The following item was sourced from the Fairfax newstore

Parents’ pain sparks crusade

Author: By LAUREL-LEE RODERICK Date: 18/08/2010 Words: 344 Source: ILL

Publication: Illawarra Mercury Section: News Page: 11

ISAAC Loft was a promising University of Wollongong maths and
finance student and had his whole life ahead of him when he headed to
Canada for an overseas adventure.

But it was in Canada that a struggle with depression took a turn for the worse.

Isaac became psychotic, prompting his parents Ken and Julianne to make an emergency dash overseas to bring him home.

He was home for just two months before he received the crushing diagnosis of possible bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

“The stigma attached to mental illness is terrible,” Mrs Loft said.

“People
can talk about diabetes and physical illnesses, but when it comes to
mental illness, they don’t talk about it. Because of the stigma, when he
heard the diagnosis, Isaac gave up.”

After a brief six-month battle with mental illness, Isaac took his own life at the age of 22.

“We
will never know the specific reasons why he took his own life, because
he didn’t talk about what he was going through,” Mrs Loft said.

Just
six months after Isaac’s death, Mr and Mrs Loft attended a GetUp rally
in Wollongong last week to call for better resources in the mental
health sector.

The Austinmer couple spoke to the Mercury in a bid
to break down the stigma surrounding mental illness, which they believe
was central in Isaac’s struggle.

The couple felt there were
critical shortcomings in the health system, none more significant than
the limited information which flowed through to them as parents.

They also described problems in having Isaac’s medical records transferred from Canada to Australia.

“We kept being told Australia was the best place for him to be,” Mrs Loft said.

“But it didn’t seem that way. Victoria has a lot more services than NSW and in a way, we wish we had been living there.”

The couple said their wish was to break down the barriers.

“It
needs to come out into the open and people need to be more accepting of
mental illness, to move past the stigma,” Mrs Loft said.

Lifeline offers counselling on 13 11 14.