[Greens-Media] 'Cinderella of Mental Illness' Motion Win

[Franks, Office]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 19, 2014

'Cinderella of Mental Illness' Motion Win

The Greens joint motion with Dignity for Disability calling for a Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) unit to be established has passed the Legislative Council with the support of the crossbenchers and the Liberals.

Only the Government opposed the motion, which calls for a Borderline Personality Disorder Unit to be established and recognition of the annual BPD Awareness Week in the first week of October.

Greens Mental Health spokesperson Tammy Franks MLC said she welcomed the passage of the Bill through the Upper House.

"Disappointingly, Labor members spoke against this motion," she said.

"This is contrary to the stance taken by Federal Labor in the Senate in September, where they in fact co-hosted a motion in support of Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Week it seems.

"This was an important aspect of the motion put forward by the Greens together with the Honourable Kelly Vincent, so it's particularly disappointing that they didn't support this.

"We will still invite these Labor members to the events next October and we hope they'll attend, even though their support was lacking today. Perhaps they should speak to their federal colleagues in the meantime.

"Borderline personality disorder is a major form of personality disorder described by Dr Martha Kent as the 'Cinderella of Mental Illness' because the condition has been sidelined for too long. It is a leading cause of suicide with enormous public health costs.

"This is one of the highest areas of unmet need in South Australian mental health services and recent studies show that an allocation of about $1.4 million in funding could yield a saving of $100 million p.a across mental and health services.

"A statewide specialist BPD service could significantly improve patient flow through acute services and I am hopeful that the Government will respond to the overwhelming support for more specialised care and better awareness raising about this devastating illness."


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