The essence of our failure to meet the needs of the "mental health services consumer" is that we do not value the patient. A chronically mentally-ill person has the same social status as a prisoner. We wish that these people were not there.

An excellent piece, Dr Morris. Suicide and unexpected death are an excellent way to illustrate the shortcomings of the system. More hidden, and harder to measure, are the lack of quality of life, including employment opportunities, attributable to lack of follow up care, admission refusals and adequate treatment. As an academic, I find it deplorable; as a carer, I find it heartbreaking. Some attention must also be given to the fact that no government, local, state or federal gives thought to policies any longer than the lead-time to the next election. Lack of care for young people with mental illness will cost a future government disability paymnets as a condition worsens. The cost to individuals and families is far harder to define.

This government does not have a 'surplus' - it has a lack of compassion and a lot of unpaid bills.

healthwatcher said "A chronically mentally-ill person has the same social status as a prisoner".

This is not correct, a prisoner is still assumed to be able to testify provided they no not have vested interest involved, whereas a person accused of being mentally ill is assumed to be delusional.

There is also a small epidemic of people the Mental Health Acts have been used against by their siblings, usually when a question of inheritance is involved. The victim is often shocked by discovery that our society allows a nurse or other person who has never talked with them to use the Mental Health Act to have the Police arrest and deliver them to mental ward orderlies until a doctor gets around to interview them. Having spent several days immobilised by sedatives, and caught between expressing or repressing their anger at being incarcerated by their siblings words, very few of these people can expect to see the light of day for years.

And for any person whether they had an illness or not, they dare not admit to having been incarcerated for fear of the social stigma of being labled delusional and having their sense of self-worth reduced to nil.

So I would say there is a crisis for both the mentally ill and the accused. Instead of relaying on the current system of informing the nearest "relation" who is commonly the person who unknown to the victim was asking for the Mental Health Act to be used, it would be nice for example, if the Mental Health Act entitled the people to make phone calls before being sedated.

As far as I know marriage is currently the only defense against this, because then your spouse is informed instead of your siblings who may have a vested inheritance interest to keep you incarcerated.

The article sees things from a medical model point of view. Note the words psychiatric and clinical popping up all the time.
What the author overlooks is the contribution of psychologists. If this was increased, much of the problem could be cared for.
The recent somewhat reluctant concession by doctors to allow psychologists limited ability (under medicos) to claim Medicare benefits is a case in point. From memory, more than 50,000 patient visits to psychologists eventuated within a few weeks of the scheme's announcement.
Psychologists study the mind for up to six years. How long has a psychiatry graduate spent? Maybe two years. Who gets the blessing of the system, and the business? The psychiatrist of course. I have nothing against them, but feel that my own profession of psychology has a contribution to make which is scarcely being tapped.
In conclusion I think that a major cause of the problem is definitional. A medically trained psychiatrist will diagnose an "illness". I would debate whether this is a useful term. The moment that you label something this way, you create a problem. Look at the label "depression" - which many, including myself, would see as usual and normal - describing what are the ups and downs of life

PROBLEM SOLVE HEATH: Thank You Phillip Morris for this article. I am totally alarmed by Abbort's flipant media call this morning re: Local Boards to run Hospitals.

There is so much TALK about HOSPITALS but NO analyses of the ROLE of ALma Ata and overall Civic Health.ie: The separation of the whole problem into its constituent parts for sustaining development in the long term.

I wrote three posts yesterday. Please Read.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/user.asp?id=20042&show=history

The problem in Cooktown-Cape York is;

a) POLITICAL PARTY POLITIC'S which is nasty and dirty at LOCAL LEVEL.(As it can be in spatial regional Communities).

Power status (Federal member loyalities) lean hard locally, (silo) leaderships block and smother innovation and inclusive attempts by a diverse community to evolve new add-on Alma Ata services. The "CAN'T" principal is a powerful stopper to local government and planning. Locals are exhausted + remain unrepresented. Worse they have NO RESOURCES to lobby for WHAT THEY WANT OR NEED.

b) Lack of information by LOCAL HEALTH STAFF. General Health staff appear to not understand the needs of Civic + Emotional Wellbeing in extentions to Primary Health or Mental Health Prevention. Given the local Advisory group is service driven, consumers are straining a) to be respectfully heard b) to get their agenda into the local health concerns.

c) I found local (visiting) Mental Health Doctor would support measures that help his consumers through Allied Health as other then their clients visits to the doctor, these clients have NO HUMAN SUPPORT in COMMUNITY. People in difficultly are isolated, trapped in a social drift that needs a multi-pronged cultural approach. On top of this CANDOO NGO who trys to help is stck as with Consumer with transportation problems. We have no infrastructure out side general or crisis. Nothing supporting a clients "daily Life". Poor consumer engagement report card.

d) Local authorities though frustrated panda to Cairn Distrist power base. The dysfuntional relationship is the HEART of the problem. This is the one factor that has created the "local regional" silo which is deadly. See Cornors report 2008 re: Suicides in the north.

http://www.miacat.com/
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Psychiatrists or psychologists, it doesn't much matter; both are inclined to miss the underlying problem that can be causing the mental illness. That is, that the food we eat, and the nutrients we absorb from that food, affect how the brain functions. Today's epidemic of mental illness stems as much from our nutrient deficient and chemical laden diets as it does from the increased pace and pressure of modern living. You only have to become mentally unhinged yourself and restore yourself to good health solely through changing what you eat, to realize the power of this very obvious but poorly understood connection.

Back in the late 1980's Victorian Labor Premier Joan Kirner after closing a major psychiatric center gloatingly boasted in headlines "this was the greatest thing I have ever done." Many of those patients were thrown into the streets and subjected to horrible abuses. A similar scenario for other states when governments began to close psychiatric hospitals and traditional residential institutions, claiming that they would be replaced by more humane forms of community-based care. These promises have never been kept.Inequality, insecurity, sackings, poverty, high rent, mortgage worries, loneliness, growing family stress, non access to public health facilities - all undermine general well being and health. All the cuts in health care services cause untold suffering and hardship to millions of workers and their families. Plainly, mental health patients can not be milked for big fees so under government guide lines the patients are discarded as expendable. All the politicians deny that we have paid adequate taxes for mental health care.

Its depressing to see that psychiatrists and institutions have locked out christian pastors and healers from the institutions as well; making it their turf only. I know a guy who hit some hurdles in another State and got sent to an institution and was pumped full of drugs and ended up not being able to pee and had several cathoders in a week put into him to releave the pressure. His testimony was that the drugs never worked in quieting the voices in his head yet when he got out on the prayer line at a lively christian church he began to get freedom and as time passed he got out of the system, off the rotten drugs and went into self management. He was an excellent example of how God heals and helps the mental patient. I think he thought that some of the shrinks were as crazy as he was during that period. He testifies that he met some unusual people and not all were patients. I would say that in all cases the problem of "the voice" is a spiritual presence that shouldnt be there...that one needs to be set free from through christian ministry and the laying on of hands in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Johncee

I am sure you have hit upon the source of the problem. The paradigm shift away from treating the mentally ill in a hospital environment has seen a total collapse in metal health treatment. Whilst the theory may have been correct at the time, clearly the implementation has been a total failure. All it succeeded in doing was freeing up funds for pork barrelling, which were previously spent on mental health.

Gibo,

The very basis of Christianity is FAITH.

It is entirely illogical to believe in something for which you have no real proof. You cannot prove Gods existence and your attempts to convince us of such is a pointless exercise. There is no way to God through rational discourse. You either have faith in God or you don’t. I don’t.

The respectable churches tossed out the idea that mental illness was caused by demonic possession centuries ago. Now the new age churches are backsliding with their cheap and nasty cure alls.

Are you by any chance a member of the Scientologist cult?

I wouldnt be writing about God Paul.L if I didnt KNOW! He was there. Like all born again christians I have His Holy Spirit Who Comforts me all day, every day. You should invite The Lord Jesus Christ into your life and get that comfort. He will show you the truth about the Bible and the spirit war.
The Australian mental institutions are in crisis, for sure.
Can you get this...rape inside Australian mental institutions is not uncommon.
Its not just rape by staff but also by deviant men being put in proximity, even inside locked dormatories, with women...and there is no answer to the problem because it is "the shrinks world" and like inside prisons, they are in control and wont be told how to run their business. Power is all to them. We really need a Royal Commission into Australian mental institutions. It would shock the nation.
As for your (disgusting) respectable churches. They are the dead churches...the dry ponds that fail to preach Christs Salvation and have anything to do with the knowledge of evil spirits because the evil spirits now control the running of those churches. Any church connected to ONE WORLD CHURCH, the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches is part of the demon empire these days. Rome owns them and the demon powers through that. These are the churches you call respectable. The dry ponds The Gifts of The Holy Spirit have left. Im out of a Salvation Army background so I know what Im talking about. Dry ponds. To me as a committed christian psychiatry is one step up from witch doctoring. Just one step up because they dont understand the spirit war on earth (Ephesian 6;12-18) and dont want to!

I totally agree with Dr Morris. The current state of the mental health system, despite all the intentions behind the National Mental Health Plan, is nothing short of appalling. Involving other professions, such as psychologists and social workers more extensively could go a long way to working toward better prospects for Australia's mental health in the future. These professions have the knowledge to work collaboratively with the GPs and psychiatrists to deliver a holistic service, recognising the influence of social determinants, and alleviating some of the pressure currently felt by the mental health system. Mental illness recovery goes far beyond the clinical treatment of the individual, and appropriate services and opportunities need to create an environment that fosters recovery. Mental health policy may look lovely and ideal on paper, but the reality takes hard work and a massive shift in focus and resource allocation.

hi well yes there is a crisis in Mental Health - the downsizing of hospitals has coincided with increased need for services. And from a clinicians point of view some media acknowledgement of the good work we do would go along way to restoring faith in our work and the services we provide. if we stopped still and looked at what we do have and thought pragmatically about how to make it work - engage the client, the carer, the staff, the system and transcend what we have by utilising all the resources with the focus on best service possible we could improve - we may have to be innovative - we cannot expect to survive going against the flow