Grieving mother calls for better mental health services in Karratha after son's suicide

Kristie Grabenhofer says she will continue to advocate for better mental health services. (ABC Pilbara: Rosemary Murphy)

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images and names of people who have died.

The devastating grief Kristie Grabenhofer was plunged into when she lost her son to suicide shortly after he turned 21 is a pain she wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Ms Grabenhofer is tearful, but determined, as she speaks about her son, Machlan Felix, and the need to improve mental health services in her home town of Karratha.

“Our son should still be here,” she said.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anybody else.”

Mr Felix, who had recently qualified as a machinist, took his own life in February after struggling with his mental health.

More than 500 people attended a service to say goodbye to him.

“He was a very loving, happy, talented person [and] everybody who ever met him adored him,” Ms Grabenhofer said.

Mr Felix had ADHD and anxiety, which Ms Grabenhofer said had been managed throughout his life.

But his mental health struggles were exacerbated when he had his gall bladder removed and was unable to work for six to eight weeks.

Ms Grabenhofer said Mr Felix became increasingly depressed and began thinking about harming himself, but he was unable to get the help he needed.

“There’s just not enough support in this town,” Ms Grabenhofer said.

“You can present to emergency, they’ll treat your symptoms for the time being, and say that mental health [services] will be in touch.

“If you have a sore back you can go to a physio, if you have a sore tooth you can go to the dentist, but if you have mental health [problems] there’s nothing.”

Campaigning for change

Ms Grabenhofer started a petition urgently calling for the West Australian government to establish a residential mental health facility in Karratha for those in acute need.

Having attracted more than 2,600 signatures, her petition was tabled in state parliament last week by Pilbara MP Kevin Michel.

“It needs to be an inpatient and outpatient facility. It needs to have more than eight beds. It needs to have residential psychiatrists who can actually prescribe medication who are not on a roster where they go home for six weeks,” Ms Grabenhofer said.

A similar Step Up Step Down facility was first proposed for Karratha by the Mental Health Commission more than a decade ago and was funded in the 2015-16 state budget.

But due to a community backlash over the proposed location, the facility is yet to be built.

The service, which is already operating in other regional locations, is designed to support people experiencing mental health challenges to transition out of hospital or to help them avoid a hospital stay.

Long-term proposal

A site in Millars Well was selected by the Mental Health Commission for the Karratha facility, but due to the backlash from nearby residents in 2017 it triggered the search for a different location.

The City of Karratha eventually agreed to provide land in Bulgarra for the facility in April 2019.

Karratha Mayor Dan Scott said another community consultation was held by the Mental Health Commission in recent months leading some to question if the town was “ever going to get this mental health facility”.

“That felt like, to the community, that they were starting again, which drove up a bit of anxiety around if the facility would be built,” Mr Scott said.

Mr Scott told the ABC that with billions of dollars of projects in the pipeline for the Karratha region, planning was needed to prepare the region for the foreshadowed population influx.

“The government really needs to get ahead of that and invest in our health because, as the population grows, those issues are going to exacerbate and get larger,” he said.

Mental Health Commissioner Maureen Lewis said the government was working with service providers to progress the Step Up Step Down facility and would continue to engage with the community to ensure the service and design met local needs.

“The Mental Health Commission is absolutely committed to delivering a mental health Step Up Step Down service for the Karratha community and understands delays in establishment can cause frustration,” Ms Lewis said.

“We will continue to provide updates on the service’s progression following further community consultations.”

Limited services

Charlene Senior is the Pilbara manager for Anglicare, the lead agency for headspace that provides support targeted at young people.

“There are more acute care services in metro and other regional areas, where if somebody is experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviours they can get the crisis care they need at that time,” she said.

“When you’re looking at mental health and suicidality, they’re two very different things.

“So, while as a society we’re getting better at speaking about feelings of feeling sad or feelings of being anxious, we’re still pretty frightened to dip our toes into asking about suicidality and to have those open conversations.”

Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson reiterated the state government’s commitment to getting the Step Up Step Down facility operating in Karratha and said there was support available in the community for people struggling with their mental health.

“There is support in the emergency department for people who are presenting, support both in the hospital and also through the emergency telehealth service that WACHS runs via the command centre, which can get you access to consultant psychiatric assessment if required,” she said.

“The staff on the ground do everything they can to keep their clients safe, and make sure that they get the support they need.”

Ongoing issue

Crisis talks were held in early 2019 after there were multiple suicides over the Christmas period in the area.

Ms Senior said it was a horrific time for the community and remained an issue many were continuing to grapple with.

“There are more programs coming into the region, but change is slow, and when it comes to suicide, there’s just no time.”

Concerns about the lack of mental health services have also been raised recently by residents in the nearby tourist town of Exmouth.

Ms Grabenhofer said the reliance of the area on locum staff meant there were additional difficulties.

“It’s never the same locum, you’ll have one locum for six weeks and you’ve got to go through all what you’ve done and where you’re at and how you’re feeling [with each new doctor].

“There just needs to be more consistency in the care and availability.”

Personal journey

Ms Grabenhofer told the ABC she had had her own struggles with mental health and she encouraged others to be more open with what they were going through.

“I’ve had it since I was a teenager, and without medication I can’t say that I would even be a functioning person of society, and I am,” she said.

“I run a dance school, I’m well known in the community, but people don’t know,  you can’t see mental health, you can’t see the symptoms.

“I think the more we talk about mental health and how prominent it is, the easier everybody can start coping together.”