpiece - each showing a smiling, seemingly contented and carefree family. There is also a school formal photograph of her teenage son Jason, a handsome young man with long, blond hair, wearing a tuxedo and grinning happily. He looks the perfect picture of youthful health and vitality.
But on May 29, 1999, Jason Clark, then 19, put himself in the path of an oncoming train after a long battle with depression. His ashes were scattered at Kirra Beach on the Gold Coast, one of the places he used to surf. For his mother it was a jolting, horrific introduction to the issue of suicide. Stung by the frustration of her own experiences in trying to get treatment for her son's illness, Clark formed an organisation to create awareness about Australia's suicide epidemic and to inspire action to treat it. It became known as the White Wreath Association.
The most recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the grim reality of the problem: in 1998, 2683 people died of suicide in Australia (2150 males and 533 females). In the same period, 1731 people died in road accidents.
Clark organised the inaugural White Wreath Day in front of Parliament House, Canberra, on November 24, 1999. Both the Prime Minister, John Howard, and Opposition Leader Kim Beazley looked upon 2723 wreaths laid in memory of those who committed suicide in 1997.
"People look at these displays and they can't believe what they see," Clark says. "They can't believe that each wreath represents a life lost in a year in Australia.
"I was probably like everybody else. I didn't know what was happening with my son. When my son finally admitted, 'Mum, I do need help', there was just a sigh of relief. I thought, 'Thank God, Jason, you've admitted you've got a problem.' I felt so relieved, thinking, 'Okay, you've admitted it, now we can get help.'
"But that was the beginning of the end, because of the lack of treatment, the lack of information, the lack of support. What I went through trying to get help, I wouldn't wish upon anybody. I praised my son, because admitting you have a problem is extremely hard for people."
But Clark says that when she and her son sought professional help, she was shut out. "If we wanted to be involved in any of his treatment, they said, 'I'm sorry, Mrs Clark, Jason's over 18, if he doesn't want you to be there, we can't involve you.'
"I said, 'I'm his Mum, he's living in our house, I want to help." But I had no involvement whatsoever because of the confidentiality law.
"People don't commit suicide," she adds. " 'Commit' is a murderous act. These people are suffering some form of mental illness. They're not capable of making sane decisions like you and me. My son was a beautiful, handsome boy. You see him and think there's nothing wrong with him, but it's an illness of the mind. No sane person would kill themselves. A sane person wouldn't even injure themselves. Their [depressed people's] thoughts are distorted."
This year's White Wreath Day took place on Wednesday, November 8 in Canberra, where ALP parliamentarians Joel Fitzgibbon, the shadow minister for small business, and backbencher Craig Emerson laid a wreath for fallen colleague Greg Wilton, the former federal member for the Victorian seat of Isaacs who took his own life earlier this year after a protracted battle with depression. Also attending were Labor frontbenchers Dr Carmen Lawrence and Cheryl Kernot.
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The Age newspaper, 25 November 1999
Remembering those who took their own lives John Howard (left) and Kim Beazley with
Fanita Clark at White Wreath Day at Parliament House.
Picture: PAUL HARRIS
By DARREN GRAY
CANBERRA
The messages were short but they said plenty. Some simply contained a single name - "Ian", "Paul" or "Naomi".
Others were more expansive, "Twenty years", "Aged 24 years. Train", "Jumped off bridge, aged 20", and "Aged 21 years, hung himself".
The messages attached to the 2723 wreaths laying in front of Parliament House yesterday all told the same tragic tale. All remembered suicide victims.
The white plastic wreaths, laid out in a large square, represented the 2723 suicides recorded in Australia in 1997, the latest year for which figures are available. There were enough to cover a small sports field.
Mr Andrew Watson, 31, was at yesterday's inaugural White Wreath Day in Canberra to remember his youngest brother, Paul, who took his own life two-and-a-half-years ago, aged only 25.
Paul's dog "Spyder", now cared for by Mr Watson, was also there.
He described his youngest brother as an active young man, much loved by his family and friends, a man who loved the outdoors and a four-wheel-drive and water ski enthusiast.
He also described the hurt felt by his family when his brother suddenly took his own life, in his bedroom, inside the family home on Anzac Day in 1997.
"It was a shocking tragedy for my mother and father. It was devastation and something that they will never ever get over," Mr Watson said.
"For me it just left a big hole in my heart that will never, ever, ever be filled. It's a loss that I will always be asking why."
Raising the awareness of a silent cancer in modern Australian society, a subject too often regarded as taboo, was crucial, Mr Watson said.
The organiser and force behind White Wreath Day, Mrs Fanita Clark, had made many of the plastic wreaths laid out on the lawn. One was for her son Jason.
"My son, Jason Dean Clark, aged 19, thought he had no future. He was diagnosed with mental illness, lost all hope, and on the 29th of May 1999, he laid himself on a train track," she told the gathering.
Despite attempting suicide twice on one day, Mrs Clark said her son's predicament was underestimated by the public health system. And she strongly criticised laws that precluded her from being involved in her young son's medical treatment.
The 1998 suicide statistics will be released on Monday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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Transcript of the Prime Minister, the Hon. John Howard MP Address on White Wreath Day,Parliament House,
Canberra
Well thank you very much Mr Chairman, to Mrs Clark, to Kim Beazley, my other Parliamentary colleagues, ladies and gentleman. I would like first of all to express I’m sure the admiration and respect of all of us for the great courage that Fanita displayed today. Her initiative to inaugurate white wreath day not only in memory of her son Jason, but also to represent to the broader community the suffering and loss of parents and other loved ones for those who for whatever combination of reasons take their own lives.
I guess all of us as Members of Parliament, and there are a lot of us here today from all sides of politics, have difficult experiences in our constituency work. I have to say the most traumatic moments I’ve had as a local member is to sit down and talk to the parents of a child who’s taken his or her life, to listen to their story of the frustration, the sense of loss, the disappointment, the sheer agony and the tragedy that is involved, and the waste of human life particularly but not only young life that is involved in suicides. And can I say Fanita, this is not the first occasion that I’ve had parents complain to me about the perversity of confidentiality laws, the way they operate within our public health system. And this is not meant to be a knee-jerk reflection on those laws but your testimony today prompts all of us, the Government, Opposition, State and Federal to perhaps look at whether those laws designed to protect the privacy of the individual are not in fact working to deprive those closest to people at risk of necessary information. I’ve had a number of parents in my own electorate who’ve gone through the trauma that you’ve experienced express the same concern to me.
There’s nothing that any political leader can say today that can in any way adequately respond to the anguish and the sense of loss that we’ve heard represented to us today. But what we can do is to express concern, to express understanding, to congratulate all of those who’ve been associated with bringing this day together and I particularly want to compliment the ACT Trades and Labour Council for the work that they did, and the other unions associated with the ACT Council for the work they did in bringing this day together.
The Government itself in the last budget set aside $48 million in a program entitled "It’s All About Living" which was designed to cover some of the areas where governments can be of assistance. But no amount of money, no one single program can effectively respond to this growing challenge within our community. We have an appallingly high suicide rate amongst young males in rural and regional areas of our country. But as Mrs Clark pointed out, it’s not just restricted to young people. Suicide can claim the lives of people in old age and in middle age and some extremely young children. And it challenges all of us. There’s no one single explanation as to why it happens. There are many reasons. The loss of motivation, the sense of alienation, inability to get a job, a sense that there are no longer any moral constraints on any kind of behaviour in our community. All of these things together contribute, and there’s no one single explanation that fits each and every individual case.
But I would like if you take nothing else away from today’s gathering Fanita, I would like you to take away from this gathering a bipartisan expression of compassion, a statement that we are endeavouring to understand the magnitude of the grief that you feel. As a parent the loss of one of my children would be unimaginable whatever the circumstances. And I can only begin to try and understand how you feel. To say to you that we do care about people in your situation. We will try and learn more about it. We will try and help more. And it’s one of those issues that unites all of us as Australians irrespective of our political belief, and irrespective of our background and our attitudes on other issues.
I think you’ve been an incredibly courageous lady in organising today. I congratulate you. I admire your courage and fortitude. I congratulate all of those who have helped you. I know your local member Craig Emerson has worked very hard, and I know that the ACT Trades and Labour Council and others have worked extremely hard and you can see from the cross party gathering today that this is something above and beyond party politics as it ought to be, and I hope today will make a difference because this is an enormous social challenge for our nation, and it’s something that all of us have a role in responding to. Thank you
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Queensland Newspaper
Fight to remove stigma and to clear up myths
By ELAINE WILSON
SITTING in a quiet corner of a Broadbeach cafe discussing the aims of the White Wreath Association, Fanita Clark suddenly points at a man sipping coffee a few table away.
"Suppose that man suddenly fell on the floor suffering a heart attack," she says. "How would people react?
"What would happen is they would all rush round to see if he was OK, loosen his clothes to help him breath, someone would call an ambulance, he'd be taken to hospital, doctors and nurses would swarm around, he'd be given tests, sent to specialists and get ongoing treatment."
But, she said, suppose the man stood there and polled out a knife and slashed his wrists - people's reaction would be totally different.
"They'd pull back in horror and not want to get involved, they'd call an ambulance but they'd say 'He's stupid' or 'He deserves what he gets'.
"If he was lucky, he'd be sent to hospital for a day or maybe two and then released and sent home with a heap of medication and told to come back in a month.
"Why are people who attempt suicide treated so differently from people with any other serious condition - it's a mental illness and they need to be treated, not brushed aside."
Fanita said the White Wreath Association's own research showed that in 100 per cent of cases where people had attempted suicide, they would eventually 'complete the job'. She said it was also a common misconception that people who talked about committing suicide wouldn't do so - they do.
Yet Fanita said the association had reams of anecdotal evidence to show that people who attempted suicide were fobbed off by the medical profession and by society.
The experience with her own son, she said, was typical.
"What I went through as a parent I wouldn't wish upon anybody," she said. "For months Jason had been having mood swings and was very depressed and I said to him something was wrong and he should see the doctor.
"Finally, in December 1998, he agreed and the doctor referred him to the mental health clinic, where they put him on medication and sent him home and said 'Come back in four weeks'.
"I'd been crying myself to sleep every night worrying about him, so at first I thought, great - he's admitted he has a problem and he's going to get help. It was like a great weight off my shoulders.
"But as soon as he went to this new doctor they invoked the confidentiality clause and said I was not allowed to be involved in his treatment or even know anything about what was going on...
"If it was any other illness it would be different but because it's a mental illness, these shutters come down."
In February, Jason attempted twice to kill himself - the second time by overdosing on his prescribed medication. But after three days in a mental health unit he was sent home - with more drugs.
In May he laid himself in front of a train.
Through the whole ordeal, Jason had been living at home but his family had been excluded from involvement in his case.
Fanita said the 'Don't want to know' attitude was not confined to the medical profession - the stigma of mental illness extended throughout society so families were generally left to cope alone.
A poignant letter to the White Wreath Association from a grieving father tells the story.
In part he wrote: 'My son's suicide is no less a tragedy to me and I believe he was as much a victim to the ills of our society as were the victims of the Port Arthur massacre.
"But they are at least, rightfully, received a great deal of help and perhaps some comfort in society's response and support."
"Only with caring, compassion and the facilities to take care of our children can fight this epidemic of despair."
The White Wreath Association, with its subtitle: Action Against Suicide, is determined to lead that fight.
"Society must be made aware and must understand. People who commit suicide are sick... and it's the system which kills them," she said.
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Queensland Newspaper
Families could cut suicide toll
Carla Bassu at yesterday's White Wreath Day at Broadbeach
By Rachael Templeton
CARLA Bassu was surrounded by a sea of flowers but there was little to smile about.Each one of the 3000 white wreaths represented the suicide of an Australian.
Carla was among the friends and relatives of suicide victims who gathered in Broadbeach yesterday at a special memorial service.
Carla, an Italian exchange student, was a friend of of 19-year-old Jason Clark, who committed suicide in May last year.
The memorial service was told the trauma of suicide was exacerbated because family and friends of victims often were not aware problems were brewing. "Jason was funny and nice. I couldn't believe something so bad could happen to him to make him make this decision," said Carla. The service was told that relatives wanted doctor-patient confidentiality clauses for sufferers of mental illness changed.
Speakers said health guidelines made it difficult for relatives to be alerted to the fact that someone was considering suicide.
They were told more Australians died from suicide every year than were killed in road accidents.
The comments were made at the annual White Wreath Day, an initiative of the White Wreath Association.
A sea of white-flowered garlands, each laid in memory of a suicide victim and many accompanied by a photograph and name, covered the ground of Victoria Park.
White Wreath Association founder and mother of Jason Clark, Fanita, said her family had been prevented from helping him because doctors would not reveal the extent of his mental illness.
"We as a family were not allowed to be involved with my son's treatment because of confidentiality clauses. "He was deemed an adult and we were excluded from his treatment totally. "Within six months of his diagnonsis (of paranoia, schizophrenia and severe depression), my son killed himself. "Two months earlier, my son tried to kill himself twice in one day. (But) we were still told by the public health system that our son was OK. "Our family's concerns or opinions were never acknowledged or taken into account." She said that decisions regarding mental health patients' treatment should be left to families when an illness affected a person's judgement.
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Queensland Newspaper
White Wreath Day tomorrowA WHITE Wreath Memorial Service will be held tomorrow in King George Square, in Brisbane. About 3000 white wreaths will be laid in memory of the victims of suicide.
Everyone who had a loved one die by suicide is invited to attach a photo to a wreath in memory of their loved one.
The wreaths signify the number of Australians who take their own lives every year.
The Bundaberg chapter of Compassionate Friends will have some members travelling to Brisbane to attend this service and will take down photos to place with wreaths. The members are happy to take down photos of lost loved ones for those unable to attend this ceremony.
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The Reporter
Wreath ServiceCOUNCILLOR John Grant will attend the Brisbane Wreath Memorial Service to be held in King George Square on April 19 for the victims of suicide.
The White Wreath Association was recently incorporated in Queensland by founding Director, Fanita Clark.
The Association provides education on suicide and supports the families and loved ones of suicide victims.
The community-based Association is non-political and non-discriminatory.
Guest speakers will include the General Secretary of Queensland Council of Unions, John Thompson, Shadow Minister for Health, Fiona Simpson, Anglican Bishop, Ron Williams, Federal Member for the City Country Alliance, Bill Feldman, representatives from ATSIC, Fanita Clark and others.
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Adelaide Newspaper
Family Memories in a Field of Grief
Fanita Clark, a suicide victim's mother, among the wreaths in front of Parliament House in Canberra yesterday.
2723 wreaths for suicide victims
PRIME Minister John Howard came face to face yesterday with the stark reality of Australia's rising suicide rate.
Laid out like a carpet in front of Parliament House in Canberra were 2723 wreaths - one for each person who took his or her own life during 1997.
Other wreaths, also placed by relatives of victims, marked more deaths in the past two years.
Mr Howard was joined at the launch of the first commemorative White Wreath Day by MPs including Opposition Leader Kim Beazley and relatives of the thousands of Australians who have committed suicide.
Each wreath bore testimoney to lives needlessly cut short - such as Martin, 24, who shot himself in 1998, and Tim, 12, who hanged himself in the family backyard.
"I will never understand why went away," a family member had written on one wreath. Organiser Fanita Clark, of Brisbane, told MPs and still-grieving parents how her 19-year-old son Jason, diagnosed with mental illness, lay in front of a train to end his life in May this year.
Mrs Clark called for the Government to change confidentiality laws that prevented parents from being consulted on problems suffered by their children and thus providing help when it was most needed.
"It seems the decision on care is taken out of the hands of the family and put in the hands of the sufferer," she said.
The message to me was: you can't help others to help themselves, but the fact is they often can't help themselves."
Mrs Clark said White Wreath Day would be a remind of the need to confront mental illness and that every life was precious. Mr Howard promised politicians would consider the unintended consequences of privacy laws. "We are endeavoring to understand the magnitude of the grief that you feel," he said.
"As a parent, the loss of one of my children would be unimaginable, whatever the circumstances, and I can only begin to feel, to say to you that we do care about people in your situation."
Mr Beazley said the desplay of wreaths and Mrs Clark's story was "a truly stuning rminder to the Australian people about how this issue affects all of us".
He said Australia had yet to come to grips with suicide because it was an issue that touched everyone's deepest fears.
"We have a community in a massive state of denial," he said.
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