Mental health money for floods misses the point
Pathologising disaster victims’ distress won't help when they lack every social determinant of good health. Their fears are rational.
Watching the footage of residents affected by regional flooding has brought up a multitude of emotions for so many.
From anger, sadness and helplessness to exhaustion, we have all had to come to terms with another environmental catastrophe.
I watched from a regional town, down the surging river from Lismore where the worst of the destruction occurred. Posted here to prop up yet another regional city that cannot recruit or retain regular psychiatry staff, my experience was one of overwhelming anxiety.
I’m Victorian, but I had stayed in NSW during the horrific bushfires of 2019 and without any reprieve I continued working through a pandemic. I’ve responded to the challenges in my clinical work, including marked increases in drug and alcohol abuse, family violence and deterioration in the patients I travel to care for. I’ve worked under horrendous conditions, as all we healthcare workers have.
But it’s not about me.