Mental Illness is a general term referring to a group of psychological illnesses and/or disorders that affect a person's thinking, feelings, perceptions and reactions to everyday circumstances. One in five Australians will experience a mental illness at some stage of their lives, which means that nearly everyone will be affected by a mental illness in some way. .
Assistance available for the mentally ill in my local area of the Sutherland Shire.
Support groups play a major role in assisting the mentally ill in the Sutherland Shire. Advocacy groups are such support groups and do the following key things:.
Allow people with disabilities to be less marginalised and have a lower chance of experiencing vulnerability.
Advocacies help people with mental illness to stop being denied basic legal and human rights.
Helps people with mental illness not be cast into devalued roles, leading to lives isolated from the community with few social supports and allies.
Stops the stigma that people with mental illness are unable or unwilling to contribute to decisions that affect their lives.
Advocacy groups defend and protect the welfare of the mentally ill. Como Social and Leisure Centre is one such example of a helpful advocacy group. Como Social and Leisure Centre is a recreational centre for people experiencing a mental illness. It has a focus on strong consumer involvement in the running of the Centre. It is just one of many helpful support groups who feature in providing much needed assistance to the mentally ill.
Advocacy groups, along with other support groups, play an important role in supplying transport for the mentally ill and other services involving transport. For example many of the Neighbourhood Aid groups provide transportation and shopping buses. Sutherland Shire Community Transport is another group that provides assistance with travel to and from essential appointments and social activities, either directly (in a car or bus driven by a worker or volunteer) or indirectly (through a taxi subsidy or voucher).