Ep. 04: Annette Baker

https://www.facebook.com/fyiallthingsmentalwellness

On this week’s episode Nadia and Bernie chat to Annette Baker.

Annette Baker's daughter, Mary, had battled anorexia as a 12-year-old and suffered poor treatment in the hospital system. Mary spent two months in the eating disorder unit of a Melbourne hospital, where there was, Annette feels, a misguided focus on the food instead of the mental disorder.

"They would say 'just give her a Coke, just give her a milkshake,' " says Annette, still palpably angry about the treatment her only daughter received. "I would say that was when her death certificate was written."

"We were helpless, and we didn't receive any help," Annette says. "We didn't know the extent of how serious the issue was. We didn't know what the f--- to do."

It was then in March 2011 that Mary, just 15, took her life.

Annette and her husband Stuart are the founders of Survivors of Suicide and Friends and began The Winter Solstice in Albury NSW which started in 2013. Survivors of Suicide and Friends is an Albury based organisation whose aim is to bring the subject of suicide and mental illness into the public forum to be addressed without shame or stigma. The Winter Solstice is an opportunity for communities to gather on the longest (and often coldest) night of the year to be entertained, enlightened, and supported.

https://www.facebook.com/AlburyWodongaBigSplash

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This episode was recorded and edited by Josh Liston at Deadset Podcasting (Albury-Wodonga). https://www.deadsetpodcasting.com