A Little Bit About Me

I have always loved to write and be able to share stories with others. 
This is why I decided to pursue my dream and I am now a 3rd year Journalism student at Latrobe University. 
I wish to use this blog to share my personal articles and all my other pieces of writing, to essentially build up my own portfolio.
If you have any enquiries, please contact me via email: @rosemaddie61@gmail.com

The Issue With Mental Health in Rural Victoria

 The Issue With Mental Health in Rural Victoria 

 

Mental health issues are a very significant issue in rural areas, due to lack of accessibility to help resources. There is major room for improvement in helping rural Victoria to have more facilities such as places to visit Psychologists and Therapists. 

 

There are a lot of different factors that go into this issue, such as natural events, isolation and lack of resources.

 

In rural areas, the regional economy is a key influence on mental health. Events such as drought, flood and bushfire can have heavy impact, especially in agricultural areas

 

I interviewed Hope Bilkey, who is living in Bright, Victoria and she says there is only one psychologist in her town. 

 

‘’There is only one psychologist in town and they are either completely booked out or you may face conflict of interest.’’

 

Elizabeth Keogh who also lives in Bright touched on dealing with the conflict of interest as well and being in a small town they wouldn’t be the only ones. 

 

‘’There is only one psychologist in town and if your mum or brother is seeing them you cant because it’s a conflict of interest.’’ She said.

 

Elizabeth loves living in rural Victoria as it is much more slow paced and peaceful then regional.

 

‘’I wouldn’t say living here is bad for my mental health, but the lack of access to health services is.’’

 

The reported prevalence of mental illness in rural and remote Australia appears similar to that of major cities. However, access to mental health services is substantially more limited than in major cities. Tragically, rates of self-harm and suicide increase with remoteness.

 

The public transport system is highly outdated in rural Victoria and for those without a vehicle face the issue of waiting lengthy times for busses and trains.

 

‘’Bus timetables are appalling and do not compensate for needs of people … I now need to travel one hour to Wangaratta (to see a psychologist)’’ Hope said.

 

Which means she spends a lot of time waiting around for busses just to seek some form of mental health assistance.

The rate of suicide among men aged 15-29 years who live outside major cities is almost twice as high as it is in major cities, which is caused from many variables that all fall under the accessibility issue.

Alisha Camilleri from Clonbinane prefers living in rural more so then regional.

‘’I don’t feel isolated I feel free.’’She says.

Alisha feels as though living in rural areas you’re not constantly reminded that people aren’t nice because you aren’t around people as much.

This shows that it isn’t rural Victoria that is the issue, it’s the lack of facilities and needs out in these areas to help with mental health and some changes need to be made.

Poetry Collection: Birds

 My Poetry 

Raven

 Nothing is nothing, although it is empty

Emptiness is cold, although it is quiet

Quietness is good, it soothes my aches

The aches inside of me feel like crumbles

Like splitting a biscuit in half, instead it isn’t a biscuit

A heart.

 

Think of my heart as a stone,

Cool and hard to love,

But unlike a stone it is easy to break,

It is too big and heavy in my chest

It is too forgiving but not forgetting

My heart.

 

My head, isn’t a friend

It tells me I’m nothing, it tells me I’m worthless

It tells me I’m bitter, it tells me I’m a waste

My head is convincing, I cannot ignore it

So convincing, I cannot control it

Sometimes I believe it

 

My body is a trap,

It is a garden on the outside

It is a fantasy on the outside

But on the inside,

It is a nightmare, it is a whirlpool 

I am a suffocation   

 

My eyes have seen everything

Every sin, every lie 

My eyes remember everything

Every scar, every goodbye

But my eyes never capture how I see

They show colour, I see only black

 

Black is a feeling,

Black is a memory,

Black consumes inside me

Runs through me like blood

But through me like venom 

It injects itself like a needle at night

 

The raven rules the night

I am a raven, button eyes, loud cries

No one understands me

I’m only okay at night, when it’s quiet

But my thoughts are loud,

I rule the cloudy night

Ugly Duckling

 I am the ugly duckling

I do not belong

I am easily forgotten 

I do not do 

 

I am the ugly duckling

I have an odd wing

I have two left feet 

And an abnormal beak

 

 

Life is hard for me

It is hard to fly

Sometimes it is hard to swim

Sometimes it is easier to stop

 

But you keep me going

You pick me back up

You stop me from drowning

You spread my wings, embrace the shadows

 

Sometimes I feel surrounded and weak

But you support me

Sometimes I feel shaky and broken

But you carry me

 

My limbs feel like trees

You’re my roots, deep within me

My beaks are whispers

You’re my secrets, kept within me

 

You changed me

You fixed me

You made me perfect

I am the swan

 

I am the beautiful swan

I have fluttering feathers

I glide along the water

I do I do

 

But I still fall for you

Phoenix 

Help!

Blue pill, Black pill

Left foot, Right foot

The darkness or the lightness

 

Lost!

I choose wrong, haunting me

The decision, breaking me

White noise, hurting me

 

Pure?

I thought so too.

I thought I could love, 

I thought I knew you,

 

Me?

I’m stuck in sticky glue,

Pulling and tying me to my troubles

I don’t belong with you, 

 

Ouch.

Just flickers of black flames 

They burn me inside and out

I rise from the ash,

 

I chose.

First Blue then Black,

Tasted both, bitter sweet

I am a phoenix.

Sparrow

 

A path, is my destiny

A wrong turn, is my choice

A stumble, is my opportunity

 

Is so little, so precious

Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick

I am so little, so breathless

 

My life, is flowering

Only just the beginning, but slowly ending

A sunrise, a sunset

 

What is stronger than a heart?

Something that smashes over

And over a rollercoaster 

 

Handed to me on a silver platter

You’re served with a rope 

I allow you to strangle me

 

Purple around my eyes

Chains covering my thighs

I’m never leaving you

 

Like a candle in the wind

I blew out long before

You knew I did

 

The chains are made of daisy 

They smile at me

I can’t feel them

 

Watch it burn down you

Down your sparrow throat

Rabbit hole 

 

Falling and falling

Through the cracks

Cracks in the floor

 

You are Alice

But there is no wonderland

But there is madness  

 

Sanity?

Can you even see?

Can you even taste?

Dry lips

Sourness is all I taste

Can you fit my puzzle?

 

I’m on a come down

Spiraling around

And around you go