Mr Leader

Thank you for your timely article. Of course clinical psychologists should be allowed Medicare rebate.

Thank you to all posters

It is important that people understand the difference between someone who has a psychology degree - anyone can do that - and specialist psychologists who have a clinical degree.

Further, it is important that people understand that clinical psychologists specialise in abnormal psychology (the study of abnormal psychology is akin to psychiatry. I have literally dozens of books on my shelves from both disciplines - and which I have read of course).

I have worked with many clinical psychologists during my career, and I have referred many of my clients to them - without the need for medication (vis a vis: the clients).

It is not true that all people who have a mental health problem necessarily need to be medicated.

With early intervention strategies by community mental health nurses and GPs, people can be referred to clinical psychologists without medication, without hospitalisation, and who can, as Scout rightly points out, learn through CBT and other psychological strategies, better ways of thinking and therefore living.

People with mental health problems can go to community mental health centres and consult with clinical psychologists for around a year, cost free. Well, that was the scenario in the previous mental health centre for which I worked in NSW.

Cheers
Kay

PS: Community mental health nurses make the initial assessment and diagnosis, psychiatrists confirm or otherwise the diagnosis, and then the community mental health nurse (case manaager) refers the client to a psychologist if same is necessary.

Still on the same merry go round more staff, more money, more drugs. No decrease in incidence, or a cure. All drugs, have detrimental effects on humans, slowly destroying organs. Drug therapy masks the problems, doesn't fix them, yet more are being prescribed.

What about the cause, no mention of that, as these problems are big money earners. The approach to this growing epidemic of depression and mental instability, should be finding out what factors are fueling this pandemic.

That won't happen, because all these professionals would have no work, the drug companies would lose their growing profit margins. Professionals would have to change their mind set, would have more time for mental problems that aren't attributed to lifestyle practices. They won't find the causes, because they're not economically acceptable. Can you imagine the uproar if they discovered that it was the chemical additives in our foods that were the main cause of growing mental instability.

It just shows how narrow and really scared people are about the true reality of our way of life. The growing evidence that leads towards lifestyle as a major cause of all illness, will continue to be pushed aside. People can't handle the idea of being responsible for their health and will continue like lemmings, to line up and be drugged into illusion and depressive lifestyles.

So before you all yell and scream that I don't know what I'm talking about, answer one simple question. If not lifestyle, what is causing this rapid growth in these problems. After all, professionals all have these tertiary qualifications in these matters, don't they. I don't, but I can tell you, that by advising people about their diets and approach to lifestyle, seems to have a more beneficial effect than any drug or professional counseling, from those who's knowledge and experience comes from books and a classroom.

Teaching people to control their own lives, is a very empowering and mentally progressive approach, compared to making them a confused victim of not knowing and drug reliance. Once people know what is causing their problem, they cope much better.

The alchemist,
I agree with your post in as much as you propose to discover the reason, the trouble starts here. There are many and varied reasons, sometimes trying to deal with grief, stress, post traumatic stress disorders, bullying the list goes on, I have previously posted my own circumstances of long term workplace threats and bullying covering more than two decades, however there may be a thousand reasons. Untill those reasons can be understood properly, and effective treatment found a small percentage of us, may never recover.

Vietnam vetrans have been my largest support network, they understand the connection between depression, anxiety, insomnia, as they live it everyday exactly like others of us. To add confusion to the issue my diagnosis is Chronic Major Depression with Generalised Anxiety Disorder and related phobias. The vetran who suffers exactly the same symptoms is diagnosed with post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

To me it is unbelieveable that humanity could put a man on the moon in 1969, however can not develop a drug, which allows a person to achieve an 8 hour sleep. Yes we do need more staff, more doctors, and more scientists, untill we tackle the causes for the distress of 20% of our population,i.e. 4 million Australians.

Shonga, I am a veteran and have suffered from massive depression, PTSD, manic episodes of uncontrollable behavior, ending in jail. Add to that, afraid to go to sleep at night in fear of what it would reveal.. Drinking to oblivion, more drugs, same result, you just get worse. The events of the past don't leave you, but you can learnt to live with them and negate their effects.

This didn't come about until I was forced to change my diet because of a supposed terminal health condition. Life isn't easy, particularly if your government and people are in denial for many years, even your own family and friends.

You see my active service was just before Vietnam and wasn't revealed until more than 30 years later. So just a few of us had to put up with our demons, even when Viet Vets finally got help, we didn't. It was only when the prescribed time limit had past and they had to release the relevant documents, that suddenly we had medals given to us, offers of help and support.

That help, came in the form of more drugs, counseling by people that have no experience or idea of what we went through. Basically their stupid and haven't a clue. Put them in the firing line behind enemy lines, or in a jail for a few months and see how they handle it. Then get their colleagues to counsel them and see the reaction.

Ridding my body of all the mind altering chemicals, the degenerating preservatives and other unnatural additives, sure woke me from the slumber of mental torment. Now I cope well, until I inadvertently consume something that has a additive in it, then it starts again until its out of my system.

I can tell you that this approach has helped lots of others in similar situations, as well as those in other terrible circumstances. I spend lots of time with people, helping them cope and understand the myths they are force fed regarding health, once they understand, they are already in front of the problem.

Although it seems cynical i tend to agree with the Alchemist's post. It's a catch 22 for a pharmaceutical company to provide a cure for something because if they were to eliminate an illness entirely then there would be no further need for their product and they would be doing themselves out of business. The emphasis therefore seems to be on "treatment" and courses of medication that alleviate symptoms but do not cure.
However, I'm sure there are many pharmaceutical scientists out there who are genuinely researching cures and are working hard for the betterment of mankind. Though sometimes i wonder if this fixation on finding the answers to all our problems in a little white pill is actually leading us up the garden path.
Shonga makes a good point that support groups are a good help to people with mental troubles and that sharing and connecting with people to identify with is very therapeutic. Perhaps more should be done in that direction rather than pinning all our hopes on a chemical fix.
As for medicare covering mental health treatment, well i would want to be assured that the treatment was successful and effective before i accept that my tax dollar is being put to that use.

Wow there are some touching posts here so far. Thanks to those who are opening up about your own experiences and lives.

One issue raised in the article which does seem critical and that is about health professionals working more closely together. In this case the management of symptoms and getting at the underlying issues are both vitally important.

For those opposed to Medicare funding for psychologists services it is worth considering from a pragmatic sense the cost of ungoing uncured mental illness and the treatment of the symptoms vs the cost of curing the illness. It may be better economic value than you think even if you ignore the human cost of mental illness.

R0bert