Problem solved

Disclaimer: Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is intentional, and all statistics are absolute fact. However readers understanding of satire is assumed.

In breaking news today the National Government has responded enthusiastically to the Dr. Barbara Disley authored 18 month monitoring report on the ACC’s Sensitive Claims treatment pathway calling it “a triumph of policy over reason.”

New details revealed by the report show that in 2008, claims accepted and therefore the level of PTSD as a result of sexual abuse and assault was diagnosed by the ACC’s assessors was at a whooping 60{1b812f7ed7a77644fff58caf46676f6948311bf403a3d395b7a7f87010507f87}.

However since the National led Goverment’s change of direction at the ACC the percentage of claims accepted dropped dramatically to 40{1b812f7ed7a77644fff58caf46676f6948311bf403a3d395b7a7f87010507f87} in 2009; 13{1b812f7ed7a77644fff58caf46676f6948311bf403a3d395b7a7f87010507f87} in 2010; 3.5{1b812f7ed7a77644fff58caf46676f6948311bf403a3d395b7a7f87010507f87} in 2011 and thus far in 2012 just 3.6{1b812f7ed7a77644fff58caf46676f6948311bf403a3d395b7a7f87010507f87}.

“In my view, this shows that the ACC’s tougher stance is not just working but curing a very difficult to treat problem in our community” Prime Minister John Key stated. “I think that the removal of support and counselling is actually the curative factor here and that as a result the level of suffering caused by rape and sexual abuse has simply disappeared.”

These results are so encouraging that documents obtained under the Official Information Act show that the National Cabinet plan to implement the same approach to unemployment, addictions, mental health problems, child abuse, domestic violence, sexism and racism.

Paula Rebstock, chair of the Welfare Working Group and acting chair of the ACC responded: “Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.”

Leave a Comment

  • birdofparadise July 19, 2012, 10:59 am

    Your kidding – right?!?! Thank goodness we have judges independent of both ACC and the Prime Minister!!!! His world is very different to ours! Keep getting those decisions overturned at review troops!!! Kia kaha!!

    Reply
    • Off the Couch: Kyle MacDonald July 19, 2012, 12:39 pm

      Yes, I am kidding. But satire only works when it is close to the truth…

      Reply
  • Ewen July 19, 2012, 11:37 am

    NO MR KEY YOU HAVE TO BE CRUEL TO TORMENT. ACC, if it were a child would pull wings off flies and torture helpless animals. The best message from this report is that some progress has been made and ACC needs to “explore more integrated mechanisms for providing support, assessment and intervention services”.

    As a PTSD sufferer (fortunately for me, not from sexual abuse), I am living (through good family support) proof that ACC fails badly in PTSD treatment and support. Clearly the blame should be with the National government and not with ACC in the first instance. Politicians It seems are responsible for the torture and torment I and many others have suffered for the last 5 years.

    When I first suffered an injury that led to my PTSD I tried to go back to work. It lasted a year and then I imploded. ACC were in no way equipped to deal with PTSD. I was put on the shelf. Three years later the bullying started. Today I have moved countries, and signed myself out of ACC support because they compounded my condition and most likely caused me to develop more.

    I CHOSE to do what I did in the first instance after my injury. I took my self back to work. I lasted six months this time. My hair has fallen out and I have daily teeth issues from grinding them. The most positive factor in my life is not having to deal with ACC. All I have to do is try and scrape together a job here and there to replace the lost income stream ACC used to provide, I imagine premature death regularly as a logical outcome to my life. This is still better than suffering from an organisation that is being “cruel to be kind”. Life is still hell many days and many nights when I go to sleep, but not the hell it was when ACC changed their stance and made my life more miserable than it had ever been. The injury related PTSD is nothing compared to the cruelty of ACC.

    I suspect the number of suicides that will come from ACC being cruel to be kind will come back and haunt ACC. But then nobody will notice and do a report on that, will they?

    Reply
    • Geoff July 19, 2012, 6:21 pm

      Snap we too moved country in disgust at the lack of compassion and empathy being shown by the Elite – systemic policy driven at the Prime Ministerial level cf “A Heart of Stone” recently published about the Chamberlains and Dingo fiasco. Authored by Azaria’s father and describes the stitch up by public bodies in order to achieve “more important” public policy initiatives.

      Reply
  • Jax July 19, 2012, 11:37 am

    Did I read this right?

    John Key is saying the removal of support and counselling is a good thing and, as a result, people don’t suffer from rape and sexual abuse any longer?

    If that is, indeed, correct… then is he really saying that being raped or sexually abused is not a problem – it’s the terrible counselling afterwards that seems to have had a detrimental effect?

    I’m sorry I had to ask. It’s just my brain cannot fathom that logic and I’m resigned to thinking I’ve read this completely the wrong way – surely.

    Reply
    • Off the Couch: Kyle MacDonald July 19, 2012, 1:03 pm

      Maybe Jax, my satire may be too close to the truth, but satire nonetheless!

      Reply
  • Geoff July 19, 2012, 11:38 am

    Kyle sorry I missed your satirical reference and therefore my comment is rescinded as being redundant!!

    Reply
    • Off the Couch: Kyle MacDonald July 19, 2012, 6:39 pm

      No problem Geoff, not sure what it says that my satirical poke at John Key and Paula Rebstock (although the statistics are real) is read by many as true? Scary that this black satirical take might be too close to the truth??

      Reply
      • K July 20, 2012, 12:20 am

        It’s just so life like I could see it on the front page of tomorrow’s paper!

        Reply
  • Andrew July 19, 2012, 11:58 am

    Well said, Kyle,

    Reply
    • Off the Couch: Kyle MacDonald July 19, 2012, 2:25 pm

      Thanks Andrew, sometimes satire says it best.

      Reply
  • Graham Willson, Advocate July 19, 2012, 12:34 pm

    So, here’s what we have now:

     The Plan Creates the Purpose (The ends justify the means)
     Perfectly structured Self-fulfilling prophecies, and
     A 100{1b812f7ed7a77644fff58caf46676f6948311bf403a3d395b7a7f87010507f87} cure for all personal and social ills –
     Deny it exists.

    The “Business” of Denial – and breath-taking ignorance.
    What an arrogant shower they are – God help us.

    Reply
  • Rayd July 19, 2012, 4:12 pm

    For me this confirms my sense that ethics are absent from a lot of so called professional practice. ACC required cooperative professionals to qachieve this. It is disgusting.

    Reply
    • Off the Couch: Kyle MacDonald July 19, 2012, 6:05 pm

      Yes they do require “cooperative professionals” Rayd. Lack of expertise and not knowing what you’re looking for can make problems disappear…

      Reply
  • Nancy Peterson July 19, 2012, 6:19 pm

    PTSD has been a very difficult problem and the work done to allieviate it can be long term and costly. ACC needs to take a look at the results EFT, TAT and other energy psychology modalities achieve. The UK has recently accepted EFT as an evidence based modality and as such will be accessible under the NHS. I understand that the USA Veterans administration is looking at EFT as the research into the work done with vets has been part of the evidence based research. I use these modalities all the time now as with them the symptoms of PTSD can be (relatively) quickly relieved, that is from any where between 3 and 10 sessions. Complex PTSD takes longer, yet even some of those cases clear far more rapidly than I believed possible.

    Reply
  • Geoff July 19, 2012, 6:39 pm

    Kyle, other than for your Satirical reference, I would believe it. I think the only difference between the truth and your article is that at least you give some believable reasoning as to why Sexual Abuse victims are being treated in a manner by public entities that even the abusers are not subjected too.

    As we know, when Abusers are locked up in Prison they generally are given higher standard, low security accommodation that is segregated from other prisoners to ensure their safety form retribution; there sentences are slashed for good behavior and they receive all the counselling services they wish. In addition often times their names are suppressed to “protect” the victim. In our case the perpetrator was released back into the community and his friends and wider relatives had no idea that he had been anywhere other than on a long Holiday abroad!

    He still lives in a house on knob hill while we scratch out a survival and I watch as my now Adult daughter struggles even to find the strength to live another day. And yes she was refused LOPE as her problems are apparently unrelated to the Generational abuse to which her and her mother were subjected. This is under a Tribunal review (This was a foster situation being that my wife was an Orphan and in State Care when this all started). My daughter was 9, she is now 26, so this is not a new problem created by a new Government, although it has got worse. I’m sure for these cases litigation would be faster; 17 years is just further abuse, but this time by a faceless and heartless State Entity that doesn’t think twice about Fraud or Forgery!

    Reply
  • demelza July 19, 2012, 9:49 pm

    Well considering his “it’s their own doing” attitude towards less fortunate people, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if this was in any way accurate to what the man really thinks.

    As a sexual abuse survivor when I was seven who was ignored by then teachers who excused what happened as ‘boys being boys’, I can say with absolute certainty that counseling has helped and is helping me beat the PTSD that’s plagued me for years. Only two sets of sessions were thanks to ACC, the rest is thanks to my therapist, my GP, and a really sympathetic Work and Income case worker who’s helped me get on-going counseling.

    Reply
  • Unicorn July 22, 2012, 4:14 pm

    Well Yes Kyle, you must be very close to the mark here, and if just one of them would dare to be transparent in their actions, then we’d probably see that its exactly what they all really think.

    Anyway,as a Psychologist, you would know that they arent talking or acting straight. Im not a psychologist , and I know it.

    Ive just been reinstated to my weekly comp and all other entitlements that ACC illegally took from me – on a whim. The review outcome document makes good reading, as it clearly lays out the ACC lies, character maligning, and cronyism that truly exists within the ACC network of betrayal towards claimants.

    Why did they do this to me in the first place? Why arent they held accountable for the increase in my C-PTSD? Why did they formulate such a slanderous and full of lies ‘operation’ against me in the first place? Was it really just to increase their KPI {1b812f7ed7a77644fff58caf46676f6948311bf403a3d395b7a7f87010507f87}s? I wish I could personally prosecute these evil doers – just to make them accountable!! The ACC evil is rife, and remains unchecked.

    Why doesnt Key stop it?
    Why doesnt Collins stop it?
    They are the ones who can, and yet they chose not to – so I am left with the conclusion tht this is just the way they want it.

    Disgusting. They probably dont even comprehend the word SHAME.

    Reply
    • Geoff July 22, 2012, 7:40 pm

      Got it in one Unicorn!

      Reply
  • Unicorn July 30, 2012, 11:00 pm

    Hi Kyle

    You know how NZ use the AMA 4th edition guidelines, well why arent we using the 6th edition – the most current one?

    Reply
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