tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763572.post6122330532213867849..comments2023-10-29T23:31:28.439+10:30Comments on angrypenguin: Cornelia Rau and the irony of freedomSamelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10289546838134141125noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763572.post-15383101193543788772009-05-13T11:31:00.000+09:302009-05-13T11:31:00.000+09:30I feel very sorry for Cornelia Rau and her now-aba...I feel very sorry for Cornelia Rau and her now-abandoned friends, although I do not know any of you. She just seems to be one of those people who can't get over the hill of stark reality with her psychotic tendencies- so far all that the medical community can do is guarantee a reasonable life for most on the latest medications- not paradise. It's as though the medication doesn't quite work well enough for her to say to herself "Well, I feel a bit woozy, but it's better than annoying the hell out of everyone else". However I do know two people who have gone through some rather bizarre-seeming therapy in Adelaide who seem to be free of their schizophrenia for at least a year, no medication, and both holding down responsible jobs and making friends. I can't quite believe it- but there they are!Murfomurfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12975382358013125434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763572.post-35266185223720409412009-05-08T00:18:00.000+09:302009-05-08T00:18:00.000+09:30Can you please contact me about your ancestor, Rob...Can you please contact me about your ancestor, Robert Lyon Milne?<br /><br />Bob Reece<br />tel 61 08 9335 7892Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763572.post-37773187386983582652009-05-04T04:42:00.000+09:302009-05-04T04:42:00.000+09:30Hi Samela & Tsardoz.
I recently saw Connie wh...Hi Samela & Tsardoz.<br /><br />I recently saw Connie whilst she was in the Middle East. I too am an "old friend" of Connies. <br /><br />Unfortunately because she can't accept that she has a mental illness and has had many bad experiences; I saw her behaviour as quite manipulative and bitter. Now "old friends" are seen mostly as an opportunity for a free bed or to con them for money. She told me an extremely stressful story that was later proven as fiction- she made it up just to get money from me. She makes up crises so friends can bail her out, although she has more than adequate funds, and is just resisting the control of the guardian. Can you imagine this situation? Here was a lady acting dangerously in a muslim country, who I was worried about getting into trouble anyway, whilst she was making up additional stories about her run-ins with police? Really it drives you a little crazy!<br /> <br />Connie seems unable to take any responsibility for the very significant stress she causes when she is travelling whilst unmedicated and obviously mentally ill - to friends, family, the Australian government, her guardians, overseas embassies and overseas police etc.<br /><br />My family counselled me that I should spend time helping somebody who could accept the help and benefit from it, rather than a person who cannot accept their situation. I asked her to contact me again only if she is back on medication, otherwise unfortunately I cant help her. <br /><br />We should all feel sorry for Connie. She was a lovely fun loving girl, who unfortunately could not handle some very stressful situatons that came her way, and she become mentally unstable. She cannot understand why she cannot have a job, a boyfriend or a happy life like everyone else and without some medication support. <br />But ultimately it is her decision whether to take medication and live a normal life with more freedom, or to keep running away (or running from crisis to crisis)and being miserably unhappy. This is her right and there is nothing we can do to help whilst she feels this way.<br /><br />I suggest that all "old friends" can do it to tell her that she is making her life much more difficult than it needs to be, for herself and others. Tell her that she has a different and more stable choice, if she can ever see it. Maybe if enough friends tell her this, she'll start to listen?<br /><br />I pray that one day she will find peace. I am just telling you this story, so you can be wiser when/if you see her again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763572.post-60081569086712306782009-03-01T09:27:00.000+10:302009-03-01T09:27:00.000+10:30Thanks for those thoughts, Mark.Tsardoz - You are ...Thanks for those thoughts, Mark.<BR/><BR/>Tsardoz - You are certainly well placed to reach out, but I am not sure how. Ring the Australian Embassy in Jordan, perhaps? I am sure the poor, dear girl needs a friend.Samelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10289546838134141125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763572.post-81231402841815333232009-03-01T09:07:00.000+10:302009-03-01T09:07:00.000+10:30Thanks Samela. I used to be good friends with Corn...Thanks Samela. I used to be good friends with Cornelia before all that STUFF happened, before she was a hostess.<BR/><BR/>I have been trying to work out how to help her, but do not realistically think I can. Any ideas? I am living in Doha, Qatar, now, not far from Jordan.Tsardozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00805428052972683299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763572.post-49524149642964417532009-02-26T14:03:00.000+10:302009-02-26T14:03:00.000+10:30Thanks for sharing your thoughts Samela. I've bee...Thanks for sharing your thoughts Samela. I've been thinking about this lately as well. I've met Conny several times. As luck would have it, we are debating the new Mental Health Bill in Parliament next week. I get a lot of people contacting me and complaining about how they see the balance between freedom and coercion being struck too far towards coercion. Conny's case shows that freedom has its price.<BR/>Mark Parnell MLC (Greens)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com