My daughter is the victim of Parental Alienation and as a protective loving parent, knowing and experiencing how mental health, the Family Law Industry, ideology and vested interests intersect is devastating every single day.
It was only a few weeks ago that several of us teamed up together to prevent a mother completing suicide from her situational distress after an appalling decision in the family court where the judgement recognised:
- the father had knowingly lied to police,
- the psychiatric assessment that the father was delusional,
- the father imposed those delusional beliefs on the children who naturally feared and did not want to see the mother,
- there was nothing in the reasons for judgement that would suggest the mother was not only “good enough” but supported her
- the judge ruled to keep them with the delusional father and no contact with the mother. My guess is that the father could not be managed and the decision made to prevent him causing the children stress in the lead up and after they spend time with the “other” mentally healthy parent.
While men are the bulk of the suicides and many of the victims of the adversarial court system, the reform of the Family Law Industry is essential for both genders and especially the children if we are serious about tackling mental health and suicide as mentioned by the “National Mental Health Commission Whole-of-Government approach”.
It is only this week that I was informed of more alienated children that had completed suicide and I know too many parents that are either unable (as not seeing) or dealing with children returned to them after separation that have severe mental health symptoms such as self-harm amongst many others.
While I am able to talk to my peers in the community of common circumstances I remain somewhat isolated, suffer cPTSD and cannot openly talk about what happened because of the current laws. A recent Australian Federal Government Parliamentary hearing kept most submissions to themselves, as did the “Australian Law Reform Commission” and suspect this will occur with the Inquiry into the “Magistrates Court of Western Australia’s management of matters involving family and domestic violence”. Many of us talk and yet are silenced!
Outlined in my book “The Pinball Machine The Family Separation Industry and Parental Alienation” is the discussion that we must have if we are to address a major identified root cause of suicide and considers the impact on many of the practices within the sector.
- If you are in the mental health or counselling field, it may be happening to a client and will give you an insight into what is going on and how to assist.
- If you are in a policy area then it is a must-read book as a testimonial from a Chief Justice of Appeal (ret), Former Member UN Human Rights Committee stated “with valuable suggestions for reform”
- This is most likely happening to a person you love and care about so should read it for them!
#RUOK #parentalalienation #familyseparationindustry #mentalhealth #suicide #suicideprevention