Lived Experience Forum

[TideisTurning]

Hi Everyone, 

As we enter into a new year and start looking at all the possibilities for group discussions and events in the year ahead, we wanted to get your input too! 

• Are there any particular topics you would like to see explored through a group discussion in 2024?   
• Are there any topics that might've previously been covered you'd like to revisit? If so, is there anything in particular about the topic you wanted to explore more?

If you'd prefer your input be anonymous, you can submit your suggestions/ requests via the anonymous form here 😊 (a little down the page)

@Birdofparadise8 @creative_writer @tonys @Zoe7 @Fluttershy1 @Healandlove @Appleblossom @Glisten @Patches59 @chibam @Snowie @Oaktree @Shaz51 @Jacques @7cough9 @Blackbird11 @Krishna @Month04 @Brena74 @ClockFace @Faith-and-Hope @batty30 @Stara @lemlem678 @puzzlingdino @BPD_Cat @Giselle_ @Bow @ProggyPanther @Lacey- @Samantha92 @SweetiePie @june23 @Medicated @Blossom497 @StuF @xaenica @Sophia1 @greenspace @MyLife_MyWay @Sanity23 @AuDHDpug @_PixieSolstice_ @NBB @tired_sisyphus @JaneyC @yitty @Alanawww 

& anyone else who'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear your ideas

[Oaktree]

@TideisTurning 

I would like to see things on self reliance and self empowering type topics. I think this is pretty broad and there would be a lot of scope to narrow it down into individual topics.

Thanks

Meggle

[Patchworks]

I agree with @Oaktree that self empowerment is a good broad topic. I'm personally interested in skills for self advocacy.

[Patches59]

I’m interested in exploring and learning more about self advocacy including being assertive, both positive and negative aspects

[chibam]

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@Patches59 wrote:

I’m interested in exploring and learning more about self advocacy including being assertive, both positive and negative aspects

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Great idea, @Patches59 .

I would add, probably as a sub-topic, alternatives to being assertive, for people who aren't so inclined.

[chibam]

@TideisTurning  I think it would be interesting/helpful to explore not being able to relate to the world around you; with a particular emphasis on the broader world, beyond one's household, workplace/school, ect. Basically that condition of looking at Australia or the world as a whole and feeling like your trapped in an insane asylum, filled with and run by people you can't even begin to comprehend.

This article: https://www.afmh.org.au/inaugural_national_mental_health_monitor_reveals_global_events_as_a_source_o...  was very interesting, I thought, serving perhaps as a formal acknowledgement that the state of the world around us (including, presumably, the present character of human society) has a significant bearing on mental health. So I think that we're starting to realize we need to talk about this.

And remember that this year we have major elections in both the UK and the USA, which will be likely to be very provocative and prolonged events. Plenty of people speaking out, painting mental pictures with their words of a future that sounds like an utter horror story to many of us, and at the end of it, perhaps an outcome that we find really distressing.

Even though they are other countries, we are all closely linked by our western cultures, and things that take root in the USA and/or UK almost always end up manifesting here in Australia, to some degree.

Might be a more hairy road then SANE is prepared to go down, seeing as we probably have a diversity of political leanings in this community; so how on earth do you hold a conversation like that without upsetting anyone? But nonetheless, this is a significant piece of the mental health landscape, so I guess it needs to be acknowledged and discussed by somebody, somewhere.

[Snowie]

@Patches59  I love that idea. Would certainly like to see more on those topics.

[Zoe7]

@TideisTurning Goal setting - both simpler day to day goals and longer term ones

[Patches59]

I like that idea @Zoe7 about goal setting.

As part of that to explore ways to try to prevent getting distracted once working on something and to complete one task before moving onto another

[Healandlove]

Thank you @TideisTurning for the tag. I will have a good think.