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