hey - jus writing down some of my musings abt this topic in response to an article i read recently... the reference, for anyone who's interested is:
Fuchs T (2004). Neurobiology and psychotherapy: an emerging dialogue. Curr Opin Psychiatry 17:479-485
firstly, i'm hardly in a position to challenge the expert opinion of an associate professor at a major european uni... so what i'm saying, to go in the face of some things implied by the article, is probably somewhat foolish!!! but i jus thought i'd say it anyway... i guess what i'm saying doesn't really argue against anything that he says, but rather jus puts a different light on the findings described in the article... - i'll quit rambling, here goes:
fuchs' article outlines some exciting, recent developments that link, by correlation, psychotherapy and neurobiology, which are two traditionally separate scientific fields... neurobiologists probably see their field as far more "scientific", but as psychotherapy is increasingly pressured to join the bandwagon of evidence-based therapies in order to survive in mainstream psychiatry, studies are being carried out looking at brain changes brought about thru psychotherapy and comparing them to brain changes brought about thru pharmacological intervention... - neuroimaging has gone a long way to making this possible... some very interesting findings have come to light - these include the similar neuroimaging findings across the two modalities of therapy, the temporal dimension of change brought about by the two modalities, and the circuits involved in mediating the long-term brain morphological effects of psychotherapy...
i'll begin with a brief overview of psychotherapy - a modality of treatment consisting of courses of sessions with a psychotherapist (psychologist or psychiatrist, usually) that finds its origins in the psychoanalytic theories of freud... the image that comes to mind is one of the patient on the couch, and the psychiatrist in a chair, a cozy room, and the patient divulging intimate details about past lives to a psychiatrist with an ulterior motive!!! of course, there is in truth much structure to psychotherapy, and more recent incarnations of psychotherapy are short courses of 10-20 separate hour-long sessions in which certain themes in the patient's history are explored using sophisticated, controlled techniques in which the psychiatrist not only seeks to understand the patient, but his or her own reaction to the patient's story also... the current vogue is cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), which is a form of psychotherapy in which the patient is encouraged to exercise thought-pattern and behavioural changes slowly and consistently to overcome his or her problems, often employing goal-forming and distraction techniques to achieve these changes...
CBT has been found to achieve very similar brain changes on neuroimaging to pharmacotherapy for certain conditions, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder... this is an encouraging finding, since although both had some level of evidence that they worked, the neuroimaging findings support the view that a disturbance in the architecture of the brain (distinguishable at an anatomical level) is associated with the disorder itself, and not merely a confounder... on the other hand, different changes were observed between the two types of therapy when applied to depression...
the temporal aspects alluded to earlier were ones of a more top-down progression of change associated with psychotherapy, and a more bottom-up progression associated with pharmacotherapy... the implication here is that psychotherapy recruits the active involvement of the cortex, and reorganisation thereof causes secondary changes in associated circuits in lower centres, while pharmacotherapy primarily targets the lower centres... this makes sense as well, with pharmacotherapy being more targeted at different neurotransmitter pathways, which are usually localised in lower centres, while psychotherapy's involvement of the conscious mind implies the involvement of the higher centres (cortex), which has traditionally been described as the part of the brain responsible for consciousness, and "what makes us human"...
i guess this is the point that i find contentious... the point of view put forward commonly in scientific papers such as this one tends to ignore or exclude the existence of a mind that transcends the physical world... as a dualist (as in, one believing in an extraphysical mind), i tend to look upon conscious humanity as being an entity additional to, rather than emergent from, the physical brain... now what relevance does this have to the article?!? - the existence of mind-brain correlates, as found by neuroimaging following intervention, should not be interpreted to imply that the brain is therefore responsible for the mind-state... the brain, to me, is simply reflective of the mindstate, and certainly exerts influence over the mind as much as the mind exerts influence over it... the fact that psychotherapy, as every interpersonal relationship, is going to involve connection between minds, does not mean that psychotherapy implicitly will have no effect on the brain, since the mind and brain are very closely related units...
take memory for example... ppl talk about implicit and explicit memory, and different circuits in the brain being involved in each... yet these structures have been shown to be associated with memory formation, but no area has been proved to be associated with memory storage as such... - does this mean that memory isn't stored in the brain?!? - i don't think it's a wise thing to extrapolate and say that it definitely isn't, but i think that the distinct possibility that memory may be stored in a mind additional to the brain should not be discounted... brain changes related to learning also should not automatically be attributed to storage - since there are changes in the memory formation apparatus (refinements) that may well result from the process of learning...
memory is a really interesting concept - i can look at a scene, and take it in, and remember in great detail so many aspects of the scene... we can all do this, with remarkable success, through processes that are unconscious as well as conscious ones... an interesting question, though, would be whether the rich sensory information that is able to be remodelled with recall can be stored in some compressed, compact format in the brain itself... such a complex system of memory storage would be an amazing feat of association (between all five senses, previous experiences, and completely novel constructs with each experience), and an amazing metabolic accomplishment, since remodelling is constantly necessary to live a well-adjusted life... not only does memory cover perceptual experience, but also conceptual experience, whereby the mind forms or encounters abstract constructs in order to help make sense of the world... this, in effect, is imagination... anyhow, to think that such amazing things are possible with the brain in isolation, given the physical limitations of the brain organ, is quite mind-boggling... to me, it seems to make more sense that the mind allows us to transcend these limitations...
i can come up with counter-arguments to myself tho... what of the monkeys?!? do they also have minds?!? after all, they seem to have a fairly strong sense of declaritive and procedural memory too... it's a hard topic... i really don't know... but i'm always finding this interesting, and hoping to find out more...
anywayz, have been rambling long enough... ;p shall return to reality once more... ah, the responsibilities of being a member of human society...
Friday, April 15, 2005
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Ages - no blog...
fern's msn name is kinda relevant right now... "sometimes i wonder why, why i'm even here at all, but then you assure me, i'm a little more than useless"
it's true, God cares for me, God cares for each one of us... i mean, He created us in His image... we bear His likeness, so what more need we do but look in the mirror and see that God is with us!!!
had christian union meeting today - talked abt revelation 4-5, transport to heaven in Jesus' revelation to john... and how much more did God intend for us to have!!! God is with us already - but look at the middle of the passage, and realise that john was weeping, for there was nobody worthy to open up God's scroll - i.e. set God's plan in motion... - this is kinda where we feel we're at... incomplete, meaningless, useless... we weep too... for we find we are blind to what God has yet to reveal...
but the one who is worthy to open up God's scroll is, of course, Jesus... ;p He, the lion-lamb, has come to reveal the glory of God to us here on earth... so that we may be with Him in heaven in the time to come!!! our purpose is also revealed in this passage - that is, to worship the living God with all we are, and in all we do... praise God!!!
so why is it that i still feel useless?!? i want to be all things to all ppl... i want to go beyond who i am, to be who God wants me to be... and coz i fall so far short of God's standards, i'm overwhelmed by a sense of inadequacy... i wish to be able to extend and share my sense of God's presence with the world, and with those around me... yet i'm stopped by my own inability to recognise my own problems in the first place... i jus pray, full of the knowledge that God's plan is in motion, that Jesus has unrolled the scroll for my life... i wonder what will become of it in the end... i pray God, tho it's hard to see right now, that my life will be a true light for the world...
it's true, God cares for me, God cares for each one of us... i mean, He created us in His image... we bear His likeness, so what more need we do but look in the mirror and see that God is with us!!!
had christian union meeting today - talked abt revelation 4-5, transport to heaven in Jesus' revelation to john... and how much more did God intend for us to have!!! God is with us already - but look at the middle of the passage, and realise that john was weeping, for there was nobody worthy to open up God's scroll - i.e. set God's plan in motion... - this is kinda where we feel we're at... incomplete, meaningless, useless... we weep too... for we find we are blind to what God has yet to reveal...
but the one who is worthy to open up God's scroll is, of course, Jesus... ;p He, the lion-lamb, has come to reveal the glory of God to us here on earth... so that we may be with Him in heaven in the time to come!!! our purpose is also revealed in this passage - that is, to worship the living God with all we are, and in all we do... praise God!!!
so why is it that i still feel useless?!? i want to be all things to all ppl... i want to go beyond who i am, to be who God wants me to be... and coz i fall so far short of God's standards, i'm overwhelmed by a sense of inadequacy... i wish to be able to extend and share my sense of God's presence with the world, and with those around me... yet i'm stopped by my own inability to recognise my own problems in the first place... i jus pray, full of the knowledge that God's plan is in motion, that Jesus has unrolled the scroll for my life... i wonder what will become of it in the end... i pray God, tho it's hard to see right now, that my life will be a true light for the world...
Saturday, April 02, 2005
A void to be filled
been feeling quite strange and grumpy again... hard to say why - i mean, i am the recipient of so many blessings from God, more than i could ever deserve - so then, how is it that i should feel like there's a void in my being that's in need of filling in?!?
firstly - a word of apology to all those who have been affected by my grumpiness... i hope i can make it up to u sometime...
also, talked to mary earlier abt this, thx mary for sharing and being such a great help to me... God bless u!!! i'm going to use this blog as a bit of a problem-solving slate... hopefully it'll help yield some answers?!?
some contributing factors to my mood:
fear/insecurity - i'm sure fear probably plays some role... i have all these blessings - yet, i don't deserve them... it only seems right that i'll be punished severely and lose all these blessings in the process... perhaps i'm fearful of such an event... perhaps i'm also fearful because i simply don't have my own handle on things - i'm not in control...
repression/denial - this isn't the first time i've felt strange and grumpy like this... if i repress/deny my feeling, then this is only as good as putting a starving monster back into a glass cage without dealing with it in some way... it'll come back twice as angry next time, bursting out of that insecure cage at the worst possible time, when one's back is turned...
inadequacy - this is something that also surely causes terrible moods, coz i am a sinner, no better than anyone, yet i seem to be the luckiest person when it comes to many things... i have nothing really to offer that nobody else can provide... i've got more than my share of the meal, but can't cook to save my life!!! i'd like to be able to learn, develop into someone more like who God wants me to be... i try, but it's a straining effort against the limitations of humanity and my own willingness...
competition - hmmm, this is a strange one to put here... but i think this is a true factor!!! pride, competitiveness and need for recognition all feature under this heading... i like to think that i'm good at something... yah?!? sometimes i need affirmation... and it doesn't help if i can't prove to myself that i'm any good at something i try... it seems cruel, but certainly honest that triumphing in competition (which implies comparison and hence loss for another person) can make someone feel better... pride in oneself confers a dependence on recognition in order to maintain that and feel good... but i have nothing to be proud of, and i ought to have nothing to be proud of - truly!!!
perpetuating factors:
this is where my eyes are being opened - i think... i've always been able to identify some possible reasons why i might be feeling strange... - but these have all been based on my characterising how i've felt at the time... fear, guilt, shattered pride, self-deprecation, are some of the things that dominate my mindset when i'm grumpy... this much is clear... but jus as clear is the solution - that God alone can fill my void!!! but then, why is it that i still feel this way?!?
there's definitely a difference between the intellectual knowing of God and experiencing a personal relationship with God... there are things that are hindering this, and these things are among the perpetuating factors that mean that this mood becomes an increasingly frequent recurring theme... i have been in a personal relationship with God since accepting Christ as my Saviour about eighteen months ago now... but like many, i think i might be encountering a spiritual wall, like a spiritual lethargy, in that my heart feels less free to give of itself unto God... much of my daily walk with God, from prayer to reading to every decision i make, becomes felt more like a restriction rather than freedom and fulfilment...
probably the first out of those factors is my tendency to ignore and repress my moods... often, i feel exhausted by the efforts i make in order to please others and become the person that God wants me to be... and it can feel like an unrequited love at times!!! effort goes in - but i am ignored, set aside, my efforts minimised or laid to waste in a gesture that's clearly not meant to insult, but can feel like a sledgehammer... but all the while, i continue to try, in the process keeping a pleasant façade, an exterior that says to the world that everything's ok... then i collapse suddenly - the feelings mounted to the surface, and overflowing... in this mood, i jus can't function - everything seems like a conspiracy, and it seems like everything i've lived for has all been chasing after the wind (like in ecclesiastes)...
probably the second of these factors is another thing inherent in myself - impatience... i am trying to breed patience, truly!!! and pray for it frequently... but it's hard... expecting that things are going to fix themselves within a short time, expecting that others will understand with little need to explain... thinking that it's a simple matter of one prayer and God will answer... - perseverance is needed too... perhaps i've jus slowed down too quickly and expected too much... but God has given us a lifetime...
the third - the fact that i've now been a Christian for about eighteen months, i'm probably jus emerging from that "honeymoon" period of feeling things with a freshness and driving me on... do i need a new way of worshipping?!? or do i jus need to persevere, trusting all the time in the truth that God will bring me out of whatever he brings me to?!?
solution:
hmmm... this is where i need to be working ;p am feeling slightly happier that i've sorted thru some of this... but mary made me realise that i ought to be acknowledging the simple truth and not putting on a façade... i need to let go of the pressure that i sometimes feel to be outwardly happy all the time, and instead be simply who i am... an unworthy sinner who needs God fully... and re: the spiritual lethargy, be honest to God that i am a person with doubts, who gets grumpy and frustrated without understanding it... there's never an easy process, but hopefully, by no longer denying and repressing my moods unhealthily, the lid can be removed from the boiling pot of uncertainty, fear, insecurity and inadequacy, and hopefully i can resume my walk with God in the direction He wants me to go!!!
firstly - a word of apology to all those who have been affected by my grumpiness... i hope i can make it up to u sometime...
also, talked to mary earlier abt this, thx mary for sharing and being such a great help to me... God bless u!!! i'm going to use this blog as a bit of a problem-solving slate... hopefully it'll help yield some answers?!?
some contributing factors to my mood:
fear/insecurity - i'm sure fear probably plays some role... i have all these blessings - yet, i don't deserve them... it only seems right that i'll be punished severely and lose all these blessings in the process... perhaps i'm fearful of such an event... perhaps i'm also fearful because i simply don't have my own handle on things - i'm not in control...
repression/denial - this isn't the first time i've felt strange and grumpy like this... if i repress/deny my feeling, then this is only as good as putting a starving monster back into a glass cage without dealing with it in some way... it'll come back twice as angry next time, bursting out of that insecure cage at the worst possible time, when one's back is turned...
inadequacy - this is something that also surely causes terrible moods, coz i am a sinner, no better than anyone, yet i seem to be the luckiest person when it comes to many things... i have nothing really to offer that nobody else can provide... i've got more than my share of the meal, but can't cook to save my life!!! i'd like to be able to learn, develop into someone more like who God wants me to be... i try, but it's a straining effort against the limitations of humanity and my own willingness...
competition - hmmm, this is a strange one to put here... but i think this is a true factor!!! pride, competitiveness and need for recognition all feature under this heading... i like to think that i'm good at something... yah?!? sometimes i need affirmation... and it doesn't help if i can't prove to myself that i'm any good at something i try... it seems cruel, but certainly honest that triumphing in competition (which implies comparison and hence loss for another person) can make someone feel better... pride in oneself confers a dependence on recognition in order to maintain that and feel good... but i have nothing to be proud of, and i ought to have nothing to be proud of - truly!!!
perpetuating factors:
this is where my eyes are being opened - i think... i've always been able to identify some possible reasons why i might be feeling strange... - but these have all been based on my characterising how i've felt at the time... fear, guilt, shattered pride, self-deprecation, are some of the things that dominate my mindset when i'm grumpy... this much is clear... but jus as clear is the solution - that God alone can fill my void!!! but then, why is it that i still feel this way?!?
there's definitely a difference between the intellectual knowing of God and experiencing a personal relationship with God... there are things that are hindering this, and these things are among the perpetuating factors that mean that this mood becomes an increasingly frequent recurring theme... i have been in a personal relationship with God since accepting Christ as my Saviour about eighteen months ago now... but like many, i think i might be encountering a spiritual wall, like a spiritual lethargy, in that my heart feels less free to give of itself unto God... much of my daily walk with God, from prayer to reading to every decision i make, becomes felt more like a restriction rather than freedom and fulfilment...
probably the first out of those factors is my tendency to ignore and repress my moods... often, i feel exhausted by the efforts i make in order to please others and become the person that God wants me to be... and it can feel like an unrequited love at times!!! effort goes in - but i am ignored, set aside, my efforts minimised or laid to waste in a gesture that's clearly not meant to insult, but can feel like a sledgehammer... but all the while, i continue to try, in the process keeping a pleasant façade, an exterior that says to the world that everything's ok... then i collapse suddenly - the feelings mounted to the surface, and overflowing... in this mood, i jus can't function - everything seems like a conspiracy, and it seems like everything i've lived for has all been chasing after the wind (like in ecclesiastes)...
probably the second of these factors is another thing inherent in myself - impatience... i am trying to breed patience, truly!!! and pray for it frequently... but it's hard... expecting that things are going to fix themselves within a short time, expecting that others will understand with little need to explain... thinking that it's a simple matter of one prayer and God will answer... - perseverance is needed too... perhaps i've jus slowed down too quickly and expected too much... but God has given us a lifetime...
the third - the fact that i've now been a Christian for about eighteen months, i'm probably jus emerging from that "honeymoon" period of feeling things with a freshness and driving me on... do i need a new way of worshipping?!? or do i jus need to persevere, trusting all the time in the truth that God will bring me out of whatever he brings me to?!?
solution:
hmmm... this is where i need to be working ;p am feeling slightly happier that i've sorted thru some of this... but mary made me realise that i ought to be acknowledging the simple truth and not putting on a façade... i need to let go of the pressure that i sometimes feel to be outwardly happy all the time, and instead be simply who i am... an unworthy sinner who needs God fully... and re: the spiritual lethargy, be honest to God that i am a person with doubts, who gets grumpy and frustrated without understanding it... there's never an easy process, but hopefully, by no longer denying and repressing my moods unhealthily, the lid can be removed from the boiling pot of uncertainty, fear, insecurity and inadequacy, and hopefully i can resume my walk with God in the direction He wants me to go!!!
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Happy Easter!!!
happy easter to all!!! ;p wonderful time of celebration, especially today this sunday, when we commemorate the resurrection of the Christ, Jesus!!! ;p praise God!!!
reading yn's blog before, hmmm, i wonder if there's more to this spiritual lethargy than meets the eye... before easter, i had similar lethargy, focusing on complaints and negative things, but today feeling mostly revitalised - reminded and refilled with the hope and assurance of salvation thru Jesus ;p truly, there is so much power and love poured out on us by God!!!
start of day was funny - went to city to meet with sal (thx for coming along, sal!!! ;p you always make my day!!! love u heaps!!!) - after that, my car wouldn't start!!! typical, it's happened b4... engine flooded... opened the bonnet, everything else seemed fine... was going to wait ages for racv to come along... thanx to God tho - this guy came along who was really helpful, opened up the filter cover, and told me to try again starting the car... so after a while jus pushing the starter motor, it started going, and we were able to make it to wcf on time!!! (well, 15 mins late, but jus missed a couple of songs only... so was ok!!!)
at wcf, saw quite a few friends whom i haven't seen for yonks (shaz, rene, mary, felicia, mel, james)... the message was really good, awesome presentation contrasting the claims of the "da vinci code" (book by dan brown) and the claims of Jesus ;p how well Jesus' resurrection and divinity are upheld by evidence and reason... - it remains one of the most well-established facts in history!!! - and thank God for that!!!
it's so sad sometimes tho - that such grandiose distortions of the truth are seen as fact, simply because of the claims made by one person that certain "facts" have been researched... the problem is that you can substantiate almost anything if you take certain bits of evidence and extrapolate on them, while ignoring other bits of evidence... - once a person gets led down one track, the more they want to believe it, or the more appeal a certain hypothesis has (whether because of sophistication, empowerment, simplicity, avoidance of the harsh truth, or any other reason)... once this begins, the evidence they review subsequently is seen in light of this desire to believe one way... - and the synthesis becomes simply a reinforcement of what they want to believe, while other evidence is conveniently ignored or repressed because it interferes with the neat case they have...
there was so much evidence ignored in the research apparently carried out by dan brown in the "da vinci code"... the evidence ignored was probably ignored because it promoted Jesus' deity and His resurrection from the dead... these were inconsistent with dan brown's hypothesis - so were dismissed... - but the evidence is overwhelming...
brief outline of today's message - reason tells us that Jesus' claim to deity was either a falsehood (knowingly so - a lie, or delusion - lunacy), or truth... - if a falsehood, if a lie, then why did Jesus die for a lie?!? why would so many others die for a lie?!? or if a delusion, then what of the rest of Jesus' character as it shines through the gospels that depict His life?!? Jesus was a remarkably awesome teacher, and not given to lunacy or delusion... and His followers were so firmly convinced of His claim also...
as for the resurrection - evidence points to many eyewitnesses to His crucifixion and resurrection... crucifixion was not a process of probable death, but certain death... - the depiction is one of slow asphyxiation as the sufferer struggles to breathe, a splinted diaphragm rendered ineffectual being supplanted by the tiring limb-driven efforts to expand and compress the battered thorax... this was preceded by an often fatal 39 lashes... see "the passion" and you'll have a good idea of what this means... - the resurrection was therefore hardly a hoax by a man who never died... but rather an amazing miracle, witnessed and testified to by over five hundred people, the first apostles and their contemporaries... furthermore, the transformed lives of those who believed points to the fact that they really did know Jesus was God, and that they weren't simply holding onto a lie... their knowledge of the truth was so certain that almost all the first apostles, and many of their successors, have suffered death for the truth...
this is jus the bare bones of what was said - and what can be learnt thru reading relevant and considered literature... a really good summary is "the case for Christ" by lee strobel... - would recommend it if you're interested to see this side of the story!!!
the pastor today concluded by exhorting those of us who believe to not simply believe, but be followers of Jesus... ;p for as God, He deserves our all... not only do we confess with our mouth, but we also believe in our heart - and we ought to live lives that reflect this belief!!! repentance is that often-ignored part of the gospel teaching!!! (and diet & exercise are the often-ignored part of easter egg eating!!!)
anywayz - i guess i'll leave u with this final passage... from the start of john's gospel, so that we may be reminded of the gravity of Jesus' life, death and resurrection... it so powerfully speaks for itself, who Jesus was - and what He makes possible... ;p God bless!!!
reading yn's blog before, hmmm, i wonder if there's more to this spiritual lethargy than meets the eye... before easter, i had similar lethargy, focusing on complaints and negative things, but today feeling mostly revitalised - reminded and refilled with the hope and assurance of salvation thru Jesus ;p truly, there is so much power and love poured out on us by God!!!
start of day was funny - went to city to meet with sal (thx for coming along, sal!!! ;p you always make my day!!! love u heaps!!!) - after that, my car wouldn't start!!! typical, it's happened b4... engine flooded... opened the bonnet, everything else seemed fine... was going to wait ages for racv to come along... thanx to God tho - this guy came along who was really helpful, opened up the filter cover, and told me to try again starting the car... so after a while jus pushing the starter motor, it started going, and we were able to make it to wcf on time!!! (well, 15 mins late, but jus missed a couple of songs only... so was ok!!!)
at wcf, saw quite a few friends whom i haven't seen for yonks (shaz, rene, mary, felicia, mel, james)... the message was really good, awesome presentation contrasting the claims of the "da vinci code" (book by dan brown) and the claims of Jesus ;p how well Jesus' resurrection and divinity are upheld by evidence and reason... - it remains one of the most well-established facts in history!!! - and thank God for that!!!
it's so sad sometimes tho - that such grandiose distortions of the truth are seen as fact, simply because of the claims made by one person that certain "facts" have been researched... the problem is that you can substantiate almost anything if you take certain bits of evidence and extrapolate on them, while ignoring other bits of evidence... - once a person gets led down one track, the more they want to believe it, or the more appeal a certain hypothesis has (whether because of sophistication, empowerment, simplicity, avoidance of the harsh truth, or any other reason)... once this begins, the evidence they review subsequently is seen in light of this desire to believe one way... - and the synthesis becomes simply a reinforcement of what they want to believe, while other evidence is conveniently ignored or repressed because it interferes with the neat case they have...
there was so much evidence ignored in the research apparently carried out by dan brown in the "da vinci code"... the evidence ignored was probably ignored because it promoted Jesus' deity and His resurrection from the dead... these were inconsistent with dan brown's hypothesis - so were dismissed... - but the evidence is overwhelming...
brief outline of today's message - reason tells us that Jesus' claim to deity was either a falsehood (knowingly so - a lie, or delusion - lunacy), or truth... - if a falsehood, if a lie, then why did Jesus die for a lie?!? why would so many others die for a lie?!? or if a delusion, then what of the rest of Jesus' character as it shines through the gospels that depict His life?!? Jesus was a remarkably awesome teacher, and not given to lunacy or delusion... and His followers were so firmly convinced of His claim also...
as for the resurrection - evidence points to many eyewitnesses to His crucifixion and resurrection... crucifixion was not a process of probable death, but certain death... - the depiction is one of slow asphyxiation as the sufferer struggles to breathe, a splinted diaphragm rendered ineffectual being supplanted by the tiring limb-driven efforts to expand and compress the battered thorax... this was preceded by an often fatal 39 lashes... see "the passion" and you'll have a good idea of what this means... - the resurrection was therefore hardly a hoax by a man who never died... but rather an amazing miracle, witnessed and testified to by over five hundred people, the first apostles and their contemporaries... furthermore, the transformed lives of those who believed points to the fact that they really did know Jesus was God, and that they weren't simply holding onto a lie... their knowledge of the truth was so certain that almost all the first apostles, and many of their successors, have suffered death for the truth...
this is jus the bare bones of what was said - and what can be learnt thru reading relevant and considered literature... a really good summary is "the case for Christ" by lee strobel... - would recommend it if you're interested to see this side of the story!!!
the pastor today concluded by exhorting those of us who believe to not simply believe, but be followers of Jesus... ;p for as God, He deserves our all... not only do we confess with our mouth, but we also believe in our heart - and we ought to live lives that reflect this belief!!! repentance is that often-ignored part of the gospel teaching!!! (and diet & exercise are the often-ignored part of easter egg eating!!!)
anywayz - i guess i'll leave u with this final passage... from the start of john's gospel, so that we may be reminded of the gravity of Jesus' life, death and resurrection... it so powerfully speaks for itself, who Jesus was - and what He makes possible... ;p God bless!!!
John 1:1-18
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
So slack...
hey all - ;p since previous blog, have been restored to a state of peace with myself, which can only come as a result of feeling peace with God... so thankful that i have come thru that thick cloud of negativity, that my eyes latched onto a ray of hope and have not let go - bringing me out of the cloud and into the realm of light once more...
attended helpful Bible study today on exodus 5-6, with moses petitioning to pharaoh to let his people go and worship God at God's command... but, as God had warned, pharaoh was hardened and did not know God, believing he was in control... in fact, pharaoh believed he was in some way God, the ultimate authority... of course, this was to be proven wrong... but what was the reaction of the israelites?!? this is interesting - because as God's people today, we mirror the same reaction...
the israelites were, for a time, pushed into a more severe hardship with unfair demands being placed on them in excess of their labour capacity... as slaves, they were harshly treated, and endured difficult work, and little reward... if anything, they were punished because they couldn't do the impossible... - but when this happened, they blamed moses, and appealed to pharaoh... their thoughts were that the power to restore fairness lay with pharaoh, and they failed to approach the mighty hand of God, the one who is always faithful and is ultimately truly in control... by approaching pharaoh, they demonstrated a lack of confidence in God, they distanced themselves from God's present reality...
are we like the israelites?!? i definitely can identify with them... difficult things happen, like the tsunami disaster, like war, like relationship troubles, like grave injustices, or gross immorality... and we ask, "where is God"?!? - too often, we then decide to resort to measuring things by our own thoughts and ideals, whilst ignoring God's plans and perfect timing... so we seek solace in comforts that are intrinsically worldly - gambling, drugs, sex, false religions etc... (a later example of this was seen when moses was up on sinai...) rather than simply petitioning to God, working to measure ourselves by God's standards, confessing sin and trusting in God's Son, Jesus...
lead us not into temptation, God... - but as our deliverer, saviour, and Father, constantly remind us of Your presence, Your mighty hand in control of everything, and your infinite love, wisdom, understanding and perspective... thank You so much for Jesus, whom you sent as an atoning sacrifice for our sin, and may we, by Your Spirit, be transformed in our hearts to follow faithfully and to bring glory to your wonderful Name... in Jesus' most precious name, i pray, amen...
God bless, love-in-Christ,
dave!!! ;p
ps... happenings - if you happen to read this on time, come to inu bar (union house) 7.30 wednesday 23rd march (tomorrow!!!), concert raising funds for aid organisations helping deal with the aftermath of last year's boxing-day tsunami... should be a great night, hope to see some of you there!!! (sorry for late notice!!!)
pps... soon about to finish emergency rotation - feel like i haven't done heaps, hours-wise... a really slack block... learn some really useful things though, and an opportunity to make the most of... but it's all over by the end of this week, and next week is a week off!!! shall hope to enjoy, not long before the end of this year comes upon us, and i become a (yes, very scary, ain't it) doctor!!! am almost certain to be intern at royal melbourne hospital next yr... ;p jus hope i can be a good one!!!
attended helpful Bible study today on exodus 5-6, with moses petitioning to pharaoh to let his people go and worship God at God's command... but, as God had warned, pharaoh was hardened and did not know God, believing he was in control... in fact, pharaoh believed he was in some way God, the ultimate authority... of course, this was to be proven wrong... but what was the reaction of the israelites?!? this is interesting - because as God's people today, we mirror the same reaction...
the israelites were, for a time, pushed into a more severe hardship with unfair demands being placed on them in excess of their labour capacity... as slaves, they were harshly treated, and endured difficult work, and little reward... if anything, they were punished because they couldn't do the impossible... - but when this happened, they blamed moses, and appealed to pharaoh... their thoughts were that the power to restore fairness lay with pharaoh, and they failed to approach the mighty hand of God, the one who is always faithful and is ultimately truly in control... by approaching pharaoh, they demonstrated a lack of confidence in God, they distanced themselves from God's present reality...
are we like the israelites?!? i definitely can identify with them... difficult things happen, like the tsunami disaster, like war, like relationship troubles, like grave injustices, or gross immorality... and we ask, "where is God"?!? - too often, we then decide to resort to measuring things by our own thoughts and ideals, whilst ignoring God's plans and perfect timing... so we seek solace in comforts that are intrinsically worldly - gambling, drugs, sex, false religions etc... (a later example of this was seen when moses was up on sinai...) rather than simply petitioning to God, working to measure ourselves by God's standards, confessing sin and trusting in God's Son, Jesus...
lead us not into temptation, God... - but as our deliverer, saviour, and Father, constantly remind us of Your presence, Your mighty hand in control of everything, and your infinite love, wisdom, understanding and perspective... thank You so much for Jesus, whom you sent as an atoning sacrifice for our sin, and may we, by Your Spirit, be transformed in our hearts to follow faithfully and to bring glory to your wonderful Name... in Jesus' most precious name, i pray, amen...
God bless, love-in-Christ,
dave!!! ;p
ps... happenings - if you happen to read this on time, come to inu bar (union house) 7.30 wednesday 23rd march (tomorrow!!!), concert raising funds for aid organisations helping deal with the aftermath of last year's boxing-day tsunami... should be a great night, hope to see some of you there!!! (sorry for late notice!!!)
pps... soon about to finish emergency rotation - feel like i haven't done heaps, hours-wise... a really slack block... learn some really useful things though, and an opportunity to make the most of... but it's all over by the end of this week, and next week is a week off!!! shall hope to enjoy, not long before the end of this year comes upon us, and i become a (yes, very scary, ain't it) doctor!!! am almost certain to be intern at royal melbourne hospital next yr... ;p jus hope i can be a good one!!!
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Caught in a web
hmmmz, musing about depressing thoughts and things lately... i wonder why i'm so down?!? not much reason, really, i mean, what could someone want that i haven't already got?!? it's really silly sometimes when i muse about things and jus can't come up with a reason to explain my mood... perhaps it's jus tiredness... but perhaps it's more than jus that... perhaps so many things jus rolled into one web of entanglement, me the insect trapped in the middle flapping its wings in vain to escape its sticky grasp... the spider is sin, and i am its next dinner, except for God's salvation thru Jesus Christ... yet this insect doesn't always recognise this truth...
caught in the web with me are so many other insects... sometimes i want to know them, they could be my friends... but sometimes what i want is not so much to know them, but to feel appreciated and needed in a way... it's terrible sometimes, the feeling that the world could do without you... i mean, i remember thinking about some of my friends from the past, too many of whom i've jus completely lost touch with... and wondering, they mus be doing so well now, with so many interesting things to keep them alive and seeking truth, wanting more... it is they who so often seemed content with life, and it is they to whom i looked when i wanted a model to follow... i imagine them all together in groups, laughing and enjoying one another's company... i'm happy that they're happy, but i leave myself out of the picture... they don't need me, in fact they're doing jus fine, perhaps even better without me... mostly, i'm jus like a fly on the wall, at best an accessory, at worst an annoyance or distraction... maybe that's why they haven't stayed in touch, replied to my emails, or anything... a terrible realisation dawns, perhaps i'm not so real to them after all?!?
then i look at myself and those who remain in my circle... i suppose, they come and go... but equally, i look at them and realise their sufficiency and happiness, and wonder whether they will go the way of those who have entered the bowels of my past?!? neither needing nor wanting anything to do with me... i know this is such a selfish attitude to have, but its relevance is jus too clear sometimes... then, i'm sure it goes on to affect the way i deal with others... i whine and cry, i crave attention... i move myself into the way in order to be seen, because nobody likes to be ignored, but i'm sure i do no more than invite the ire of those who i disturb... i become more desperate, clinging onto the strands that connect me to others, only to pull too tightly with possessiveness and end up snapping the strands... little remains, only memories and schemata for me to play around with, hope for the future now a discarded remnant of what i remember... once again, i might as well be alone in this sticky web of entanglement, waiting for sin to engulf me...
as the spider draws near, inclement weather arrives and wracks the web, and a thread comes loose and me with it... i'm carried away from the menacing predator, its jaws ready to strike with ferocity... but that too, those open jaws, are but a remnant of what i remember too... i am carried through the air, til i land on a leafy green paradise, so many more insects like myself to be with!!! we have much in common, and we share stories... most often we talk about the wind that saved us, but sometimes we talk about the past too... i discover that i wasn't alone in my frustrations... loneliness followed us like a plague, but the more we tried to cling to others, the more lonely we became... but we are never lonely now... we have each other, and most of all, we have God, who sent the winds of salvation... how much more do we need to know that we are loved?!? how much more do we need to seek our own worth?!?
praise God, for His Son, and for His love, which never fails... may we never forget that we are all worth something, to one another, and above all else, to God...
caught in the web with me are so many other insects... sometimes i want to know them, they could be my friends... but sometimes what i want is not so much to know them, but to feel appreciated and needed in a way... it's terrible sometimes, the feeling that the world could do without you... i mean, i remember thinking about some of my friends from the past, too many of whom i've jus completely lost touch with... and wondering, they mus be doing so well now, with so many interesting things to keep them alive and seeking truth, wanting more... it is they who so often seemed content with life, and it is they to whom i looked when i wanted a model to follow... i imagine them all together in groups, laughing and enjoying one another's company... i'm happy that they're happy, but i leave myself out of the picture... they don't need me, in fact they're doing jus fine, perhaps even better without me... mostly, i'm jus like a fly on the wall, at best an accessory, at worst an annoyance or distraction... maybe that's why they haven't stayed in touch, replied to my emails, or anything... a terrible realisation dawns, perhaps i'm not so real to them after all?!?
then i look at myself and those who remain in my circle... i suppose, they come and go... but equally, i look at them and realise their sufficiency and happiness, and wonder whether they will go the way of those who have entered the bowels of my past?!? neither needing nor wanting anything to do with me... i know this is such a selfish attitude to have, but its relevance is jus too clear sometimes... then, i'm sure it goes on to affect the way i deal with others... i whine and cry, i crave attention... i move myself into the way in order to be seen, because nobody likes to be ignored, but i'm sure i do no more than invite the ire of those who i disturb... i become more desperate, clinging onto the strands that connect me to others, only to pull too tightly with possessiveness and end up snapping the strands... little remains, only memories and schemata for me to play around with, hope for the future now a discarded remnant of what i remember... once again, i might as well be alone in this sticky web of entanglement, waiting for sin to engulf me...
as the spider draws near, inclement weather arrives and wracks the web, and a thread comes loose and me with it... i'm carried away from the menacing predator, its jaws ready to strike with ferocity... but that too, those open jaws, are but a remnant of what i remember too... i am carried through the air, til i land on a leafy green paradise, so many more insects like myself to be with!!! we have much in common, and we share stories... most often we talk about the wind that saved us, but sometimes we talk about the past too... i discover that i wasn't alone in my frustrations... loneliness followed us like a plague, but the more we tried to cling to others, the more lonely we became... but we are never lonely now... we have each other, and most of all, we have God, who sent the winds of salvation... how much more do we need to know that we are loved?!? how much more do we need to seek our own worth?!?
praise God, for His Son, and for His love, which never fails... may we never forget that we are all worth something, to one another, and above all else, to God...
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Robinvale
back, finally, from my 4-week rural rotation!!! last week spent in robinvale, a good 4-hr hike from shepp, situated along the murray, jus a short distance from mildura in that north-west corner of victoria... the mallee country is beautiful to behold, really striking ochre-coloured soil dominating the landscape and forming a stark contrast with the blue sky at the horizon... the clouds bear the reflection of the ground, issuing forth a pinkish glow from its undersurface...
the town itself was quite an unusual proposition, a mix of koorie, tongan, vietnamese, italian, afghani and south-african inhabitants dwelling in the small town, no doubt drawn there by the fruit-picking and vineyard employment opportunities that present themselves at most throughout during the year... many have settled, though, and there is a constant presence of about 4,000 people in the town, swelling up to as many as 7,000 in peak fruit-picking season...
's a funny thing - most ppl muse about random thoughts when they're in the shower... but my brain was in full random-thinking mode while washing the car today... i guess it's also a shower, of sorts, though most of the water covering my body was sweat, not that much from the hose... but it was really tough going, trying to get rid of all the mallee soil (which was everywhere in the air) out of the carpets, and all the surfaces inside and outside the car... at least it's clean now... and no more country driving to get it all dirty!!!
anywayz - random thoughts... i remembered in robinvale, seeing some graffiti inside the public toilet block that was in the middle of the road that read "rob-in-jail"... but it's an accurate reflection of robinvale's claim to the title of one of the most notorious crime-filled towns in the whole nation... my digital camera went missing, probably there in robinvale... but it's weird, how, if this were in melbourne, everyone's reaction would be, "dave, how could u be so careless!!! maybe u left it in your bag, did you empty it out, did you check it?!? could you have left it in the restaurant?!?" - but since it's robinvale, so many ppl seem so convinced that it's been stolen!!! "dave, you shouldn't ever leave your bag unattended for two seconds, you know... how many times have i told u?!?"
unfortunately, that means no fotos of mungo... i drove up to mungo national park, a really wonderful place to visit if u ever get the chance!!! long dirt road, about 120km, so quite a tiring drive for 1hr10mins or so... watch the kangaroos and sheep and cattle that inevitably wander onto the path!!! but arrival in mungo, pushing aside how dirty the car had become, was breathtaking... you arrive at one end of the lake, which is now a flat, dry lake bed, and feast your eyes upon the beautiful "walls of china" that dominate the horizon 10km away across the lake... the amount of history in the museum is phenomenal, chronicling 50,000 years of aboriginal inhabitance of the region, and their coexistence with strange megafauna, now extinct... imagine life as it was then!!!
went the 10km across to the walls of china... the brilliant layered appearance of the walls is caused by the erosion and deposition of various hidden layers of rock laid down by the repeated filling and emptying of the lake over the millenia... layers of red ochre-ish soil overlie the white rock that rises up steeply, small knolls preserved by the roots of hardy trees that hold them against the wind's erosive forces... atop the walls are the peaks of rolling dunes that move ever so slowly, the exposed side of the dunes holding solidly against our footsteps, in contrast to the liquid behaviour of the sand whenever it is disturbed on the leeward side of the dunes... it's almost surreal, just watching the lava-like motion of the fine sand trickling down the side and parting into channels formed by the ripples on the surface...
relics of early settlement by non-indigenous australians were dotted around the park, with goat traps, small tin huts and wells doing little to deface the immense beauty of a relatively undisturbed corner of the universe...
;p i think it's a beautiful reminder of God's creation, and well worth the drive, and even the car wash after the drive!!! - the road can be dangerous though, some friends of ours became temporarily stranded after their tyre blew out causing the car to run off the road... but yah, would be awesome to revisit sometime in the future!!!
anywayz - i think i should stop rambling now... jus want to leave u with a passage from 2 peter, which teaches us how best to be children pleasing to our heavenly Father... it's a challenging passage, because, although it's full of encouragement, it reminds us of what is so often missing in our walk as children of God - that is effort (in the passage, "selfcontrol, perseverance"), but which is born of faith in Jesus... but how cool is it, that as we focus more and more on God, we are reminded of His goodness, and the amazing promises that He has made to us!!! ;p
God bless u all!!!
dave
the town itself was quite an unusual proposition, a mix of koorie, tongan, vietnamese, italian, afghani and south-african inhabitants dwelling in the small town, no doubt drawn there by the fruit-picking and vineyard employment opportunities that present themselves at most throughout during the year... many have settled, though, and there is a constant presence of about 4,000 people in the town, swelling up to as many as 7,000 in peak fruit-picking season...
's a funny thing - most ppl muse about random thoughts when they're in the shower... but my brain was in full random-thinking mode while washing the car today... i guess it's also a shower, of sorts, though most of the water covering my body was sweat, not that much from the hose... but it was really tough going, trying to get rid of all the mallee soil (which was everywhere in the air) out of the carpets, and all the surfaces inside and outside the car... at least it's clean now... and no more country driving to get it all dirty!!!
anywayz - random thoughts... i remembered in robinvale, seeing some graffiti inside the public toilet block that was in the middle of the road that read "rob-in-jail"... but it's an accurate reflection of robinvale's claim to the title of one of the most notorious crime-filled towns in the whole nation... my digital camera went missing, probably there in robinvale... but it's weird, how, if this were in melbourne, everyone's reaction would be, "dave, how could u be so careless!!! maybe u left it in your bag, did you empty it out, did you check it?!? could you have left it in the restaurant?!?" - but since it's robinvale, so many ppl seem so convinced that it's been stolen!!! "dave, you shouldn't ever leave your bag unattended for two seconds, you know... how many times have i told u?!?"
unfortunately, that means no fotos of mungo... i drove up to mungo national park, a really wonderful place to visit if u ever get the chance!!! long dirt road, about 120km, so quite a tiring drive for 1hr10mins or so... watch the kangaroos and sheep and cattle that inevitably wander onto the path!!! but arrival in mungo, pushing aside how dirty the car had become, was breathtaking... you arrive at one end of the lake, which is now a flat, dry lake bed, and feast your eyes upon the beautiful "walls of china" that dominate the horizon 10km away across the lake... the amount of history in the museum is phenomenal, chronicling 50,000 years of aboriginal inhabitance of the region, and their coexistence with strange megafauna, now extinct... imagine life as it was then!!!
went the 10km across to the walls of china... the brilliant layered appearance of the walls is caused by the erosion and deposition of various hidden layers of rock laid down by the repeated filling and emptying of the lake over the millenia... layers of red ochre-ish soil overlie the white rock that rises up steeply, small knolls preserved by the roots of hardy trees that hold them against the wind's erosive forces... atop the walls are the peaks of rolling dunes that move ever so slowly, the exposed side of the dunes holding solidly against our footsteps, in contrast to the liquid behaviour of the sand whenever it is disturbed on the leeward side of the dunes... it's almost surreal, just watching the lava-like motion of the fine sand trickling down the side and parting into channels formed by the ripples on the surface...
relics of early settlement by non-indigenous australians were dotted around the park, with goat traps, small tin huts and wells doing little to deface the immense beauty of a relatively undisturbed corner of the universe...
;p i think it's a beautiful reminder of God's creation, and well worth the drive, and even the car wash after the drive!!! - the road can be dangerous though, some friends of ours became temporarily stranded after their tyre blew out causing the car to run off the road... but yah, would be awesome to revisit sometime in the future!!!
anywayz - i think i should stop rambling now... jus want to leave u with a passage from 2 peter, which teaches us how best to be children pleasing to our heavenly Father... it's a challenging passage, because, although it's full of encouragement, it reminds us of what is so often missing in our walk as children of God - that is effort (in the passage, "selfcontrol, perseverance"), but which is born of faith in Jesus... but how cool is it, that as we focus more and more on God, we are reminded of His goodness, and the amazing promises that He has made to us!!! ;p
God bless u all!!!
dave
2 Peter 1:1-11
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, selfcontrol; and to selfcontrol, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Rurality and mental health
here's a lil essay i wrote jus over the past three days about rurality and mental health... hopefully some of u find it interesting... ;p
Rurality and mental health
Over about 10 days, we had the privilege of visiting the small rural community of Berrigan and the surrounding townships, and our eyes were opened to a very different context of medical practice. We observed and participated in the rural lifestyle, and were welcomed warmly and embraced by the local population. Clearly, not only do they recognise and wish to attract more health practitioners to their region, but their friendship and warmth is a genuine one that stems from a supportive community spirit. In this essay, in which I focus on mental health, I shall endeavour to use this context to illustrate some of the important points about mental health practice in rural Australia.
The township of Berrigan has a population of about 1,000. Mostly, the town serves as a farming support town, with the major industries being rice, wheat and maize. Increasingly, the population is aging, and the proportion of retirees finding their homes in Berrigan is becoming greater. There is one general practitioner in the town who works in a clinic attached to the 14-bed hospital. Alongside the GP, there are many allied health professionals, ranging from nursing staff, dentists, a pharmacist, a physiotherapist, and a psychologist, some of whom are based in Berrigan. Overall, with respect to health services, it is considered as part of a sector that encompasses the shires of Berrigan and Jerilderie, which takes in the towns of Finley, Barooga, Tocumwal and Jerilderie, in addition to Berrigan (see Appendix for ARIA and RRMA remoteness scores). Some services, including mental health services, are further shared with the neighbouring sector, based in Deniliquin, which is about 100km from Berrigan.
We encountered a member of the mental health team first at a social night. The psychologist was based in Berrigan, and was on a 12-month contract. Having come from the city, her impressions of the country were initially positive, with her appraisal of the community spirit as friendly and enthusiastic. She enjoyed the job, but had personal ties that meant she returned to Melbourne every weekend. Eventually, those same ties led to her searching for and finding a job in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, for which she was about to leave her employment in Berrigan after only 3 months there.
We met more members of the community mental health team in Deniliquin on a visit there with the drug and alcohol counsellor for the region. The team in Deniliquin consists of two psychologists (one for each sector), two general mental health nurses (three positions: child/adolescent, adult, and one for over 65 years, which is currently vacant), an Aboriginal mental health worker, and a mental health nurse for EDC&C (emergency, crisis). There are also administration positions. Other mental health practitioners work closely with the Deniliquin team across the sectors as well. They liaise closely with other health practitioners, such as drug and alcohol, general practice, and hospital staff. Consultation with psychiatrists is made possible through video teleconferencing (telepsychiatry), and facilities for this have been installed in Deniliquin and several other sites around rural NSW.
How does mental health differ between the rural and the urban settings? This is a complicated question to answer. While there are concerted efforts to improve access to mental health services in rural areas, such as outreach workers, Access Line (a 24-hour free phone number for advice and crisis support), brochures, posters, and close working with other health services, there are still differences highlighted in the statistics comparing rural and urban mental health. Perhaps the starkest statistic is that of suicide rates. Overall, comparing suicide rates between (crudely speaking) rural and urban Australia, there is little statistical difference between suicide rates of females, but male suicide rates are significantly higher in areas termed "rural" as opposed to "urban" (AIHW, Australia's Health 2004). Statistics on overall mental illness prevalence paints a slightly different picture: according to a 2000 ABS survey, it is greatest in large and small rural centres (19.4%), followed by capital cities (17.8%), and lowest among "other rural & remote" areas (15.7%). However, Meadows demonstrated in the same year that the proportion of unmet need for mental health care increased with increasing remoteness.
Why does this pattern/difference exist? It is important to understand that this difference is not simply the result of differences between mental health services available, and accessibility to them. Mental health is the result of so many interacting factors, which are social, economic, cultural, biological, as well as psychological. Diversity in all these factors throughout rural Australia means that a simple cross-assessment of all rural areas together might not yield meaningful results. Instead, an examination of these factors as they apply to areas of rural Australia might help to explain the difference, and indeed, provide more concrete targets at which to aim when developing solutions for rural mental health.
At the social level, perhaps one of the most interesting phenomena separating rural from urban living comes into play. In rural areas, where “everyone knows everyone”, people's networks consist primarily of strong ties, and lack weak ties relative to urban-dwellers. The effect of this on mental health is that such social networks tend to act as reverberators of information, and people are probably less willing and able to disclose concerns they may have. Also, the predominance of strong ties means more dependent relationships exist in the community, such that if one person suddenly falls out of their role(s), the community's networks will undergo an upheaval. These things are reflected in the stoicism and self-reliance stereotypically associated with rural-dwellers, and this attitude breeds a reluctance to acknowledge mental health problems and access mental health care. The stigma associated with mental illness further contributes to this reluctance, and compounds the effect that would occur if a diagnosis of mental illness were revealed in the community.
Another relevant social phenomenon involves the multiplicity of roles held by individuals in rural communities, where one’s activities in one role rapidly becomes widely known, and affects the other roles held by that person. For example, if a community leader involved in several different community clubs, on the school board, and mother of two school-age children, decides to send one of her children to a school in another town, then she would be seen as letting down the community and her role and relationships as a community leader would become strained. Similarly, if an individual were to undergo difficult circumstances, he or she might be afraid to seek help for mental health for fear that his or her roles would become disrupted because of the stigma associated with mental illness.
Among the economic factors influencing mental health in rural areas is the changing landscape of industry that drives the rural economy. Traditionally, rural areas have been portrayed as homogenous primary-industry-driven communities where a large proportion of the population dwelt on and made their living from farms, whether livestock, crops or orchards. However, the past few decades have seen a shift from this pattern. Berrigan is a prime example of this phenomenon. It is a town built on irrigated land, and crops of rice, wheat and maize cover the horizon from end to end. This much has changed little, but the way in which farming is practised has changed much. The land is now owned by far fewer people running far larger-scale operations, and their tractors are growing larger and larger in the quest for greater efficiency, as they struggle on the background of the recent drought conditions to break even. Small-scale farmers are a dying breed, most having had to sell out because they were running unsustainable businesses and drowning under the competition, and those who own small plots of land now run intensive operations such as pig igloos or fish farms in order to survive.
This changing economic landscape means that farming is less prominent as an industry in rural towns. One would also suggest that this trend in farming is not isolated, and is mirrored everywhere, including the decline of some rural towns. As society trends towards specialisation and competitiveness, a town must either follow or somehow be extremely innovative to baulk the trend and survive. In many rural areas, farming is being replaced by growth industries of tourism and aged care. Increasingly, country towns are seen as attractive for lifestyle reasons (and Berrigan’s congenial and welcoming community illustrates this well with their laid-back, relaxed pace and simple enjoyment of peace, quiet and friendly company). Those who are settling in the Berrigan area are mostly retirees, while the younger generation (who find themselves often without viable businesses to take over) are migrating to urban areas to seek opportunities for their career. A different pattern is observed in some other country towns such as Tocumwal, whose river location and airfield make it a wonderful magnet for tourists and the younger generation.
This has profound effects on mental health in rural areas. On one hand, the peace and quiet relative to the city would seem to ease stress on the population. But on the other hand, the changing economic climate and the competitive nature of industry is bringing the city’s stresses out into the country.
Rural Australia is also culturally diverse and dynamic. There are growing groups of people with different ethnic backgrounds entering rural towns, although there tend to be concentrations of certain groups in specific areas. For example, there are large Italian communities dwelling in the vicinity of the Murray River in towns such as Cobram, which is just across the border from Barooga, which is in Berrigan Shire. While the Aboriginal population is more highly represented in rural Australia overall compared to metropolitan Australia, the area around Berrigan has very few Aboriginal dwellers. Nevertheless, while ethnicity may contribute to some of the culture of an area, rural areas also differ culturally from urban areas in other ways. Some of this has been illustrated by the community-centric social structure of rural towns. There tends to be a greater sense of trust and loyalty amongst rural communities, because of the social proximity of people to each other, and the spirit by which neighbours look out for one another. Also, the lack of anonymity would tend to reinforce the sense of belonging that one feels in the town. These factors are reflected in the culture of community events, and people enthusiastically support community-run festivals, fund-raisers and other goings-on. Examples during our time at Berrigan were the overwhelming support shown for the Berrigan swimming pool at the swimming carnival fund-raiser, the strong membership of the local Lions club, and the crowd at the Finley tractor pull.
This community enthusiasm can play a particularly protective role against mental illness. There is a spirit of co-dependency among rural communities such that everyone helps one another. When individuals fall into difficult circumstances, often the community will rally to their support.
Part of the flip side of this community enthusiasm is a cultural resistance against external influences that attempt to exert themselves on the town. Without such resistance, small communities are vulnerable to external pressures, and among the health services, city-based authorities are often looked upon with disdain. It is unfortunate that small towns are at the mercy of decisions made by those who all too often have too little to do with the country to understand their plight. When one understands that differences exist between rural culture and urban culture, and that their needs are different, not only from metropolitan areas, but also from one another, it becomes obvious that the best solutions would originate from rural areas themselves.
While this is particularly evident at the level of health service infrastructure and funding arrangements, a simpler example of this can be seen in the pattern of acceptance of overseas-trained doctors in the rural towns. The general practitioner in Berrigan was trained in Iraq, and initially it took some time for the local population to accept him as their doctor. He faced language issues also, and was found to be “hard to understand”. However, time has once again proved to be a healer, and after being welcomed into the community, he has become, more and more, a member of the community. The town is now pleased with the much-needed services that he provides to the town, and most of the locals visit his surgery.
Cultural safety issues go beyond respecting the patient to respecting health care workers. A case of an elderly farm-dwelling male patient whose frontal lobe dementia has led to some disinhibition illustrates this point. Outreach workers regularly visit his home on the farm in order to investigate his progress, ensure that his living standards are maintained, and assess whether or not he is still capable of managing in his own home. However, his disinhibited behaviour has led to reports of sexual advances towards some of the workers, making them feel uneasy. Because of the isolation of the site, assistance for the threatened worker is not at hand, and the response of the workers to date has been to suggest some medication to alleviate the disinhibition.
Access issues can also highlight the particular need for cultural sensitivity in the rural setting. In a town such as Berrigan, where there is only one general practitioner, difficulties arise when cultural conflict occurs. A female Islamic patient, for example, may feel very uneasy with a male doctor, and may refuse physical examination. She would then have two options, either to continue visiting the same doctor reluctantly (perhaps with a compromise measure in place, such as the presence of a female nurse), or go to a different town in order to find a female doctor to treat her. The previous GP in Berrigan was female, and many of the males in Berrigan found it awkward to approach her as their doctor, and so were faced with a similar dilemma. The result of this is that many who should be receiving health care do not receive it, due to cultural or access issues.
This has strong relevance to mental health. The National Mental Health Survey (1997) investigated the role of general practice in mental health care, and demonstrated the vital role that general practitioners have in mental health. Nationwide, three quarters of those who used a health service for mental illness saw a GP, and half of these had their GP as their sole mental health practitioner. Furthermore, 71% of the community put that, if they sought professional help for depression, they would first approach a GP. The sparse distribution of GPs in rural Australia, and even sparser scattering of other mental health practitioners such as psychologists and psychiatrists, means that the interfaces between patients and mental health care are thinly spread in the country. If choice is limited to only one GP in a town, there are few practical options for the individual (highlighted previously), and often it seems most appropriate to forgo seeking help. In a secondary analysis of the BEACH (bettering the evaluation and care of health) study by Caldwell et al, rates of psychological problems identified by GPs per population were demonstrated to decline with increasing remoteness (as measured by RRMA score). Berrigan and surrounding townships have an RRMA classification of 5, which were shown to have significantly fewer psychological problems identified per population. Interestingly, there was little variation across all RRMA classifications in the rate of identification of psychological problems per number of GP encounters. The suggestion here is that the lower identification rate among rural and remote areas is largely due to a lower rate of utilisation of GP services in these areas, and that there is a higher proportion of unmet need for mental health care in rural Australia compared with metropolitan Australia.
Biological factors may also play a part in the rural-urban mental health differential. Overall, the health status of individuals in rural and remote communities is poorer than in urban areas. In particular, the mortality rate in rural Australia is significantly higher than in major cities. This is likely to be due to a number of factors, including a different demographic (with higher proportion of Aboriginal people who have life expectancies about 20 years shorter than non-Aboriginal Australians), poorer access to health care, poorer education status (perhaps associated with less effective health outcome preventative measures), and more hazardous environmental factors (e.g. motor vehicle accidents). Mortality from causes such as coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, motor vehicle accidents, and diabetes, feature heavily among the causes of excess deaths in rural Australia. Largely, these causes are modifiable to an extent by appropriate behaviours, such as quitting smoking, practising safe driving, or controlling diet. Perhaps more aggressive promotion of healthy behaviours would help to reduce these excess deaths.
It is also well known that mental illnesses such as depression are often linked to poorer health status. Diseases seen more often in rural areas such as coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes, are illnesses that by-and-large cause significant stress for individuals, and contribute to the mental health burden.
So what can be done to improve rural mental health? The issues identified above largely fall into the categories of availability, access, and health promotion. Perhaps some of the “problem” lies in the culture of stoicism and self-reliance seen in rural-dwellers, but this is a difficult area to target in itself. However, it is possible that campaigns might be instituted to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness (and one such campaign is proceeding in the Hume area, encompassing Shepparton).
On the front of availability, strategies must be developed to recruit more health practitioners into the country. Communities are welcoming and mostly recognise the need for more services, and increasingly so in mental health as awareness of psychological illness increases. In Berrigan shire, positions are available and are mostly advertised as twelve-month contracts. This method of advertisement acts to lure practitioners by binding them only for a short time, leaving open the option to leave the position after that time, and positions frequently come packaged with a place to live or other incentives that serve to assist assimilation into the community. As one of the nurse administrators said, the plan is to attract them, and once they arrive, to get them so involved with the community that they are unable to leave. Recruitment is, however, limited by funding provided by the government, and lobbying for more funding to attract more health professionals is always an ongoing, difficult and complicated task.
Access is another major issue that should be targeted. The access problem is highlighted by the high suicide rate, which indicates that much mental illness may be going unidentified or unmanaged until it becomes far too severe. For less severe mental illness, access is also an issue, but is available through outreach mental health workers, travelling psychologists, and telepsychiatry. These arrangements are well established in Deniliquin.
Telepsychiatry, in particular, has been a topical issue since its advent many decades ago. It allows consultation via camera and television screen with a psychiatrist at a distant site, which is Sydney for those in Deniliquin. This facilitates access by cutting travel time and cost, and the time saved can often mean one less day absent from work or school, less disruption to family, or simply less to stress about. It also makes possible a quick second opinion to be given by more experienced personnel. Studies on telepsychiatry have demonstrated its reliability for child psychiatric assessments, depression and cognitive status assessments for the elderly. Positive outcomes have also been achieved with interventions administered by telepsychiatry. However, there is a suggestion that telepsychiatry is less reliable than in-person consultation for behaviours requiring visual observation, and it is not the modality of choice for patients with schizophrenia.
Overall, telepsychiatry is seen as an acceptable and cost-effective means of accessing psychiatric expertise from a rural area. Where such vast distances are involved, such as from Berrigan and Deniliquin to Melbourne, patients mostly prefer to use the telepsychiatry facility. Concerns are expressed about confidentiality and the impersonal nature of the teleconference, but the positive outcomes achievable by this modality demonstrates that it is a worthwhile step forward in improving access to mental health services in rural Australia.
Outreach workers exist in many of the disciplines associated with mental health. We spent some time with a member of the aged care assessment team (ACAT) on home visits to elderly patients. Their role in mental health is vital, calling on a vulnerable sector of the population, inquiring about problems they may be experiencing, and advising them on the allied health services available. They assess their need for services and are able to make referrals to services such as occupational therapy, mental health services and general practitioners. On this front, outreach workers are performing well at addressing access issues in those who have identified health concerns.
The greatest difficulty is in addressing the problems of those with mental illness that have not been identified. This is where health promotion and awareness must be targeted. Promotion of Access Line is one of the measures taken to address this. Access Line posters and brochures are visible in doctors’ surgeries, in hospitals and in community health centres. They make people aware that there is a free number they can call for assistance with any mental health concerns. However, these posters are hardly visible away from health facilities, where perhaps they are most needed. The other problem with this strategy of promoting awareness of services is that it relies on individuals with mental illnesses or their friends and relatives to identify their problems. As it would be costly, unethical and impractical to probe into the lives of every member of the community in order to catch those with mental illness, promotion of services is probably the most feasible method.
How can this be better achieved? Perhaps other media such as newsprint, television and radio should be more aggressively enlisted, in order to reach a wider audience. Perhaps community-driven events to promote healthy behaviours and strategies to identify mental illness might be effective. In some areas, mental illness is still a taboo topic, and so a campaign to reduce the stigma, such as in the Hume region in Victoria, might be synergistic to other promotion strategies. Mentally ill people will only come forward to seek help if they understand that it is OK to do so. In the end, however, these strategies can only be possible with more resources being made available for mental health promotion in rural areas.
Resources
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2004). Australia’s Health 2004. Canberra: AIHW
Caldwell TM, Jorm AF, Knox S, Braddock D, Dear KBG, Britt H (2004). General practice encounters for psychological problems in rural, remote and metropolitan areas in Australia. Aust New Zealand J Psychiatry 38:774-780
Fraser C, Judd F, Jackson H, Murray G, Humphreys J, Hodgins GA (2002). Does One Size Really Fit All? Why the Mental Health of Rural Australians Requires Further Research. Aust J Rural Health 10:288-295
Fuller J, Edwards J, Procter N, Moss J (2002). Mental Health in Rural and Remote Australia. In The New Rural Health (eds Wilkinson D, Blue I), Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, pp 171-86
Glover JJ (2003). Rural Bioethical Issues of the Elderly: How Do They Differ From Urban Ones?. J Rural Health 17(4):332-335
Harrison CM, Britt H (2004). The rates and management of psychological problems in Australian general practice. Aust New Zealand J Psychiatry 38:781-788
Humphreys J, Hegney D, Lipscombe J, Gregory G, Chater B (2002). Whither Rural Health? Reviewing a Decade of Progress in Rural Health. Aust J Rural Health 10:2-14
Hyler SE, Gangure DP (2003). A Review of the Costs of Telepsychiatry. Psychiatric Services 54(7):976-980
Hyler SE, Gangure DP (2003). Legal and Ethical Challenges in Telepsychiatry. J Psychiatric Practice 10(4):272-276
Monnier J, Knapp RG, Frueh BC (2003). Recent Advances in Telepsychiatry: An Updated Review. Psychiatric Services 54(12):1604-1609
Murray G, Judd F, Jackson H, Fraser C, Komiti A, Hodgins G, Pattison P, Humphreys J, Robins G (2004). Rurality and mental health: the role of accessibility. Aust New Zealand J Psychiatry 38:629-634
Special thanks must go to the people of Berrigan, especially our hosts and the hospital staff. Thanks and best wishes also go to the mental health team of Deniliquin for their valuable time, and their enthusiasm that went into showing us what they do and the special challenges they face.
Appendix
ARIA/RRMA Scores for Towns
Berrigan - ARIA 2.72, RRMA5
Finley - ARIA 2.59, RRMA5
Barooga - No ARIA score available, RRMA5
Tocumwal - ARIA 2.47, RRMA5
Jerilderie - ARIA 3.28, RRMA5
Deniliquin - ARIA 2.33, RRMA5
Source: Personal correspondence, Craig Winfield, Department of Health and Ageing
Rurality and mental health
Over about 10 days, we had the privilege of visiting the small rural community of Berrigan and the surrounding townships, and our eyes were opened to a very different context of medical practice. We observed and participated in the rural lifestyle, and were welcomed warmly and embraced by the local population. Clearly, not only do they recognise and wish to attract more health practitioners to their region, but their friendship and warmth is a genuine one that stems from a supportive community spirit. In this essay, in which I focus on mental health, I shall endeavour to use this context to illustrate some of the important points about mental health practice in rural Australia.
The township of Berrigan has a population of about 1,000. Mostly, the town serves as a farming support town, with the major industries being rice, wheat and maize. Increasingly, the population is aging, and the proportion of retirees finding their homes in Berrigan is becoming greater. There is one general practitioner in the town who works in a clinic attached to the 14-bed hospital. Alongside the GP, there are many allied health professionals, ranging from nursing staff, dentists, a pharmacist, a physiotherapist, and a psychologist, some of whom are based in Berrigan. Overall, with respect to health services, it is considered as part of a sector that encompasses the shires of Berrigan and Jerilderie, which takes in the towns of Finley, Barooga, Tocumwal and Jerilderie, in addition to Berrigan (see Appendix for ARIA and RRMA remoteness scores). Some services, including mental health services, are further shared with the neighbouring sector, based in Deniliquin, which is about 100km from Berrigan.
We encountered a member of the mental health team first at a social night. The psychologist was based in Berrigan, and was on a 12-month contract. Having come from the city, her impressions of the country were initially positive, with her appraisal of the community spirit as friendly and enthusiastic. She enjoyed the job, but had personal ties that meant she returned to Melbourne every weekend. Eventually, those same ties led to her searching for and finding a job in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, for which she was about to leave her employment in Berrigan after only 3 months there.
We met more members of the community mental health team in Deniliquin on a visit there with the drug and alcohol counsellor for the region. The team in Deniliquin consists of two psychologists (one for each sector), two general mental health nurses (three positions: child/adolescent, adult, and one for over 65 years, which is currently vacant), an Aboriginal mental health worker, and a mental health nurse for EDC&C (emergency, crisis). There are also administration positions. Other mental health practitioners work closely with the Deniliquin team across the sectors as well. They liaise closely with other health practitioners, such as drug and alcohol, general practice, and hospital staff. Consultation with psychiatrists is made possible through video teleconferencing (telepsychiatry), and facilities for this have been installed in Deniliquin and several other sites around rural NSW.
How does mental health differ between the rural and the urban settings? This is a complicated question to answer. While there are concerted efforts to improve access to mental health services in rural areas, such as outreach workers, Access Line (a 24-hour free phone number for advice and crisis support), brochures, posters, and close working with other health services, there are still differences highlighted in the statistics comparing rural and urban mental health. Perhaps the starkest statistic is that of suicide rates. Overall, comparing suicide rates between (crudely speaking) rural and urban Australia, there is little statistical difference between suicide rates of females, but male suicide rates are significantly higher in areas termed "rural" as opposed to "urban" (AIHW, Australia's Health 2004). Statistics on overall mental illness prevalence paints a slightly different picture: according to a 2000 ABS survey, it is greatest in large and small rural centres (19.4%), followed by capital cities (17.8%), and lowest among "other rural & remote" areas (15.7%). However, Meadows demonstrated in the same year that the proportion of unmet need for mental health care increased with increasing remoteness.
Why does this pattern/difference exist? It is important to understand that this difference is not simply the result of differences between mental health services available, and accessibility to them. Mental health is the result of so many interacting factors, which are social, economic, cultural, biological, as well as psychological. Diversity in all these factors throughout rural Australia means that a simple cross-assessment of all rural areas together might not yield meaningful results. Instead, an examination of these factors as they apply to areas of rural Australia might help to explain the difference, and indeed, provide more concrete targets at which to aim when developing solutions for rural mental health.
At the social level, perhaps one of the most interesting phenomena separating rural from urban living comes into play. In rural areas, where “everyone knows everyone”, people's networks consist primarily of strong ties, and lack weak ties relative to urban-dwellers. The effect of this on mental health is that such social networks tend to act as reverberators of information, and people are probably less willing and able to disclose concerns they may have. Also, the predominance of strong ties means more dependent relationships exist in the community, such that if one person suddenly falls out of their role(s), the community's networks will undergo an upheaval. These things are reflected in the stoicism and self-reliance stereotypically associated with rural-dwellers, and this attitude breeds a reluctance to acknowledge mental health problems and access mental health care. The stigma associated with mental illness further contributes to this reluctance, and compounds the effect that would occur if a diagnosis of mental illness were revealed in the community.
Another relevant social phenomenon involves the multiplicity of roles held by individuals in rural communities, where one’s activities in one role rapidly becomes widely known, and affects the other roles held by that person. For example, if a community leader involved in several different community clubs, on the school board, and mother of two school-age children, decides to send one of her children to a school in another town, then she would be seen as letting down the community and her role and relationships as a community leader would become strained. Similarly, if an individual were to undergo difficult circumstances, he or she might be afraid to seek help for mental health for fear that his or her roles would become disrupted because of the stigma associated with mental illness.
Among the economic factors influencing mental health in rural areas is the changing landscape of industry that drives the rural economy. Traditionally, rural areas have been portrayed as homogenous primary-industry-driven communities where a large proportion of the population dwelt on and made their living from farms, whether livestock, crops or orchards. However, the past few decades have seen a shift from this pattern. Berrigan is a prime example of this phenomenon. It is a town built on irrigated land, and crops of rice, wheat and maize cover the horizon from end to end. This much has changed little, but the way in which farming is practised has changed much. The land is now owned by far fewer people running far larger-scale operations, and their tractors are growing larger and larger in the quest for greater efficiency, as they struggle on the background of the recent drought conditions to break even. Small-scale farmers are a dying breed, most having had to sell out because they were running unsustainable businesses and drowning under the competition, and those who own small plots of land now run intensive operations such as pig igloos or fish farms in order to survive.
This changing economic landscape means that farming is less prominent as an industry in rural towns. One would also suggest that this trend in farming is not isolated, and is mirrored everywhere, including the decline of some rural towns. As society trends towards specialisation and competitiveness, a town must either follow or somehow be extremely innovative to baulk the trend and survive. In many rural areas, farming is being replaced by growth industries of tourism and aged care. Increasingly, country towns are seen as attractive for lifestyle reasons (and Berrigan’s congenial and welcoming community illustrates this well with their laid-back, relaxed pace and simple enjoyment of peace, quiet and friendly company). Those who are settling in the Berrigan area are mostly retirees, while the younger generation (who find themselves often without viable businesses to take over) are migrating to urban areas to seek opportunities for their career. A different pattern is observed in some other country towns such as Tocumwal, whose river location and airfield make it a wonderful magnet for tourists and the younger generation.
This has profound effects on mental health in rural areas. On one hand, the peace and quiet relative to the city would seem to ease stress on the population. But on the other hand, the changing economic climate and the competitive nature of industry is bringing the city’s stresses out into the country.
Rural Australia is also culturally diverse and dynamic. There are growing groups of people with different ethnic backgrounds entering rural towns, although there tend to be concentrations of certain groups in specific areas. For example, there are large Italian communities dwelling in the vicinity of the Murray River in towns such as Cobram, which is just across the border from Barooga, which is in Berrigan Shire. While the Aboriginal population is more highly represented in rural Australia overall compared to metropolitan Australia, the area around Berrigan has very few Aboriginal dwellers. Nevertheless, while ethnicity may contribute to some of the culture of an area, rural areas also differ culturally from urban areas in other ways. Some of this has been illustrated by the community-centric social structure of rural towns. There tends to be a greater sense of trust and loyalty amongst rural communities, because of the social proximity of people to each other, and the spirit by which neighbours look out for one another. Also, the lack of anonymity would tend to reinforce the sense of belonging that one feels in the town. These factors are reflected in the culture of community events, and people enthusiastically support community-run festivals, fund-raisers and other goings-on. Examples during our time at Berrigan were the overwhelming support shown for the Berrigan swimming pool at the swimming carnival fund-raiser, the strong membership of the local Lions club, and the crowd at the Finley tractor pull.
This community enthusiasm can play a particularly protective role against mental illness. There is a spirit of co-dependency among rural communities such that everyone helps one another. When individuals fall into difficult circumstances, often the community will rally to their support.
Part of the flip side of this community enthusiasm is a cultural resistance against external influences that attempt to exert themselves on the town. Without such resistance, small communities are vulnerable to external pressures, and among the health services, city-based authorities are often looked upon with disdain. It is unfortunate that small towns are at the mercy of decisions made by those who all too often have too little to do with the country to understand their plight. When one understands that differences exist between rural culture and urban culture, and that their needs are different, not only from metropolitan areas, but also from one another, it becomes obvious that the best solutions would originate from rural areas themselves.
While this is particularly evident at the level of health service infrastructure and funding arrangements, a simpler example of this can be seen in the pattern of acceptance of overseas-trained doctors in the rural towns. The general practitioner in Berrigan was trained in Iraq, and initially it took some time for the local population to accept him as their doctor. He faced language issues also, and was found to be “hard to understand”. However, time has once again proved to be a healer, and after being welcomed into the community, he has become, more and more, a member of the community. The town is now pleased with the much-needed services that he provides to the town, and most of the locals visit his surgery.
Cultural safety issues go beyond respecting the patient to respecting health care workers. A case of an elderly farm-dwelling male patient whose frontal lobe dementia has led to some disinhibition illustrates this point. Outreach workers regularly visit his home on the farm in order to investigate his progress, ensure that his living standards are maintained, and assess whether or not he is still capable of managing in his own home. However, his disinhibited behaviour has led to reports of sexual advances towards some of the workers, making them feel uneasy. Because of the isolation of the site, assistance for the threatened worker is not at hand, and the response of the workers to date has been to suggest some medication to alleviate the disinhibition.
Access issues can also highlight the particular need for cultural sensitivity in the rural setting. In a town such as Berrigan, where there is only one general practitioner, difficulties arise when cultural conflict occurs. A female Islamic patient, for example, may feel very uneasy with a male doctor, and may refuse physical examination. She would then have two options, either to continue visiting the same doctor reluctantly (perhaps with a compromise measure in place, such as the presence of a female nurse), or go to a different town in order to find a female doctor to treat her. The previous GP in Berrigan was female, and many of the males in Berrigan found it awkward to approach her as their doctor, and so were faced with a similar dilemma. The result of this is that many who should be receiving health care do not receive it, due to cultural or access issues.
This has strong relevance to mental health. The National Mental Health Survey (1997) investigated the role of general practice in mental health care, and demonstrated the vital role that general practitioners have in mental health. Nationwide, three quarters of those who used a health service for mental illness saw a GP, and half of these had their GP as their sole mental health practitioner. Furthermore, 71% of the community put that, if they sought professional help for depression, they would first approach a GP. The sparse distribution of GPs in rural Australia, and even sparser scattering of other mental health practitioners such as psychologists and psychiatrists, means that the interfaces between patients and mental health care are thinly spread in the country. If choice is limited to only one GP in a town, there are few practical options for the individual (highlighted previously), and often it seems most appropriate to forgo seeking help. In a secondary analysis of the BEACH (bettering the evaluation and care of health) study by Caldwell et al, rates of psychological problems identified by GPs per population were demonstrated to decline with increasing remoteness (as measured by RRMA score). Berrigan and surrounding townships have an RRMA classification of 5, which were shown to have significantly fewer psychological problems identified per population. Interestingly, there was little variation across all RRMA classifications in the rate of identification of psychological problems per number of GP encounters. The suggestion here is that the lower identification rate among rural and remote areas is largely due to a lower rate of utilisation of GP services in these areas, and that there is a higher proportion of unmet need for mental health care in rural Australia compared with metropolitan Australia.
Biological factors may also play a part in the rural-urban mental health differential. Overall, the health status of individuals in rural and remote communities is poorer than in urban areas. In particular, the mortality rate in rural Australia is significantly higher than in major cities. This is likely to be due to a number of factors, including a different demographic (with higher proportion of Aboriginal people who have life expectancies about 20 years shorter than non-Aboriginal Australians), poorer access to health care, poorer education status (perhaps associated with less effective health outcome preventative measures), and more hazardous environmental factors (e.g. motor vehicle accidents). Mortality from causes such as coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, motor vehicle accidents, and diabetes, feature heavily among the causes of excess deaths in rural Australia. Largely, these causes are modifiable to an extent by appropriate behaviours, such as quitting smoking, practising safe driving, or controlling diet. Perhaps more aggressive promotion of healthy behaviours would help to reduce these excess deaths.
It is also well known that mental illnesses such as depression are often linked to poorer health status. Diseases seen more often in rural areas such as coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes, are illnesses that by-and-large cause significant stress for individuals, and contribute to the mental health burden.
So what can be done to improve rural mental health? The issues identified above largely fall into the categories of availability, access, and health promotion. Perhaps some of the “problem” lies in the culture of stoicism and self-reliance seen in rural-dwellers, but this is a difficult area to target in itself. However, it is possible that campaigns might be instituted to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness (and one such campaign is proceeding in the Hume area, encompassing Shepparton).
On the front of availability, strategies must be developed to recruit more health practitioners into the country. Communities are welcoming and mostly recognise the need for more services, and increasingly so in mental health as awareness of psychological illness increases. In Berrigan shire, positions are available and are mostly advertised as twelve-month contracts. This method of advertisement acts to lure practitioners by binding them only for a short time, leaving open the option to leave the position after that time, and positions frequently come packaged with a place to live or other incentives that serve to assist assimilation into the community. As one of the nurse administrators said, the plan is to attract them, and once they arrive, to get them so involved with the community that they are unable to leave. Recruitment is, however, limited by funding provided by the government, and lobbying for more funding to attract more health professionals is always an ongoing, difficult and complicated task.
Access is another major issue that should be targeted. The access problem is highlighted by the high suicide rate, which indicates that much mental illness may be going unidentified or unmanaged until it becomes far too severe. For less severe mental illness, access is also an issue, but is available through outreach mental health workers, travelling psychologists, and telepsychiatry. These arrangements are well established in Deniliquin.
Telepsychiatry, in particular, has been a topical issue since its advent many decades ago. It allows consultation via camera and television screen with a psychiatrist at a distant site, which is Sydney for those in Deniliquin. This facilitates access by cutting travel time and cost, and the time saved can often mean one less day absent from work or school, less disruption to family, or simply less to stress about. It also makes possible a quick second opinion to be given by more experienced personnel. Studies on telepsychiatry have demonstrated its reliability for child psychiatric assessments, depression and cognitive status assessments for the elderly. Positive outcomes have also been achieved with interventions administered by telepsychiatry. However, there is a suggestion that telepsychiatry is less reliable than in-person consultation for behaviours requiring visual observation, and it is not the modality of choice for patients with schizophrenia.
Overall, telepsychiatry is seen as an acceptable and cost-effective means of accessing psychiatric expertise from a rural area. Where such vast distances are involved, such as from Berrigan and Deniliquin to Melbourne, patients mostly prefer to use the telepsychiatry facility. Concerns are expressed about confidentiality and the impersonal nature of the teleconference, but the positive outcomes achievable by this modality demonstrates that it is a worthwhile step forward in improving access to mental health services in rural Australia.
Outreach workers exist in many of the disciplines associated with mental health. We spent some time with a member of the aged care assessment team (ACAT) on home visits to elderly patients. Their role in mental health is vital, calling on a vulnerable sector of the population, inquiring about problems they may be experiencing, and advising them on the allied health services available. They assess their need for services and are able to make referrals to services such as occupational therapy, mental health services and general practitioners. On this front, outreach workers are performing well at addressing access issues in those who have identified health concerns.
The greatest difficulty is in addressing the problems of those with mental illness that have not been identified. This is where health promotion and awareness must be targeted. Promotion of Access Line is one of the measures taken to address this. Access Line posters and brochures are visible in doctors’ surgeries, in hospitals and in community health centres. They make people aware that there is a free number they can call for assistance with any mental health concerns. However, these posters are hardly visible away from health facilities, where perhaps they are most needed. The other problem with this strategy of promoting awareness of services is that it relies on individuals with mental illnesses or their friends and relatives to identify their problems. As it would be costly, unethical and impractical to probe into the lives of every member of the community in order to catch those with mental illness, promotion of services is probably the most feasible method.
How can this be better achieved? Perhaps other media such as newsprint, television and radio should be more aggressively enlisted, in order to reach a wider audience. Perhaps community-driven events to promote healthy behaviours and strategies to identify mental illness might be effective. In some areas, mental illness is still a taboo topic, and so a campaign to reduce the stigma, such as in the Hume region in Victoria, might be synergistic to other promotion strategies. Mentally ill people will only come forward to seek help if they understand that it is OK to do so. In the end, however, these strategies can only be possible with more resources being made available for mental health promotion in rural areas.
Resources
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2004). Australia’s Health 2004. Canberra: AIHW
Caldwell TM, Jorm AF, Knox S, Braddock D, Dear KBG, Britt H (2004). General practice encounters for psychological problems in rural, remote and metropolitan areas in Australia. Aust New Zealand J Psychiatry 38:774-780
Fraser C, Judd F, Jackson H, Murray G, Humphreys J, Hodgins GA (2002). Does One Size Really Fit All? Why the Mental Health of Rural Australians Requires Further Research. Aust J Rural Health 10:288-295
Fuller J, Edwards J, Procter N, Moss J (2002). Mental Health in Rural and Remote Australia. In The New Rural Health (eds Wilkinson D, Blue I), Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, pp 171-86
Glover JJ (2003). Rural Bioethical Issues of the Elderly: How Do They Differ From Urban Ones?. J Rural Health 17(4):332-335
Harrison CM, Britt H (2004). The rates and management of psychological problems in Australian general practice. Aust New Zealand J Psychiatry 38:781-788
Humphreys J, Hegney D, Lipscombe J, Gregory G, Chater B (2002). Whither Rural Health? Reviewing a Decade of Progress in Rural Health. Aust J Rural Health 10:2-14
Hyler SE, Gangure DP (2003). A Review of the Costs of Telepsychiatry. Psychiatric Services 54(7):976-980
Hyler SE, Gangure DP (2003). Legal and Ethical Challenges in Telepsychiatry. J Psychiatric Practice 10(4):272-276
Monnier J, Knapp RG, Frueh BC (2003). Recent Advances in Telepsychiatry: An Updated Review. Psychiatric Services 54(12):1604-1609
Murray G, Judd F, Jackson H, Fraser C, Komiti A, Hodgins G, Pattison P, Humphreys J, Robins G (2004). Rurality and mental health: the role of accessibility. Aust New Zealand J Psychiatry 38:629-634
Special thanks must go to the people of Berrigan, especially our hosts and the hospital staff. Thanks and best wishes also go to the mental health team of Deniliquin for their valuable time, and their enthusiasm that went into showing us what they do and the special challenges they face.
Appendix
ARIA/RRMA Scores for Towns
Berrigan - ARIA 2.72, RRMA5
Finley - ARIA 2.59, RRMA5
Barooga - No ARIA score available, RRMA5
Tocumwal - ARIA 2.47, RRMA5
Jerilderie - ARIA 3.28, RRMA5
Deniliquin - ARIA 2.33, RRMA5
Source: Personal correspondence, Craig Winfield, Department of Health and Ageing
Praise God!
taking break atm, been working on assignment - presenting on topic of "mental health in rural australia" on friday next, and will post up my essay when i've finished writing (probably tonight or something...) ;p
anyhow, jus read today's odb, from isaiah 55, such a wonderful passage of scripture!!! so encouraging, one that highlights the miraculous transformation that God is achieving in each one of us by His Spirit that lives within, and the Word that He sends forth into the world to sow a seed of love and beauty that will spring forth from those it touches...
likewise, the truth that springs forth from Ephesians 1, which was last night's odb (actually from 2003), spoke of the blessings that God rains down on us as His children...
so many blessings are we given, because of the love God has for us all... so here's encouraging all of us to be the humble and contrite hearts with which we receive such undeserved blessings, through our saviour Jesus Christ, and all glory and praise to our loving Father!!!
anyhow, jus read today's odb, from isaiah 55, such a wonderful passage of scripture!!! so encouraging, one that highlights the miraculous transformation that God is achieving in each one of us by His Spirit that lives within, and the Word that He sends forth into the world to sow a seed of love and beauty that will spring forth from those it touches...
Isaiah 55:6-13
Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD , and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
"You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
"Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed."
likewise, the truth that springs forth from Ephesians 1, which was last night's odb (actually from 2003), spoke of the blessings that God rains down on us as His children...
Ephesians 1:3-14
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession–to the praise of his glory.
so many blessings are we given, because of the love God has for us all... so here's encouraging all of us to be the humble and contrite hearts with which we receive such undeserved blessings, through our saviour Jesus Christ, and all glory and praise to our loving Father!!!
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Bug splatter!
owww, oww!!! mozzie bites everywhere!!! oh well... nevermind... ;p anywayz, today, had a lesson in country driving!!! decided to head off to see the famed conargo pub (and have a coke there, since i had to drive) and the mythical "treeless plain", jus a bit further than canargo... about 120km from berrigan... anywayz, went up via jerilderie, and about 5km out of berrigan, we were bombarded with locust and grasshopper swarms!!! you'd jus feel like u were driving into a minefield, and these creatures, millions upon millions, would jus swarm thickly and splatter all over the windscreen, haphazardly distributing their yellow haemolymph in such a way that u could hardly see anymore... by the time we'd passed thru canargo and up the dirt road to the treeless plain, i only had a small window left, and trails of smeared splattered-bug were left by the wipers after my vain attempts to clear a bit more viewing space...
anyhow, the view when we got there was quite amazing, hardly a tree in sight!!! the ground was as flat as anything, wild and uncultivated, but teeming with grasshoppers and locusts... i can only think that, had they any sense of emotion, they would've looked upon my car in disgust and mourned the most unceremonious losses of so many of their own kind... it's a wonder that the lot of them didn't jam the radiator and cause the car to overheat... they do say that's a major problem with driving around here, when u're hurtling along the highways and squishing bugs at over 130km/h (insert guilty admission)... popular science also has it that if u drive at 80-90km/h or below, they jus bounce off instead of splitting open...
at least, managed to find a service station on the way back to make the windscreen somewhat more permeable to light and more respectable from an aesthetic viewpoint...
who knows?!? i might be doing the country a service... the locusts and grasshoppers are seen as plagues, quite unstoppable, unfortunately... this is a worry that they're coming down as far south as berrigan and terrorising the farms around here... they've been worried about them for six months or so, and only a few km left before they're in the town... i wonder what the repercussions will be for the local industry...
but i think the bugs are angry at me... i mean, if i were a bug (of the insectoid kind, quite apart from the fluffy kind), i'd see it as a declaration of war to be ploughing thru my territory and causing massacre like that... i guess i shouldn't be surprised then, that the mozzies are out in force to cause me as much misery as they have...
signing off, your fluffy bug at war in the country... ;p dave
anyhow, the view when we got there was quite amazing, hardly a tree in sight!!! the ground was as flat as anything, wild and uncultivated, but teeming with grasshoppers and locusts... i can only think that, had they any sense of emotion, they would've looked upon my car in disgust and mourned the most unceremonious losses of so many of their own kind... it's a wonder that the lot of them didn't jam the radiator and cause the car to overheat... they do say that's a major problem with driving around here, when u're hurtling along the highways and squishing bugs at over 130km/h (insert guilty admission)... popular science also has it that if u drive at 80-90km/h or below, they jus bounce off instead of splitting open...
at least, managed to find a service station on the way back to make the windscreen somewhat more permeable to light and more respectable from an aesthetic viewpoint...
who knows?!? i might be doing the country a service... the locusts and grasshoppers are seen as plagues, quite unstoppable, unfortunately... this is a worry that they're coming down as far south as berrigan and terrorising the farms around here... they've been worried about them for six months or so, and only a few km left before they're in the town... i wonder what the repercussions will be for the local industry...
but i think the bugs are angry at me... i mean, if i were a bug (of the insectoid kind, quite apart from the fluffy kind), i'd see it as a declaration of war to be ploughing thru my territory and causing massacre like that... i guess i shouldn't be surprised then, that the mozzies are out in force to cause me as much misery as they have...
signing off, your fluffy bug at war in the country... ;p dave
Monday, February 21, 2005
Country Life...
feeling like on the set of mcleod's daughters or similar, out here in the middle of virtually nowhere, in a lil town called Berrigan... ;p nice place tho, really, been lodging with ian & inara fox, a really lovely couple... they own a 30 acre property and an american-style house made from imported american pines and things, but it's soooo comfy!!! jus now moved again, staying with lorraine & rob beard, who live jus across the road from the fox's, it's really nice here too, tho they're renovating their driveway atm (so my car's living outside now under assault from the beating sunrays) ;p but it's all good... soo nice of them to billet me here!!! get treated like a king by my wonderful hosts!!!
it's a nice lifestyle actually, once you overcome the isolation... get woken in the morning by the crowing of the rooster and the beams of sunlight piercing the curtains... the beds are so comfy u jus don't want to rise, but then the idea of a nice warm shower and cooked breakfast beckons, as well as a day's duties to attend to at the hospital... - well, for us, could hardly call it duties ;p more like tourism...
amongst other things, been out to horse farms: some famous horses and breeders came from up here around berrigan... seen the extent of primary industry around, with rice crops traditionally being the dominant industry in the area (though in the last few years, because of the drought, wheat and maize have become the favoured crops of some of the farmers)... there's also some dairy, grain milling, and the basic amenities available in the town... there's not a whole lot more to do, except get involved in community activities - had a lion's club meeting on wednesday (where a few young ppl from the area got up to talk about issues - the one who ultimately won put together a well-woven speech about the rural community and what it means to live here...), and the swimming pool was kept alive with a fundraising swim-meet on friday night...
outside of berrigan, there's the nearby towns of finley, tocumwal and barooga, the latter two being situated on the banks of the murray river... finley had a huge tractor pull event on saturday night - wow, the dust and noise were incredible!!! the machines had to pull weights that redistributed themselves in such a way that as the tractor pulled further, more force was required to drag them... it's a rich man/woman's hobby, with hundreds of thousands of dollars being poured into modifying and supercharging the agricultural engines, which guzzle a tankload of aeroplane fuel over their 100m or so course... it's quite interesting, but a day close to the action is pretty well guaranteed to wreck your ears for at least a few days... and probably do some permanent damage too... at the end of it all, there was a humorous demolition derby where the final two cars left alive battled it out at speeds under 10kph, their engines were so shot by that stage!!!
in contrast to the calamity of the saturday night, so much of the stay here has been spent observing the peace and docility of country life, and the beauty of nature... always reminds me of God's amazing creativity to see such diverse plant and animal life so richly abundant, and without rigorous structure and routine to follow... such a beautiful change from the hustle and bustle of city life... even decided to take a glider flight (at sportavia) and see the landscape so wonderfully expanded out below... the weather, unfortunately, wasn't ideal, and there were some spots of rain... and my camera ran out of film... so i jus hope that the shot i have from up in the glider turns out well!!! but the breathtaking scenery from the glider will probably draw me back to tocumwal to take a glider course sometime in the future!!! ;p the aerodrome is also planning to start hang-gliding instruction in a few months' time...
anywayz, will update properly when i get the chance... country life is really enjoyable, but at the same time, really looking forward to returning to melbourne... really missing friends (especially missing u, sal)... - but will be back in not too long!!!
God bless,
dave
ps... in future blog, will talk about the state of healthcare in this town... since this is the major reason why we get posted to rural areas... coming soon ;p
it's a nice lifestyle actually, once you overcome the isolation... get woken in the morning by the crowing of the rooster and the beams of sunlight piercing the curtains... the beds are so comfy u jus don't want to rise, but then the idea of a nice warm shower and cooked breakfast beckons, as well as a day's duties to attend to at the hospital... - well, for us, could hardly call it duties ;p more like tourism...
amongst other things, been out to horse farms: some famous horses and breeders came from up here around berrigan... seen the extent of primary industry around, with rice crops traditionally being the dominant industry in the area (though in the last few years, because of the drought, wheat and maize have become the favoured crops of some of the farmers)... there's also some dairy, grain milling, and the basic amenities available in the town... there's not a whole lot more to do, except get involved in community activities - had a lion's club meeting on wednesday (where a few young ppl from the area got up to talk about issues - the one who ultimately won put together a well-woven speech about the rural community and what it means to live here...), and the swimming pool was kept alive with a fundraising swim-meet on friday night...
outside of berrigan, there's the nearby towns of finley, tocumwal and barooga, the latter two being situated on the banks of the murray river... finley had a huge tractor pull event on saturday night - wow, the dust and noise were incredible!!! the machines had to pull weights that redistributed themselves in such a way that as the tractor pulled further, more force was required to drag them... it's a rich man/woman's hobby, with hundreds of thousands of dollars being poured into modifying and supercharging the agricultural engines, which guzzle a tankload of aeroplane fuel over their 100m or so course... it's quite interesting, but a day close to the action is pretty well guaranteed to wreck your ears for at least a few days... and probably do some permanent damage too... at the end of it all, there was a humorous demolition derby where the final two cars left alive battled it out at speeds under 10kph, their engines were so shot by that stage!!!
in contrast to the calamity of the saturday night, so much of the stay here has been spent observing the peace and docility of country life, and the beauty of nature... always reminds me of God's amazing creativity to see such diverse plant and animal life so richly abundant, and without rigorous structure and routine to follow... such a beautiful change from the hustle and bustle of city life... even decided to take a glider flight (at sportavia) and see the landscape so wonderfully expanded out below... the weather, unfortunately, wasn't ideal, and there were some spots of rain... and my camera ran out of film... so i jus hope that the shot i have from up in the glider turns out well!!! but the breathtaking scenery from the glider will probably draw me back to tocumwal to take a glider course sometime in the future!!! ;p the aerodrome is also planning to start hang-gliding instruction in a few months' time...
anywayz, will update properly when i get the chance... country life is really enjoyable, but at the same time, really looking forward to returning to melbourne... really missing friends (especially missing u, sal)... - but will be back in not too long!!!
God bless,
dave
ps... in future blog, will talk about the state of healthcare in this town... since this is the major reason why we get posted to rural areas... coming soon ;p
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Country towns
;p this is really going to be a short blog - need to sleep, coz morning i go to Berrigan, my small town placement, which is in NSW!!! only about hour and a half drive, though, i think...
country here is nice!!! in shepparton atm, been here since sunday, tho celebrated really wonderful valentine's day with sal ;p u are so special and full of pleasant surprises!!!
country towns are so clean compared with melbourne, went for a run around shepparton earlier and around the lake - lots of nice ducks and things... hospital is nice too, apparently servicing all the surrounding townships, as far as some places over the NSW border...
anywayz - better go... - shall look forward to writing interesting tales from Berrigan!!!
country here is nice!!! in shepparton atm, been here since sunday, tho celebrated really wonderful valentine's day with sal ;p u are so special and full of pleasant surprises!!!
country towns are so clean compared with melbourne, went for a run around shepparton earlier and around the lake - lots of nice ducks and things... hospital is nice too, apparently servicing all the surrounding townships, as far as some places over the NSW border...
anywayz - better go... - shall look forward to writing interesting tales from Berrigan!!!
Friday, February 11, 2005
Perth Journal!
Wednesday 19th January – Early rise from bed, complete packing, continue sleeping in car on the way to airport. Only had about 4 hours of sleep previous night, so could hardly keep neck upright, let alone pay attention to anything that was happening. Before long, was on plane, neither able to sleep nor think, but got through a large chunk of Stradivarius, awesome book! Was quite strange, though, to notice pages of book curling up on being exposed to low air pressure. Presume something to do with moisture on exposed surface of page being lifted into the sparse atmosphere. Book’s pages now look as wavy as my hair and as wrinkled as the skin of someone much older.
Arrive in Perth, met up with my Uncle Ricky at airport. It’s nice to see him, although he’s much thinner than I remember. Quite possibly, he thinks the same about me! Perth weather is wonderful, so sunny, and so pleasant… so predictable – you could just say “about 30 degrees, sunny”, and you’d have been right for pretty much every day I was there. The breeze is pleasant and cooling too, so one welcomes the flow of air across face, unlike hot Melbourne days when the hot air tends to be anything but refreshing. We’re soon on the road, Ricky commenting on how heavy the traffic seems to be. I look around, thinking, “what traffic?” for, clearly, he must have been imagining things. Grab a bite, and proceed to house, and then to ice-cream shop that my Uncle owns (New Zealand Natural in Morley Galleria), to meet my aunt Agnes and cousin Val (who was looking as beautiful as I remember her from all those years ago!).
Mmmm - Ice cream!
Mmmm, ice cream is delicious! Part of brain that fears putting on weight is now dreading prospect of free ice cream for next two weeks. But said part of brain is positively silenced by the yumminess of said ice cream, smoothies, fruit floes, juices, practically everything in the shop! (except bananas) Dopamine receptors stimulated presumably by the chocolate part of ice cream, was feeling happy again.
Saw The Incredibles with my cousin, pretty fun movie, tho for kids. Wasn’t in much of a thinking mood, so just the right thing for me! Not a whole lot to comment. Looked around shopping centre, which was quite big for a city where light traffic is considered heavy. Had a nice dinner in Perth city’s equivalent of Chinatown, and after returning back to the house, felt utterly exhausted and in need of sleep – but ended up watching a wonderful match of tennis instead, where the Japanese 207th (or so) ranked player in the world managed to play a really entertaining, skilful match with the world number 1 (no need to name who!). Should have slept much earlier, but ended up finally getting to bed at what would have been 3.30am in Melbourne.
Thursday 20th January – Practically unable to move, but still woke up early in order to catch ride to Morley again. Had lunch at a bustling, beachside array of restaurants, stalls and cafés, some distance north of Perth. Entered into discussion with cousin’s parents (Val was at the shop) about their views on lots of things, including their view of young people’s culture. Discovered they were remarkably similar in their attitudes to my parents!
Afternoon, went north to Yanchep and the coastal township of Two Rocks, hoping to see the caves at Yanchep. The national parkland, though, had been recently devastated by fire, apparently the work of an arsonist. Why would anyone want to set fire to the parkland, honestly? It was one of two attacks in the space of not much more than a week. So the caves were closed, owing to continuing disruption to the power supply to the cave lights resulting from the fire. The landscape was reminiscent of another planet, with the vegetation consumed and leaving only bare skeletons of what was, previously, a feast of green, playing habitat to a wonderfully diverse ecosystem. This is merely another example of what man has been doing to God’s creation since we were given dominion. Quite sad, indeed.
Is this Earth, or Mars?
Bald hill! Fire-damaged, but surrounded by surviving greenery.
The local Indigenous tribes had some interesting legends to tell, as evidenced by a large serpent woodcarving and accompanying plaque.
Waugal monoliths legend - click on the photo, you can read it if you squint!
After passing through the Swan Valley region, dominated by wineries, including Houghton’s, and large fruit plantations, we returned to Perth. Went shopping at Koorong, my cousin’s family were kind enough to buy for me a leather-bound Life Application Bible! Thanks so much, it’s such an awesome present! Dinner was a value-for-money Japanese affair with huge servings of rice, meat/fish done in whatever style, sushi, and miso soup. The meals were almost too generous to finish, and the price makes you wonder how the owners could possibly be making any money. There’s little wonder the place was so popular.
Friday 21st January – Struggle to wake up, this day went to Fremantle. Not far from the house, we wandered around Fremantle, having a peek inside the maritime museum (which had one really great painting of the landing at Fremantle) and the Fremantle prison. The prison is no longer functioning in that role, but is now a historic site and tourist attraction. Some of the artwork produced by the prisoners was quite fascinating, and one could almost sense the hope and purpose that creating the artworks gave to the prisoners. It was as if, through the dots on the canvas and the messages they wrote, they were releasing a voice that had once been repressed and ignored, and there was at once a collective sense of freedom. Ironically, they only found their expression from within captivity. A large proportion of the prison art had been produced by Indigenous Australians, somewhat reflective of the disproportionately high number of Indigenous people who find themselves in custody.
Decided to stroll through the markets, a myriad of colourful stalls selling fruits, clothes, bags, various bits of art. Wistfully looked at some of the stalls selling ornaments, thinking about close friends and family, and wondering whether I should get something. Was almost on the verge of getting something when the shopkeeper, who’s actually quite nice, took it upon herself to give me advice to concentrate on studying hard (seeing I had told her I was doing medicine), and not to worry about other things in my life, like relationships. According to her, that would sort itself out once a stable career was established. This struck a hurting nerve, because it was so similar to what my parents say to me, and completely different to the way I think! I ended up not getting anything from the store. Resolve to keep trusting in God re: everything, and to view things like that under the illumination of God’s word. After all, God is, and always will be, first priority in my life, ahead of everything, including my career/study.
Saturday 22nd January – Found a wonderful ally in my cousin, who thinks very similarly to me! She taught me a lot, about patience, about endurance, about prayer and submission, as we dined on a scrumptious lunch at the Blue Duck Café over the beautiful Cottesloe beach. Once again, the servings were massive, and we could barely make it through our mains, let alone the thin fries and chilli! Took a lazy stroll on the beach, and found Perth sand much to my liking, not coarse like Melbourne beaches generally are.
Beautiful scene at Cottesloe!
Went to Subiaco, more markets, bought some fruit to chew on slowly as a jazz duo transported us to lazy New Orleans for a little while with some classics. They were so talented, their crooning voices were woven in effortlessly with thrilling trumpet countermelodies and sublime sax solos. A dad and his little kid were dancing, their eyes sparkling as though lost on another planet with nobody to watch and not a care or worry to think about.
King's Park - view of Perth
King's Park - the glorious rays of sun shine through the canopy!
The rest of the afternoon was spent taking in vistas over Perth and the Swan River from the vantage of King’s Park. If Melbourne only had parks so beautifully maintained, and beaches and water so pristine as Perth, it would indeed come very close to being the perfect place to live!
Sunday 23rd January – Went south to Busselton and Mandurah. Armed with two thermoses of double-strength espresso, and energised by the preaching of a pastor from New Creation Church in Singapore (about righteousness through faith – brought miraculously to our car by cassette tape), we travelled all the way from Perth to one of the longest jetties in the world (if not the longest) at Busselton. Imagine a jetty so long that most people rather take a train from end to end rather than walk! In any case, we decided to walk – whether to save money or to work off the obscene amounts of food we’d been eating, it doesn’t matter – twenty minutes or so to cover the almost 2km from beach to jetty tip. The end of the jetty had an underwater observatory. Schools of fish and divers were seen hovering around near the glass panes.
Panorama of Busselton Jetty
A column of smoke was to be seen rising up from the land just across from the jetty, begging the question, “was this the work of yet another firebug?” Fortunately, this was just a small fire, and within a couple of hours, fire-fighting vehicles were seen heading towards the fire. Not much more was heard of it over the following few days, so presumably it was controlled and extinguished before it had time to cause too much devastation.
Around sunset (which happens much earlier in Perth than in Melbourne, about 7.30pm), we found ourselves waist deep in an estuary near Mandurah, scoop nets in hand and plastic basin floating behind, to catch crabs! The blue manna crabs to be found at the southern end of Western Australia aren’t as big as the huge mud crabs normally seen in restaurant tanks, but they’re far more active and quick to run. It’s cute just to see a skittering of movement on the sea floor, and watch the crabs scurrying around, scared for their lives (rightly so), only pausing to contemplate their next move. The males are distinguished with bright blue across their claws, while the females bear no such resplendence. Crabbing is something that anyone able to wade around in the water can learn in a matter of minutes, and it’s a whole lot of fun! Success, though, requires many of the qualities that take you far in life. Patience, for example, is essential. If you scoop too quickly without waiting for the crab to lie still or move into your trap, you’ll do no more than knock its shell and allow it to run far, far away. Practice and perseverance are also vital for catching crabs. It takes some time getting used to visualising the depth of the water properly, and it’s a little disappointing to those who take pride in their hand-eye coordination when those first few crabs get away. But as with all things, simply treating the experience as a lesson and enjoying the failures as well as the successes makes crabbing a fun sport!
Destined for the dining table - Crabs scooped off the ocean floor at Mandurah!
On return to Perth, we feasted on the seven crabs we caught (we actually caught many more, but the rest were not large enough and were to be put back in the water – probably to be caught again and eaten once they grow to legal size). The crab meat was nice and sweet, but not being used to eating so much, a small battle was being fought between my complaining stomach and my brain, which was given to politeness in front of my relatives who kept on insisting on feeding me more. Note to self to rectify excess consumption by eating less from now on.
Monday 24th January – Trip into South Perth to eat at the Boatshed with Val. The restaurant overlooked the south bank of Swan River, and outside were surf catamarans for hire. Only one pair were out on the river at the time, but the river later became busy with a whole busload of tourists turning up to go on the river with the surf cats! Meals were nice, mine being juicy chicken breast (which turned up with wing as well) with mango sauce, avocado and salad. It was a delightful combination, and balanced well with the acerbic taste of the Balsamic mushroom dish my cousin ordered.
With my cousin at South Perth!
After relaxing a while and observing the opulent dwellings that seemed commonplace this side of the river, we headed to city and spent the afternoon shopping.
As if the crabs from the previous night weren’t enough, crabs were again to be our big meal for the night! This time we travelled not nearly so far, just down the road to Fremantle. The night was chilly, and we had to (for the first time) wear thick jackets to brace ourselves against the stinging cold wind at the jetty. We rigged the nets with baits of lamb neck and fish head and cast them out, waiting a few minutes at a time before hauling them in and examining the catch. In the meantime while waiting, we baited and cast our rods, hoping for some fish as well as crabs. Though quite a passive affair compared with scooping crabs in waist-deep water, this was still fun, more for its relaxation value than anything else. Another group were there, and they had to keep borrowing our measure to work out whether their crabs were legal or not.
The baits seemed to be working wonders this night! Not infrequently, a net would be hauled in with more than one crab quivering and struggling. Most were too small and had to be freed from the net and thrown back in. But some were quite large, one even ferocious enough to claw sharply and deeply through my uncle’s flesh. But that was just an act of desperation on the part of a crab doomed by its size to be taken home, cooked and eaten. All in all, fourteen crabs of legal size were caught, and made for another tasty meal! My thought to eat less never stood any chance. Instead, resolve to exercise furiously on return to Melbourne!
Fourteen crab feast!
Two male crabs among the crustacean harem. Males have a vibrant blue streak to distinguish them.
Tuesday 25th January – Shopping again today. Spent some time looking and very nearly being tempted by chocolates in the many chocolate shops in the city. Came across a really pretty alley, known as London Court, mostly white-coloured but decorated with coats of arms and flags, cobblestone paving and small boutique stores on either side, bustling with activity. The scene takes one back to 19th century London, and all that was needed were the horse-drawn carriage, bearded men with canes, top hats and suits to complete the time warp.
London Court!
While randomly entering shops around the city (and spontaneously buying things, as one of you will know), came across a clearance bookstore, where amongst all the unsold books and this year’s calendars was a treasure of a book called The Peoplescape. Based on the event of the same name that happened four years ago on the grassy slopes of Parliament House, the book had photographs of all of the thousands of montages put together to celebrate the lives of remarkable Australians. My brother’s cross-country coach from school featured among them, and so decided to buy it, remembering my brother’s key involvement in making the montage. Hopefully another thing to add to his growing memory box!
Wandering around the north side of Swan River, found several nice parks and walks to wander around. Took some pictures of the Glass Tower, a futuristic, but quite purposeless curiosity.
Perth's glass tower!
Nice meal of “violin duck” for dinner – the name was far more intriguing than the cuisine, though. I still wonder why it’s called what it is. If we were in a restaurant, perhaps its presentation would give the name some meaning. But since this was take-away, the duck had further been sliced into numerous little pieces, leaving no semblance to a violin. Thought of my own violin being sliced and eaten had to be fought off. Missing my violin heaps at this stage, sitting in its case all lonely and unplayed for eight days now.
Wednesday 26th January – Visited the monastery town of New Norcia. Long drive to get there, and felt completely paralysed with tiredness – meanwhile Switchfoot kept blaring in my ear, “dare you to move”. By the time we arrived, I’d had quite a long nap! Formed in the mid 19th Century, the monastery settlement readily took in indigenous people to learn and to work. The abbey would have housed a quite a number of monks, and there were a couple of lodges for lay people. Alongside the chapel, it was quite interesting to see a shed full of farm equipment and wine presses.
One of the college houses at New Norcia.
The museum was the highlight of the town. There was an upstairs art gallery, which contained so many interesting depictions of various facets of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Evidently, many of the paintings had won competitions before ending up in the gallery. I was filled with awe at the glory the depictions gave to God, and the many ways in which each painting identified at once both the complete humanity and complete deity of Jesus.
The neighbouring room was filled with splendid regalia that once adorned the monks during services, all very elaborate, in stark contrast with the simplicity of the settlement’s buildings. But some treasures were to be found, including several violins and related instruments made in the 17th and 18th centuries. The configuration of the instruments suggests that they were updated for modern playing during the 19th century. Music books (hymn books) were also on display and contained some original compositions by the monks themselves. It strikes me as odd though, how they could make music books so large, with each side about A3 size, or perhaps even larger.
The violin exhibit in the monastery museum!
Downstairs, more historical musical instruments were to be found, as well as agricultural tools used to manage the surrounding farmland. An apothecary cabinet from the period was also on display, with everything from gut sutures to strange elixirs. Although some of the bottles appeared half full, their contents were probably nothing like what the label proclaimed must have been inside a century or so earlier.
After a meandering drive back to Perth, we took our dinner at the Sizzler (haven’t seen these around Melbourne for years!) and taking an early night’s sleep.
Thursday 27th January – Back to Melbourne! Must say, there’s loads of stuff I have that I hadn’t anticipated I’d be bringing back home, including things such as badminton racquet, extra toiletries bag, a couple of bottles of eau de cologne, chocolates etc. Spent the flight back watching and snapping photos of a gorgeous sunset from well above the clouds, and mused about the impending storm in Melbourne (this was about 5-6 days before the storm arrived in Melbourne – presumably the storm we saw from above was a precursor to the freak storm, or perhaps it was the southerly system that mixed in with the west wind to form the storm that eventually arrived to wreak havoc). From above, the system looked almost cyclonic, but so calm and fluffyTM at the same time. Once again, I was in awe of the sheer beauty of God’s created nature, at once both unnerving and seductive, and forever unparalleled by anything made by man.
High above the clouds, where the plane doth fly...
Really, it was quite a beautiful closure to my trip west, to a beautiful city. Would love to visit again, and must say so much thanks to Val, Ricky and Agnes for making my stay there such a great experience!
Arrive in Perth, met up with my Uncle Ricky at airport. It’s nice to see him, although he’s much thinner than I remember. Quite possibly, he thinks the same about me! Perth weather is wonderful, so sunny, and so pleasant… so predictable – you could just say “about 30 degrees, sunny”, and you’d have been right for pretty much every day I was there. The breeze is pleasant and cooling too, so one welcomes the flow of air across face, unlike hot Melbourne days when the hot air tends to be anything but refreshing. We’re soon on the road, Ricky commenting on how heavy the traffic seems to be. I look around, thinking, “what traffic?” for, clearly, he must have been imagining things. Grab a bite, and proceed to house, and then to ice-cream shop that my Uncle owns (New Zealand Natural in Morley Galleria), to meet my aunt Agnes and cousin Val (who was looking as beautiful as I remember her from all those years ago!).
Mmmm - Ice cream!
Mmmm, ice cream is delicious! Part of brain that fears putting on weight is now dreading prospect of free ice cream for next two weeks. But said part of brain is positively silenced by the yumminess of said ice cream, smoothies, fruit floes, juices, practically everything in the shop! (except bananas) Dopamine receptors stimulated presumably by the chocolate part of ice cream, was feeling happy again.
Saw The Incredibles with my cousin, pretty fun movie, tho for kids. Wasn’t in much of a thinking mood, so just the right thing for me! Not a whole lot to comment. Looked around shopping centre, which was quite big for a city where light traffic is considered heavy. Had a nice dinner in Perth city’s equivalent of Chinatown, and after returning back to the house, felt utterly exhausted and in need of sleep – but ended up watching a wonderful match of tennis instead, where the Japanese 207th (or so) ranked player in the world managed to play a really entertaining, skilful match with the world number 1 (no need to name who!). Should have slept much earlier, but ended up finally getting to bed at what would have been 3.30am in Melbourne.
Thursday 20th January – Practically unable to move, but still woke up early in order to catch ride to Morley again. Had lunch at a bustling, beachside array of restaurants, stalls and cafés, some distance north of Perth. Entered into discussion with cousin’s parents (Val was at the shop) about their views on lots of things, including their view of young people’s culture. Discovered they were remarkably similar in their attitudes to my parents!
Afternoon, went north to Yanchep and the coastal township of Two Rocks, hoping to see the caves at Yanchep. The national parkland, though, had been recently devastated by fire, apparently the work of an arsonist. Why would anyone want to set fire to the parkland, honestly? It was one of two attacks in the space of not much more than a week. So the caves were closed, owing to continuing disruption to the power supply to the cave lights resulting from the fire. The landscape was reminiscent of another planet, with the vegetation consumed and leaving only bare skeletons of what was, previously, a feast of green, playing habitat to a wonderfully diverse ecosystem. This is merely another example of what man has been doing to God’s creation since we were given dominion. Quite sad, indeed.
Is this Earth, or Mars?
Bald hill! Fire-damaged, but surrounded by surviving greenery.
The local Indigenous tribes had some interesting legends to tell, as evidenced by a large serpent woodcarving and accompanying plaque.
Waugal monoliths legend - click on the photo, you can read it if you squint!
After passing through the Swan Valley region, dominated by wineries, including Houghton’s, and large fruit plantations, we returned to Perth. Went shopping at Koorong, my cousin’s family were kind enough to buy for me a leather-bound Life Application Bible! Thanks so much, it’s such an awesome present! Dinner was a value-for-money Japanese affair with huge servings of rice, meat/fish done in whatever style, sushi, and miso soup. The meals were almost too generous to finish, and the price makes you wonder how the owners could possibly be making any money. There’s little wonder the place was so popular.
Friday 21st January – Struggle to wake up, this day went to Fremantle. Not far from the house, we wandered around Fremantle, having a peek inside the maritime museum (which had one really great painting of the landing at Fremantle) and the Fremantle prison. The prison is no longer functioning in that role, but is now a historic site and tourist attraction. Some of the artwork produced by the prisoners was quite fascinating, and one could almost sense the hope and purpose that creating the artworks gave to the prisoners. It was as if, through the dots on the canvas and the messages they wrote, they were releasing a voice that had once been repressed and ignored, and there was at once a collective sense of freedom. Ironically, they only found their expression from within captivity. A large proportion of the prison art had been produced by Indigenous Australians, somewhat reflective of the disproportionately high number of Indigenous people who find themselves in custody.
Decided to stroll through the markets, a myriad of colourful stalls selling fruits, clothes, bags, various bits of art. Wistfully looked at some of the stalls selling ornaments, thinking about close friends and family, and wondering whether I should get something. Was almost on the verge of getting something when the shopkeeper, who’s actually quite nice, took it upon herself to give me advice to concentrate on studying hard (seeing I had told her I was doing medicine), and not to worry about other things in my life, like relationships. According to her, that would sort itself out once a stable career was established. This struck a hurting nerve, because it was so similar to what my parents say to me, and completely different to the way I think! I ended up not getting anything from the store. Resolve to keep trusting in God re: everything, and to view things like that under the illumination of God’s word. After all, God is, and always will be, first priority in my life, ahead of everything, including my career/study.
Saturday 22nd January – Found a wonderful ally in my cousin, who thinks very similarly to me! She taught me a lot, about patience, about endurance, about prayer and submission, as we dined on a scrumptious lunch at the Blue Duck Café over the beautiful Cottesloe beach. Once again, the servings were massive, and we could barely make it through our mains, let alone the thin fries and chilli! Took a lazy stroll on the beach, and found Perth sand much to my liking, not coarse like Melbourne beaches generally are.
Beautiful scene at Cottesloe!
Went to Subiaco, more markets, bought some fruit to chew on slowly as a jazz duo transported us to lazy New Orleans for a little while with some classics. They were so talented, their crooning voices were woven in effortlessly with thrilling trumpet countermelodies and sublime sax solos. A dad and his little kid were dancing, their eyes sparkling as though lost on another planet with nobody to watch and not a care or worry to think about.
King's Park - view of Perth
King's Park - the glorious rays of sun shine through the canopy!
The rest of the afternoon was spent taking in vistas over Perth and the Swan River from the vantage of King’s Park. If Melbourne only had parks so beautifully maintained, and beaches and water so pristine as Perth, it would indeed come very close to being the perfect place to live!
Sunday 23rd January – Went south to Busselton and Mandurah. Armed with two thermoses of double-strength espresso, and energised by the preaching of a pastor from New Creation Church in Singapore (about righteousness through faith – brought miraculously to our car by cassette tape), we travelled all the way from Perth to one of the longest jetties in the world (if not the longest) at Busselton. Imagine a jetty so long that most people rather take a train from end to end rather than walk! In any case, we decided to walk – whether to save money or to work off the obscene amounts of food we’d been eating, it doesn’t matter – twenty minutes or so to cover the almost 2km from beach to jetty tip. The end of the jetty had an underwater observatory. Schools of fish and divers were seen hovering around near the glass panes.
Panorama of Busselton Jetty
A column of smoke was to be seen rising up from the land just across from the jetty, begging the question, “was this the work of yet another firebug?” Fortunately, this was just a small fire, and within a couple of hours, fire-fighting vehicles were seen heading towards the fire. Not much more was heard of it over the following few days, so presumably it was controlled and extinguished before it had time to cause too much devastation.
Around sunset (which happens much earlier in Perth than in Melbourne, about 7.30pm), we found ourselves waist deep in an estuary near Mandurah, scoop nets in hand and plastic basin floating behind, to catch crabs! The blue manna crabs to be found at the southern end of Western Australia aren’t as big as the huge mud crabs normally seen in restaurant tanks, but they’re far more active and quick to run. It’s cute just to see a skittering of movement on the sea floor, and watch the crabs scurrying around, scared for their lives (rightly so), only pausing to contemplate their next move. The males are distinguished with bright blue across their claws, while the females bear no such resplendence. Crabbing is something that anyone able to wade around in the water can learn in a matter of minutes, and it’s a whole lot of fun! Success, though, requires many of the qualities that take you far in life. Patience, for example, is essential. If you scoop too quickly without waiting for the crab to lie still or move into your trap, you’ll do no more than knock its shell and allow it to run far, far away. Practice and perseverance are also vital for catching crabs. It takes some time getting used to visualising the depth of the water properly, and it’s a little disappointing to those who take pride in their hand-eye coordination when those first few crabs get away. But as with all things, simply treating the experience as a lesson and enjoying the failures as well as the successes makes crabbing a fun sport!
Destined for the dining table - Crabs scooped off the ocean floor at Mandurah!
On return to Perth, we feasted on the seven crabs we caught (we actually caught many more, but the rest were not large enough and were to be put back in the water – probably to be caught again and eaten once they grow to legal size). The crab meat was nice and sweet, but not being used to eating so much, a small battle was being fought between my complaining stomach and my brain, which was given to politeness in front of my relatives who kept on insisting on feeding me more. Note to self to rectify excess consumption by eating less from now on.
Monday 24th January – Trip into South Perth to eat at the Boatshed with Val. The restaurant overlooked the south bank of Swan River, and outside were surf catamarans for hire. Only one pair were out on the river at the time, but the river later became busy with a whole busload of tourists turning up to go on the river with the surf cats! Meals were nice, mine being juicy chicken breast (which turned up with wing as well) with mango sauce, avocado and salad. It was a delightful combination, and balanced well with the acerbic taste of the Balsamic mushroom dish my cousin ordered.
With my cousin at South Perth!
After relaxing a while and observing the opulent dwellings that seemed commonplace this side of the river, we headed to city and spent the afternoon shopping.
As if the crabs from the previous night weren’t enough, crabs were again to be our big meal for the night! This time we travelled not nearly so far, just down the road to Fremantle. The night was chilly, and we had to (for the first time) wear thick jackets to brace ourselves against the stinging cold wind at the jetty. We rigged the nets with baits of lamb neck and fish head and cast them out, waiting a few minutes at a time before hauling them in and examining the catch. In the meantime while waiting, we baited and cast our rods, hoping for some fish as well as crabs. Though quite a passive affair compared with scooping crabs in waist-deep water, this was still fun, more for its relaxation value than anything else. Another group were there, and they had to keep borrowing our measure to work out whether their crabs were legal or not.
The baits seemed to be working wonders this night! Not infrequently, a net would be hauled in with more than one crab quivering and struggling. Most were too small and had to be freed from the net and thrown back in. But some were quite large, one even ferocious enough to claw sharply and deeply through my uncle’s flesh. But that was just an act of desperation on the part of a crab doomed by its size to be taken home, cooked and eaten. All in all, fourteen crabs of legal size were caught, and made for another tasty meal! My thought to eat less never stood any chance. Instead, resolve to exercise furiously on return to Melbourne!
Fourteen crab feast!
Two male crabs among the crustacean harem. Males have a vibrant blue streak to distinguish them.
Tuesday 25th January – Shopping again today. Spent some time looking and very nearly being tempted by chocolates in the many chocolate shops in the city. Came across a really pretty alley, known as London Court, mostly white-coloured but decorated with coats of arms and flags, cobblestone paving and small boutique stores on either side, bustling with activity. The scene takes one back to 19th century London, and all that was needed were the horse-drawn carriage, bearded men with canes, top hats and suits to complete the time warp.
London Court!
While randomly entering shops around the city (and spontaneously buying things, as one of you will know), came across a clearance bookstore, where amongst all the unsold books and this year’s calendars was a treasure of a book called The Peoplescape. Based on the event of the same name that happened four years ago on the grassy slopes of Parliament House, the book had photographs of all of the thousands of montages put together to celebrate the lives of remarkable Australians. My brother’s cross-country coach from school featured among them, and so decided to buy it, remembering my brother’s key involvement in making the montage. Hopefully another thing to add to his growing memory box!
Wandering around the north side of Swan River, found several nice parks and walks to wander around. Took some pictures of the Glass Tower, a futuristic, but quite purposeless curiosity.
Perth's glass tower!
Nice meal of “violin duck” for dinner – the name was far more intriguing than the cuisine, though. I still wonder why it’s called what it is. If we were in a restaurant, perhaps its presentation would give the name some meaning. But since this was take-away, the duck had further been sliced into numerous little pieces, leaving no semblance to a violin. Thought of my own violin being sliced and eaten had to be fought off. Missing my violin heaps at this stage, sitting in its case all lonely and unplayed for eight days now.
Wednesday 26th January – Visited the monastery town of New Norcia. Long drive to get there, and felt completely paralysed with tiredness – meanwhile Switchfoot kept blaring in my ear, “dare you to move”. By the time we arrived, I’d had quite a long nap! Formed in the mid 19th Century, the monastery settlement readily took in indigenous people to learn and to work. The abbey would have housed a quite a number of monks, and there were a couple of lodges for lay people. Alongside the chapel, it was quite interesting to see a shed full of farm equipment and wine presses.
One of the college houses at New Norcia.
The museum was the highlight of the town. There was an upstairs art gallery, which contained so many interesting depictions of various facets of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Evidently, many of the paintings had won competitions before ending up in the gallery. I was filled with awe at the glory the depictions gave to God, and the many ways in which each painting identified at once both the complete humanity and complete deity of Jesus.
The neighbouring room was filled with splendid regalia that once adorned the monks during services, all very elaborate, in stark contrast with the simplicity of the settlement’s buildings. But some treasures were to be found, including several violins and related instruments made in the 17th and 18th centuries. The configuration of the instruments suggests that they were updated for modern playing during the 19th century. Music books (hymn books) were also on display and contained some original compositions by the monks themselves. It strikes me as odd though, how they could make music books so large, with each side about A3 size, or perhaps even larger.
The violin exhibit in the monastery museum!
Downstairs, more historical musical instruments were to be found, as well as agricultural tools used to manage the surrounding farmland. An apothecary cabinet from the period was also on display, with everything from gut sutures to strange elixirs. Although some of the bottles appeared half full, their contents were probably nothing like what the label proclaimed must have been inside a century or so earlier.
After a meandering drive back to Perth, we took our dinner at the Sizzler (haven’t seen these around Melbourne for years!) and taking an early night’s sleep.
Thursday 27th January – Back to Melbourne! Must say, there’s loads of stuff I have that I hadn’t anticipated I’d be bringing back home, including things such as badminton racquet, extra toiletries bag, a couple of bottles of eau de cologne, chocolates etc. Spent the flight back watching and snapping photos of a gorgeous sunset from well above the clouds, and mused about the impending storm in Melbourne (this was about 5-6 days before the storm arrived in Melbourne – presumably the storm we saw from above was a precursor to the freak storm, or perhaps it was the southerly system that mixed in with the west wind to form the storm that eventually arrived to wreak havoc). From above, the system looked almost cyclonic, but so calm and fluffyTM at the same time. Once again, I was in awe of the sheer beauty of God’s created nature, at once both unnerving and seductive, and forever unparalleled by anything made by man.
High above the clouds, where the plane doth fly...
Really, it was quite a beautiful closure to my trip west, to a beautiful city. Would love to visit again, and must say so much thanks to Val, Ricky and Agnes for making my stay there such a great experience!
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