I am an Australian mental health client who has been a consumer of both public and private inpatient service facilities. In my mid-20s, I was one of those people in the 'lucky country' who got 'unlucky' enough to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act into the public inpatient system. It was a harrowing experience.
The experience is so etched in my mind that it wasn't until recently, at least half a decade on, that I finally managed to shake the residual anxiety. A single admission to the public mental health system saw me crippled by post traumatic stress disorder.
To this day I shudder as I recall wondering if I'd escape that place in one piece (while ducking flying furniture, in the line for use of a public phone). By contrast, I've never had an inpatient admission to a private psychiatric hospital where I haven't been discharged in comparative good health.
The disparities between services provided in public and private mental health inpatient facilities are beyond remarkable. Never have I noted in Australia the difference between the 'haves' and 'have nots' to be so stark as in relation to private health insurance and subsequent quality of care. These disparities desperately need to be addressed with actual solutions and funding.
Many consumers who have experience in both public and private systems echo my sentiments about the need for public mental health reform. We believe the money spent by the Australian government on mental health (at just hundreds of dollars per person, per annum) is inadequate, especially in a day and age when Australian suicide rates are higher than the national road toll.
I feel for those experiencing admissions in public mental health services today. Beginning with sterile and uninviting (read: bolted down or stained) décor in some shared rooms, the public psychiatric wards are a volatile melting pot. There is violence and general aggression, exacerbated by lack of funding.
Even many staff in public settings would agree the facilities are far from idyllic and, at times, downright intimidating. Being within reach of people coming down from drug-fuelled benders or psychosis is not ideal even when you are well, let alone when you are feeling unsafe, nervous or paranoid. Add a lack of space and some general helplessness and isolation from loved ones, and you have a recipe for disaster.
During my own inpatient admission, rather than spending my time recovering in hospital, I became hyper-vigilant in regards