Reconnexion and NPS Medicinewise Present Medicating Normal-The Film

Join Reconnexion and NPS Medicinewise for a virtual community screening of Medicating Normal, a 76-minute documentary film that follows the stories of five high-functioning people whose doctors prescribed pills to help with common problems such as stress, mild depression, insomnia and grief with devastating impact on their lives. It is the untold story of the serious consequences that can occur when profit-driven medicine intersects with human beings in distress (Click here to view the film's trailer). There will be an interactive community discussion immediately after the film. 

Schedule for Wednesday, November 17, 2021 

11:00 am - 12:20 pm AEDT* -- Welcome and Film Screening

12:20 pm - 1:00 pm AEDT*-- Post-Screening Panel Discussion and Q&A with the audience

*Note: All times above are in AEDT (Australian Eastern Daylight Time, UTC +11). To determine the event date/time in your location, click here to use Time Zone Converter. Or, at the very bottom of this registration page, a black box will appear asking you to allow Dandelion (the registration page's host) to ‘Set Time Zone’ to your location; please accept that setting.

Post-Screening Panelists include:

Dr. Hester Wilson is a GP and Fellow of the RACGP and chair of the RACGP Special Interest Group in Addiction. She works in private practice in Sydney and in a Drug and Alcohol Service for the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. Hester has written widely on general practice and substance use issues and is involved in planning and facilitating the current RACGP AOD training. She recently convened the 6th International Medicine in Addiction Conference and is currently undertaking a Ph.D. focused on GPs’ experience of patients with chronic pain and prescription opioid use disorder.

Dr. Caroline West is a GP and Medical Advisor to NPS MedicineWise. She has extensive experience working in both urban and remote Australia. For the past 18 months, during Covid she has been working in the outback from Broken Hill, NSW. Dr. Caroline is also a well-known medical journalist and has an extensive background in TV, print, radio, online. She is the co-host of Ask the Doctor and Catalyst (ABC TV ) and has been a presenter for global programs including Beyond 2000 and Beyond Tomorrow.

James Szeto is a psychologist and the clinical team leader at Reconnexion. He has extensive experience working with anxiety, depression, trauma, insomnia, and substance use in hospital and educational settings, private practice, and community mental health. James started with  Reconnexion in 2011 and has been in his current role for the past two years. In his work at Reconnexion, he supports individuals withdrawing from benzodiazepines, and assists them with anxiety, sleep disorders or pain management. 

Natalie Corrigan is a writer who works in the non-profit sector. She began her journey through benzodiazepine recovery in her late twenties. After several years of prescribed use, she experienced Post-Acute-Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS). Unable to gain insight from her regular doctors, she sought less conventional help through Reconnexion. Working closely with the Reconnexion team, Natalie safely recovered and now leads a life without benzodiazepines. She now dedicates her time to educating the community on the dangers of prescription medication.

Dr. Killian Ashe has been working as a psychiatrist in Melbourne for several years. He has worked in a broad range of mental health services, involving outreach to homeless, prison settings, and neuropsychiatry. Today, Dr Ashe works in private practice and as a consultant psychiatrist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Dr. Ashe is a passionate advocate for advancing access to mental health services, for the promotion of patient rights, and for the wellbeing of the mental health workforce. His areas of expertise are in the assessment and treatment of personality pathology, trauma, and major mental illnesses.

Dr. David Jacka was appointed Addiction Medicine Specialist at Monash Health in early 2013. He has worked in public health for nearly twenty years, in the areas of alcohol and other drug misuse and harm reduction. Between 2006 and 2012 he worked with the World Health Organization as a drug treatment specialist and advisor. His interests at Monash Health have already taken him into areas of improved residential withdrawal services, acute illicit stimulant intoxication, improved methadone, buprenorphine and other opiate prescribing, and the development of expanded health and NSP services.

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