In the news early April was the sudden death of Peaches Geldof - the daughter of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates. The media, family, and acquaintances said that her death was a mystery. The autopsy report said that the cause was inconclusive. Yet, laws of pain science can already identify why she died.
Peaches' mother died when she was 11 years old. She died alone of an overdose while caring for her daughter Tiger Lily. This would have been a massive psychoemotional trauma for Peaches - requiring weeks or months to resolve. Yet she found herself going to school the very next day - and feeling numb. At 16 - and on the brink of maturity - she again felt the loss of her mother. And after marriage and two children, she found herself relatively alone again with her partying friends having left her behind. Just before she died she was about to start writing a parenting column, and posted a photo online of herself (as a child) with Paula, captioned: "Me and my mum". The next day she died alone while caring for her youngest child. So history repeated itself. Whether she died of an overdose, a physical health problem, or losing the will to live is of little consequence. Because it is clear that the major contributors to her death were repeated bouts of loneliness, and an unresolved longing for her mother for companionship and guidance. In the end it was all just too painful for her to bear.
So one must ask where were society's mental health services to treat problems like Peaches'? Where was religion that claims to be able to miraculously heal suffering? It was off somewhere looking for "evil demons". Where was science that claims to be on top of mental health problems? It was off somewhere looking for "genetic faults". And where was the government's early intervention scheme? It was nowhere to be seen. Such unexpected deaths help to highlight the fact that when it comes to hidden mental health problems, society's mental health services always seem to be off doing things that are completely unrelated to its very cause: psychoemotional trauma.
This case is similar to that of NZ-Australian actress Charlotte Dawson. She was adopted at birth so she never experienced the love and acceptance from her natural parents. She openly admitted to suffering from bouts of depression (and was prone to shaking when feeling troubled). Her plight went public when she became the target of an online bullying campaign. This disturbed her so much that she attempted suicide. She was taken to hospital for treatment, and afterwards returned to normal life. But just before she died she lost a work contract, and was about to lose her rented apartment. Just like Geldof, all the mounting problems became too much to bear, and in February she committed suicide by hanging. This was an unusual case because it involved a famous person suffering from mental health problems, while deteriorating before the eyes of politicians - and they could do nothing to help her. The NZ Prime Minister, John Key, said that he was "shocked" by her death. But why? She had already attempted suicide. If she didn't get the right healing assistance - which the PM should have been able to offer her from his Health Department - she was likely to try it again. But he was unable to recommend any treatment for her. If she had been suffering from a disease, the NZ or Australian PM, or their Health Minister - would surely have called her up and said, "Charlotte, just come to the clinic and undergo our latest course of treatment and you'll be healthy once more - you won't be in danger of dying". But for mental health problems - there was NOTHING. And after her demise, there was no inquiry into the shortcomings of the mental health system. Instead, politicians just supported an anti-online bullying campaign on her behalf - again, nothing to do with finding a way to heal mental trauma itself!
Now let's apply the same scenario to ordinary people. If famous people can deteriorate and die of mental health problems right before the eyes of politicians, and they can only stand there and watch without being able to offer them a healing service - then what chance have ordinary people got - when in a similar state - of ever being healed of their problems? Not much chance at all. Politicians will just stand there and watch you, your relative, or your child die. Is it any wonder that modern societies like Australia, New Zealand, and the UK have high rates of suicide? In the US it's even worse - not only is there risk from one's own mental health problems, but also risk of death from a mentally disturbed spree killer who has "fallen through the cracks" of the mental health system. Over there, there was the death in March of fashion designer L'Wren Scott - the girlfriend of Mick Jagger. She was another adoptee who missed out on the love only natural parents can provide. Just before she died her fashion axhibit at the London Fashion Week was cancelled. And she was about to have to close her business due to a $6m debt. Again, too many problems combined with childhood trauma put her into too much psychoemotional pain and she hanged herself. What is most telling in this case is that she had no confidence in the world's most powerful government - with the largest mental health sector - of being able to do anything for her.
The public need to rise up, speak with one voice, and demand a change to this sham of a mental health system. The people in it are good, but the knowledge being utilised is out-of-date and woefully inadequate. Hundreds of millions of dollars a year are spent on mental health research and treatments - and yet not a single treatment could be offered to Dawson, Geldof, or Scott. One must ask what are governments spending this money on? Any politician - especially a health minister - who witnesses public deaths like these and is "shocked" or "mystified" by them should be asked to resign. Because they obviously do not understand the ramifications of psychoemotional trauma, and, so, are not doing their job properly. Any reigning political party that witnesses such deaths and does nothing to change the mental health system afterwards should be voted out of office. Because they are all clearly just waisting the public's time, money, and lives.
