Elfy scott mum

Few people speak openly about schizophrenia.

In April of , my mum sent a message to our family WhatsApp group. In any other family group chat, a message like this would be a horrifying, shattering thing to receive. Mum, however, remained insistent on her initial theory. The rest of the time, we spoke about it surprisingly little. For readers who share these cultural backgrounds, this brand of repressed family discourse will likely need no further explanation. She has a tanned complexion, with a bob of silver hair and a broad smile. Mum is also a deeply private person.

Elfy scott mum

When journalist and author Elfy Scott reached the age of 14, she started to consider that her mother might be experiencing something that other parents weren't. It was a conversation with a school counsellor that first introduced Elfy to the word 'schizophrenia' and set her on the path to understanding what her mum was going through. Elfy spoke with Sarah Macdonald about the great silence and stigma that continues to surround complex mental health conditions. In this episode. Download the ABC listen app to text and call your favourite live radio. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work. Share Facebook X formerly Twitter. Broadcast 15 Feb 15 Feb Wed 15 Feb at pm. Full Episode. Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes 2 h 30 m. Duration: 21 minutes 32 seconds 21 m. Get the ABC listen app Take your favourite podcasts and radio with you. Sydney, Mental Health. Join the conversation Download the ABC listen app to text and call your favourite live radio. Back to top.

Games of Monopoly. My mum comes from a fairly privileged socioeconomic background that has allowed her to receive adequate long-term treatment and live a happy and productive life, elfy scott mum, despite a history of auditory hallucinations and paranoia.

The drugs belonged to her mother. Eccentric, sure; even a little odd. But not crazy. People including her mother. As Elfy learned as a teen, her mother has schizophrenia, a mental disorder that affects roughly one in every Australians. It often begins in adolescence or early adulthood, and it typically involves hallucinations, delusions and disordered thinking.

The drugs belonged to her mother. Eccentric, sure; even a little odd. But not crazy. People including her mother. As Elfy learned as a teen, her mother has schizophrenia, a mental disorder that affects roughly one in every Australians.

Elfy scott mum

In April of , my mum sent a message to our family WhatsApp group. In any other family group chat, a message like this would be a horrifying, shattering thing to receive. Mum, however, remained insistent on her initial theory. The rest of the time, we spoke about it surprisingly little.

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View this post on Instagram. W hen I was told that my mum was living with schizophrenia — by my school counsellor, when I was about 14 — I had almost no concept of what that really meant. Get the ABC listen app Take your favourite podcasts and radio with you. Most viewed. Really thoughtful commentary and opinions. Elfy Scott. But even tertiary study fell short in providing me with any satisfactory answers. Listen Now. The silence, meant to shelter Elfy and her two older siblings, only left them confused and questioning. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on and Childline on Caring for my older siblings Maddy and Mike had been hard enough, and having another child on the way seemed like wholly too much to handle. Even more than that, having those narratives available would have meant that my friends could have understood what our family was going through. Who else was living with it?

Elfy Scott grew up with a mother with schizophrenia — and it changed her perspective on mental health. Many can relate to a lack of communication within families.

One of the first ways that she helped in my research along was to hand me an exercise book, which she had used as a journal to document her memories of psychosis. In fact, schizophrenia is such a wildly variable condition that many practitioners are now arguing for the abandonment of the diagnosis altogether. An immediate family member of mine has schizophrenia. These are just hallucinations. But there were less-conventional scenes, too. There were weekends spent at the local pool. And since so few people speak openly about schizophrenia, its cultural identity is distorted by myths and misconceptions. I came across forums in which people wrote candidly about their firsthand experience and read schlocky news reports about children with psychosis. Love watching TV and movies? Saying it out loud rarely makes us think of a mental health condition in the same way that hearing someone is depressed or anxious might, and it rarely sparks feelings of genuine empathy. It was only through these conversations that I came to understand what it was like living with these diagnoses, including the complications and failures of the mental healthcare system. All I knew for sure was that it felt dark, scary and taboo. Mum began to feel terrorised around the house.