Kirsty Burns was the Guest Speaker at our Sanctuary meeting on Tuesday, October 9.

Kirsty Burns works in the Short stay Unit (Mental Health) at Flinders Medical Centre . She explained what happens in the Emergency Department when we take our family member there, who gets to see them to assess them and how do they get to see a psychiatrist, if at all. To help us understand how the system works and whether our expectations are unrealistic to fit in with hospital protocol and reduce some of the frustrations we experience.

The Sanctuary meeting on Tuesday, September 11 was run by Tony, Denise and Michael

What makes caring for a loved one diagnosed with BPD a unique experience? BPD is different from other mental illnesses such as Bipolar disorder, Schizophrenia or depression etc. in that these illnesses are treatable with medication (as long as the person takes their meds of course!. BPD is different in that meds don’t help the BPD issues like abandonment, rage and self-harm among of course others.

On Tuesday August 14, our speaker was our Patron, Dr Martha Kent., discussing how the new BPD Centre of Excellence (CoE) might work and all the different issues that need to be considered.

This was a “just us” meeting, to be with people who “get it”, and learn which behaviours are not simply bad behaviour but are an effect of Borderline Personality Disorder.