NSW Needs More:
Seeking Justice and Raising Awareness for the Lives Injured, Harmed, and Lost Due to the Chronic Underfunding of NSW’s Mental Health Sector
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are otherwise feeling unsafe, call 000 for immediate support. To explore other mental health support options, access NSW Health’s Mental health services and support contact list here.
Welcome to NSW Needs More, a campaign created to give a voice to the patients, their families, and health professionals across NSW who have experienced or witnessed preventable harm occur due to the lack of resources across the state’s mental health sector.
Launched by a young person with a lived experience of mental illness and suicide, this campaign aims to raise awareness for those affected by the lack of funding within our state’s mental health sector and force the NSW Government to act.
To learn more about NSW’s Mental Health Crisis, view educational resources and information available here.
#NSWNeedsMore Because...
#NSWNeedsMore Because...
Share Your Story Today & Help Create a Better System for Tomorrow
Your story matters, and it can be shared anonymously.
If you have endured preventable harm as a direct result of inadequate, inaccessible, or insufficient care under NSW’s Public Mental Health sector, feel free to share your story with us to be uploaded to our Testimonial Gallery. Through sharing your story, you can help expose the devastating harm occurring inside NSW’s mental health sector and advocate for change.
Stories within the Testimonial Gallery depict the lived experiences of patients, families, and healthcare professionals who have been affected by the lack of funding in NSW’s Mental Health Sector.
Reader discretion is advised, as these stories contain themes of mental illness, self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, trauma, substance abuse, and other potentially triggering topics.
How Do I Know If I Have Experienced or Witnessed Preventable Harm?
You may have experienced or witnessed preventable harm under NSW’s Mental Health Sector if you’ve been through or watched someone else deteriorate emotionally or physically after being unable to access timely or appropriate mental health support. It’s important to know that every story is valid and matters, and the impact from your or someone else’s experience doesn’t solely depend on its ‘objective’ severity.
Preventable Harm can look like the following:
An evident decline in mental health status while waiting to access mental health treatment due to long wait times
Increased risk of self-harm or suicide after being turned away or prematurely discharged from inpatient psychiatric care while in crisis
Developing physical illness or disability as a result of inadequate mental health support
Worsened mental health outcomes due to lack of regular and consistent access to a psychiatrist within the inpatient or community setting
Financial distress after being forced to pay for private care to receive adequate support. This includes if you sought private care for complex or enduring mental illness requiring intensive or specialized support that isn’t available in the public mental health system
A minor not being able to receive specialized child and youth mental health support, especially during a mental health crisis
Excessive use of force from police or other first responders during a mental health crisis, causing emotional or physical injury
Dehumanizing care while in the inpatient setting (e.g being placed in physical restraints, excessively medicated or chemically sedated, being forced to remove clothing, being placed in isolation, or having limited contact with the outside world). This also includes instances where these measures may have been deemed ‘medically necessary’ to ensure patient safety, but could have ultimately been avoided with prior therapeutic intervention
Compassion fatigue, burnout, or reduced mental well-being among Healthcare Workers due to insufficient resourcing within the mental health setting.
Sign Sarah’s E-Petition for Mental Health Reform:
P.s: You’ll be redirected to an external site to sign