Some of the leading lights in Australian mental health treatment and research will gather for a summit at the Sippy Downs campus of the Sunshine Coast University on the 24th and 25th of June.
They will include the 2010 Australian of the Year, Patrick McGorry, a campaigner for better treatment for mentally ill young people.
Also presenting to a master class of people working through their own illnesses will be Beck Schmelz.
She has written four leaflets on how sufferers can help themselves, and how those close to them can also help them. They’re to be widely distributed to health professionals and public places like libraries after the summit.
I talked to Beck, once saved from suicide by her pet dog, on Noosa Community Radio.
Hear it at http://www.noosacommunityradio.org/pet-dog-saved-depressed-owner-from-su.... It runs for 13 minutes 25 seconds. At the end Beck offers phone numbers and an email address for getting the leaflets or communicating with her personally.