I shouldn’t be writing this, much less with shaking hands & tears in my eyes.
Nicholas Camilleri was failed, over & over again by the system I’ve so proudly been a part of for the past few years. I love my job; I love helping people & I can’t explain just how deep my hurt & disappointment is after hearing everything that has happened.
This isn’t news. It feels more like a bad fever dream that just keeps cropping up to the point where we can’t even be surprised that something as tragic as this happens.
We know that our mental health services are nowhere near adequate, & we’ve known for some time.
My only question is why? Why does this have to keep happening?
How many more clients, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, partners & friends need to suffer because of shameless & irresponsible mental health care before we start to do something about this venomous system?
The untouchable golden rule of mental health work is that we always, always keep our clients safe & help them as much as we possibly can.
There’s absolutely no room for negligence, malpractice or hastily taken decisions.
I beg everyone & anyone who works in this field to take some time out of your day today & reflect; Reflect on your work, your clients, your approach. We need to do better, there is no other option.
Understand this news for what it is; a story. A story of a man who needed help & didn’t get it.
Who needed his family that love him so dearly but was denied their presence & support.
Who was abandoned, not by his incredible support system, but by the very system that is supposed to be there to save his life. Instead, this system killed him.
Finding all this out over the past couple of days has made me cry, vent, shout, swear & hurt.
I’ve spoken out about my psychosis too many times to count now. I’ve told people what it’s like. I’ve spoken to hundreds if not thousands of people about what it’s like to live with schizophrenia. I’ve spoken to psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, ministers and members of parliament.
You just never listened, did you?
I’m not interested in an explanation, nor am I interested in yet another empty promise to add to the pile of deteriorating vows.
We need change, & we need it now.
It’s long overdue & this absolutely cannot keep on happening. I know that I will do whatever I can to push this boulder up the hill and improve mental health in Malta.
The only question, Chris Fearne, is will you help me?
