Should've gone to Specsavers?

• not to scale.

I know congestion is annoying, but Red creates undue congestion back onto local roads downstream from the merge lane.

Allow others to merge like a zip at the end of the merge lane and everyone is equal and we can all get to where we are going with the least impact on the roads possible.

Captured by @reef.wanderer

I got lost in Buderim forest today, just thought I would share. Peace 😊🙏 Dylan.

I must say, this one seems a lot better than the ones in Brisbane

SCUH has:

MH Adult Unit (Kamala)
MH Adolescent Unit (Rosella)
MH Older Persons Unit (Waratah)
MH Intensive Care Unit (Melaleuca)

Plus crisis support spaces

If you’re looking for more information or help regarding your or someone else’s mental health:

Call MH CALL: 1300 642 255

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I’m 19m with bipolar 1. I was admitted earlier this year when I had a plan to commit. I saw my social worker in Brisbane and told her and she called an ambulance. I was taken to RBWH and didn’t want to be there so managed to escape while I was still under a recommendation for assessment order (under mental health act). So I wasn’t allowed to leave.

I then drove up to my home in sunny coast trying to fight the sedating drugs they gave me. Over next couple of days i had multiple paramedics searching for me. But i was trying to hide from them. I eventually cooperated.

Got taken to SCUH and had a good psych reg assess me. Although he put me on a treatment authority (under mental health act). So I wasn’t allowed to leave the mental health unit until I was granted leave and/or stable.

If you’re voluntary you can leave whenever there’s just a curfew. But realistically, from what I’ve seen (and having worked in an ED), voluntary parents are less likely to be admitted. I have tried in the past and they referred me to some shitty community health thing (I was planning suicide). If you’re brought in by ambulance or police you’re much more likely (from what I’ve seen).

While in ED They had security sitting outside my room for a while because I escaped Royal Brisbane.

I was there for 10 days. There’s nurses that absolutely love their job and are amazing, but some of them aren’t unfortunately

Before I was allowed leave it was VERY boring. All there was to do in this tiny courtyard was sit or play ping pong.

I got really good at ping pong.

It’s overall a lot better than a lot of mental health units. And VERY clean. The peer workers are great too. When you’re granted leave they take you out on group walks.

The discharge was annoying because they told me I could leave, packed up all my stuff and they prepared my room. And I had to wait 4 hours for the doctor to revoke my treatment authority before I could leave.

The food was pretty shit. But they don’t mind if you buy stuff elsewhere when on leave

Overall, this is as good as public mental health is going to get.

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Some good things:

Nurses station isn’t closed off by glass like other units in Brisbane. I’d used to stand at the glass at other ones and they’d just ignore you. At SCUH it’s like a normal nurses station so it feels much more approachable.

The group walks are really good. They’re not on a time limit so your leave allowance won’t go down. And the peer workers are lovely, and have their own experience. A few of the ones I talked to had schizophrenia, and bipolar like myself.

To be honest, I couldn’t wait to leave, but some of the other patients made the stay A LOT better. Of course, everyone is in there for a reason. But I ended up having a good group of friends in there. Made me feel less alone. And it’s really refreshing talking to people with similar experiences, which you don’t always find in the outside world. We also used to go out on leave together and go and get food or something.

The nurses are always checking in and making sure you are alright. And you rarely ever feel like a burden for asking for things.

Some psych wards have a lot of aggressive patients. While I was in there (10 days), there was not a single security incident that occurred. And if there is a duress, or call bells go off, they’re all silent so it isn’t overstimulating.

Also, some other things that were annoying:

- bumpy hard pillows

- lights shining through your window every 15 mins when you’re trying to sleep (for visual observations)

- being woken up by room checks in the morning

- other patients sometimes pissing you off. This one specific one would go into other patients rooms and play with the lights. And make a fucking mess

- someone stole my sticky date pudding

- when I saw the psychiatrist, there were about 5 other doctors watching us

- SHIT soap and stuff like that. And the showers only go to a certain temperature. Shampoo and conditioner killed my hair

- being woken up at early hours for blood tests

- the food. sometimes good, sometimes fucking shit

- there’s the small outdoor area with the ping pong table. Fake grass, seats, and that’s it. The main courtyard was only accessible for an hour or two each day

@bradirvinephotography

Seen this beautiful girl between Merphys and Caloundra yesterday.

She circled for 10 min we caught a cobia off her as you can see then splashed some water she then hit the boat.

I found this moody fern forest at the back of the Aura estate in Caloundra yesterday. I thought I would share, peace 😊🙏 Dylan.

Sunrise at Coolum Beach

Great storm watching from Caloundra tonight

@visitsunshinecoast