Lots of talk but no action

Greetings all,

Many thanks to all of you who retweeted and replied to my blog post entitled “Not thinking before you speak”. It seems many are as outraged as I am about Mr Latham’s comments towards Lisa Pryor, and more importantly to The Financial Review for not retracting them.

As I have said, yes, all are entitled to freedom of speech but some acknowledgement that these comments are hurtful, stigmatising and lacking any credibility is still sorely missing.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists have also replied to my post, stating via Twitter,

“Absolutely, Mark Latham’s comments are concerning and not helpful in removing stigma attached to mental illness.”

On this WhiteRibbon Day, I will keep up the fight to support Lisa Pryor, soon to be a medical colleague of mine, as well as advocate for public understanding and respect for my patients who ask for help and should not feel ashamed for receiving it. I will also continue to follow the campaign at Change.org and encourage others to do so as well. Over 1500 people have signed the petition so far.

Let's keep this going,

Best wishes,

Helen

Dr Helen Schultz is a consultant psychiatrist at MindAdvocacy in Richmond, Melbourne, Australia. She is a recent author of “How Shrinks Think” which can be purchased here.