Discuss about the State of Mental Health in Australia for Psychology and Law.
Mental illness is a serious health concern in the society today. According to research, more than 20% of Adults in Australia are affected by mental disorders. However, the understanding as well as the respect we have concerning mental health is key to prevent the stigma that associated with mental illnesses (Christensen, Griffiths, & Evans, 2002, p.99). Mental health can be defined as the sense of well-being, confidence and finally self-esteem that makes anyone to totally enjoy life as well as appreciating other individuals (Milner, Smith, & LaMontagne, 2015, p.678). Mental illness on the other hand is health issue that negatively alters the way someone thinks, feels, and behaves as well as interacting with different people. Mental illness is however not a particular disease since it exhibits itself in a variety of ways in relation to an individual’s environment, psychological as well as biological factors.
In Australia, mental disorders is the most significant issue especially among the youths and if these conditions persist, the harm they cause lasts for decades. The issues that contribute to mental health in Australia include elevated levels of enduring disability like failure at schools, high unemployment rates as well as poor family and social functioning (Hafekost et al., 2016, p.59). The end results are dysfunctions which are hard to reverse or correct. Since 75% of the mental illness in Australia begin before 25 years old, it would be necessary to cut on the economic, attitudinal as well as service organization and geographical barriers to the youths as well as young adults so as to address the mental health problem.
The rates of mental illness in Australia are high in the young people and this represents the biggest burden of the disease in young people. It is widely believed that depression is the leading cause of the condition. According to studies, it is clear that suicide as well as self-harm has risen significantly in Australia since 1990s and this are attributed to the mental disorders (Jones et al., 2015, p. 25). Further studies indicate that 60% of all the disability costs that are health related are as a result of mental illness. A further 27% of the disability years in Australia are as well attributed to mental illness (Davidson, Heffernan, Greenberg, Waterworth, & Burgess, 2017, p. 888). Even though majority of the mental illnesses begin prior to 18 years, individuals between the ages of 25-44 and 45-64 years are more likely to get active treatment as compared to those who are below 25 years in Australia when seen in the general practice.
Some research have shown that some of the mental disorders can be effectively prevented through earlier intervention measures and that their effects can be well countered by providing early appropriate services (De Crespigny et al., 2015, p. 126). Despite many clinicians in Australia being enthusiastic to reform this condition, their efforts have remained futile as compared to other countries who even began after emulating Australia (Uribe Guajardo et al., 2018, p. 12). Besides, the specialist mental health system in Australia is totally underfunded and this has totally plagued the efforts to repair the damage. According to statistics, the national health spending has grown past the $72 billion while the recurrent expenditure on mental health spending still remains below 7% of the $72 billion. Despite the Australian governments recognizing the coordinated national health as well as welfare services for the people with mental issues, the investments still remains low as well as lack of accountability. The disintegrated systems of the government as well as the changing demands of the healthcare have led to a patchy group of reforms in terms of mental health in Australia.
According to statistics, one out five people in Australia were by one given moment affected by mental disorders within a period of twelve months. This is in accordance with the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. The young adults were the ones who were particularly affected by the condition with statistics indicating that more than a quarter of Australians in the age group between 18 and 24 years experiencing mental illnesses over a duration of 12 months. This was according to the Health Policy and Planning Unit Act of 2006.
The prevalence of mental disorders among children of ages between 4 and 12 years in Australia according to statistics, is at 7% and between 14-19% among adolescents with age between 13 and 17 years. The prevalence further raises to 27% among those individuals between 18 and 24 years. What this statistics imply is that among four young individuals in Australia, one of them is likely to suffer from mental health disorders.
The Australian Indigenous communities are also not spared from this menace as the grief and trauma from the loss of their traditional lands and cultural practices that resulted from colonization plays a critical role in the development of mental illnesses.
Despite the growing concern of mental illness in Australia, there are different barriers to healthcare services to repair the condition. Some of the barriers include costs, inconvenience as well as lack of publicity about the services and their visibility. Majority of the healthcare services are not acceptable to the Australians and the issue of lack of confidentiality is the biggest factor that make majority of the patients shy off from seeking help. Besides, the stigma associated with mental illness and the difficult questions subjected to the patients significantly contribute to majority of the patients shying off from seeking treatment. However, clinicians have begun appreciating the need to overcome the different barriers so as to ensure early prevention and intervention measures of the mental disorders. They are also trying hard to transform the negative image of the health facilities so that they can be user friendly.
To effectively counter the mental health disorder menace in Australia, there are several programs that have been set up. The MidMatters for example is a nationwide mental health program that source its funds from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (McIntyre et al., 2017, p. 67). This is a body whose mandate is to promote and protect mental Health as well as the social and emotional wellbeing among secondary school students in Australia (Meadows, Enticott, Inder, Russell, & Gurr, 2015, p. 193). Another important initiative is the Mind frame and it was established so as to improve on the manner in which the media can report mental health issues. This program also seeks to provide access on accurate information concerning suicide as well as mental illness and showing these issues on news in Australia. The Triple P program commonly known as the Positive Parenting Program has also been implemented in Australia to positively impact parents of children suffering from mental disorders in preschool children in Australia (Rickwood et al., 2015, p. 534). The Personal Assessment and crises Evaluation (PACE) provides medical attention to young people who are at high risk of developing mental illnesses (Clement et al., 2014, p. 16). Pathways to Prevention is also another program established to offer early intervention programs with the core objective is to ensure transition at school in one of the most disadvantaged urban centers in Queensland Australia.
At the moment, there is a wealth of knowledge as well as information about the appropriate interventional measures to address the issue of mental health in Australia. The mental health services remain inconsistently provided as well as underfunded (Harvey et al., 2017, p. 491). New evidence has also suggested that there is professional on how the mental disorders can be corrected. However, how this information infiltrates to the relevant stakeholders remains poor. Bertolote and McGorry in their article further did assert interventions which can cut on relapses by more than 50% are readily available. However, access to them is what an issue remains. In summary, both the old and new extended community networks ought to collectively work together to promote mental health.
Conclusion
Mental disorder is a condition that describes impairment in the manner an individual thinks, feels or interacts with other people. Mental disorders are commonly caused by depression as well as drug and substance abuse. In Australia, mental disorder is a serious issue with statistics indicating that 20% of the population is suffering from the condition. There are different barriers to effective treatment of mental disorders in Australia and this include stigma as well as the difficult questions subjected to those suffering from the condition. Besides, the healthcare professionals are not trained to effectively communicate with individuals suffering from mental illnesses. However, there has been different programs to counter the consequences of the mental illness burdens. Such programs include the MindMatters and the Mindframe program. In the future, there is need for all the stakeholders to work hand in hand to ensure the burden of mental disorders is well cut out.
References
Christensen, H., Griffiths, K. M., & Evans, K. (2002). E-mental health in Australia: Implications of the internet and related technologies for policy. PsycEXTRA Dataset. doi:10.1037/e677122010-001
Clement, S., Schauman, O., Graham, T., Maggioni, F., Evans-Lacko, S., Bezborodovs, N., … Thornicroft, G. (2014). What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychological Medicine, 45(01), 11-27. doi:10.1017/s0033291714000129
Davidson, F., Heffernan, E., Greenberg, D., Waterworth, R., & Burgess, P. (2017). Mental Health and Criminal Charges: Variation in Diversion Pathways in Australia. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 24(6), 888-898. doi:10.1080/13218719.2017.1327305
De Crespigny, C., Grønkjær, M., Liu, D., Moss, J., Cairney, I., Procter, N., … Galletly, C. (2015). Service provider barriers to treatment and care for people with mental health and alcohol and other drug comorbidity in a metropolitan region of South Australia. Advances in Dual Diagnosis, 8(3), 120-128. doi:10.1108/add-05-2015-0007
Hafekost, J., Lawrence, D., Boterhoven de Haan, K., Johnson, S. E., Saw, S., Buckingham, W. J., … Zubrick, S. R. (2016). Methodology of Young Minds Matter: The second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 50(9), 866-875. doi:10.1177/0004867415622270
Harvey, S. B., Deady, M., Wang, M., Mykletun, A., Butterworth, P., Christensen, H., & Mitchell, P. B. (2017). Is the prevalence of mental illness increasing in Australia? Evidence from national health surveys and administrative data, 2001-2014. The Medical Journal of Australia, 206(11), 490-493. doi:10.5694/mja16.00295
Jones, T., Smith, E., Ward, R., Dixon, J., Hillier, L., & Mitchell, A. (2015). School experiences of transgender and gender diverse students in Australia. Sex Education, 16(2), 156-171. doi:10.1080/14681811.2015.1080678
McIntyre, C., Harris, M. G., Baxter, A. J., Leske, S., Diminic, S., Gone, J. P. … Whiteford, H. (2017). Assessing service use for mental health by Indigenous populations in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America: a rapid review of population surveys. Health Research Policy and Systems, 15(1). doi:10.1186/s12961-017-0233-5
Meadows, G. N., Enticott, J. C., Inder, B., Russell, G. M., & Gurr, R. (2015). Better access to mental health care and the failure of the Medicare principle of universality. The Medical Journal of Australia, 202(4), 190-194. doi:10.5694/mja14.00330
Milner, A., Smith, P., & LaMontagne, A. D. (2015). Working hours and mental health in Australia: evidence from an Australian population-based cohort, 2001–2012. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 72(8), 573-579. doi:10.1136/oemed-2014-102791
Rickwood, D. J., Telford, N. R., Mazzer, K. R., Parker, A. G., Tanti, C. J., & McGorry, P. D. (2015). The services provided to young people through the headspace centres across Australia. The Medical Journal of Australia, 202(10), 533-536. doi:10.5694/mja14.01695
Uribe Guajardo, M. G., Slewa-Younan, S., Kitchener, B. A., Mannan, H., Mohammad, Y., & Jorm, A. F. (2018). Improving the capacity of community-based workers in Australia to provide initial assistance to Iraqi refugees with mental health problems: an uncontrolled evaluation of a Mental Health Literacy Course. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 12(1). doi:10.1186/s13033-018-0180-8
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