The People Living with Psychotic Illness 2010 study, the largest of its kind ever undertaken in Australia, found that psychotic illness affects around one in every 200 Australians every year and that 90% of people affected report a deterioration in their ability to function in their daily life – be it cooking, cleaning, managing their finances or working. comprehensive study of thousands of people with psychotic illness provides compelling evidence of the need to provide more support and better-coordinated community mental health services in Australia.

Focusing on clients of public mental health services, the study found that, despite being in treatment, four out of ten of the 64,000 adult Australians with a psychotic illness continue to experience delusions and a third currently experience hallucinations.

Almost half of all Australians with a psychotic illness are obese, two thirds smoke and over half have problems with alcohol and drug abuse and dependence.

Particularly troubling is the finding that nearly a quarter of people with psychotic illness reported being lonely and one in eight had no friends at all.

Around half of people with psychotic illness have attempted suicide at some time. This is over ten times the rate in the general population.

The study reveals changes in the delivery of mental health services since the previous survey in 1997- 98, principally related to the ongoing, if uneven, shift from hospital to community-based care.

There have also been modest but real improvements including a halving of the number of people homeless in the last 12 months (from 13% in 1998 to 5%) and a 60% increase in the number of people using rehabilitation programs.

There remains vast scope for improvement in physical and mental health services if we are to help people with these serious illnesses find somewhere decent to live, work to do and friends to share their lives with.

The study was commissioned by the Australian Government, Department of Health and Ageing.
Download:: People Living with Psychotic Illness – A SANE Response

Unravelling Psychosocial Disability, a position statement by the National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum (NMHCCF), was launched at Parliament House, 22 Nov, 2011, by Senator Jan McLucas, Parliamentary Secretary for Ageing, Disability and Carers.

This landmark document describes the needs of people with psychosocial disability and the issues that affect their capacity to participate in the community. The statement urgently calls for improved support for people with psychosocial disability related to mental health conditions.

In August 2011, the NMHCCF welcomed the inclusion of people with a psychosocial disability in the proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The decision, outlined in the final report of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into Disability Care and Support, was a watershed moment in mental health reform.

The recognition of psychosocial disability, often referred to as psychiatric disability, marks a significant shift in the attitudes of policy makers and the community.

"Mental health consumers and carers have waited too long for their psychosocial disability support needs to be acknowledged – we are delighted by this decision" said Janet Meagher, Consumer Co-Chair of the NMHCCF Psychosocial Disability Working Group. Margaret Springgay, Carer Co-Chair of the Working Group said "this is a long overdue acknowledgment of the devastating and disabling effects that mental illness has on so many lives".

Unravelling Psychosocial Disability was developed by the NMHCCF as part of its submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into Disability Care and Support. The position statement will be an important reference for mental health consumers and carers, policy makers and service providers in the mental health and disability sectors and in the broader community.

Download:: Unravelling Psychosocial Disability (2011).

For more information please contact Kim Harris, 02 6285 3100

Inquiry into Commonwealth Funding and Administration of Mental Health Services. Australian Senate, Community Affairs References Committee.

Inquiry into Better Access and other federal Mental Health Funding.

Report Issued - November 2011.

Download:: Full Report available here as .pdf file (NB:: 162 pages)

Premier announces new independent Mental Health Commission
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced the Government would establish an independent Queensland Mental Health Commission.
In 2011-12 alone, the Queensland Government is investing over $1 billion in public mental health services throughout Queensland.

"This is the biggest investment in Queensland's history," Ms Bligh said.
"The new Commission will be the cornerstone of this ongoing reform." Building on the momentum which has been achieved over the last four years, the Commission will be responsible for:

• acting as a strong advocate for mental health clients and their families;
• improving the coordination, effectiveness and performance of mental health services;
• ensuring resources are being deployed to where they are most needed;
• developing a strong evidence base to support government investment; and
• promoting greater transparency in the allocation of resources."

International evidence suggests that a dedicated, stand-alone Commission can improve the mental health system's ability to focus on the individual needs of clients and their families and to provide more effective and coordinated services, ranging from acute care to community-based services.

"As well as supporting further transformation of the mental health system, establishment of the Commission will position Queensland to better respond to emerging priorities, pressures and opportunities and to drive ongoing reform locally and nationally," Ms Bligh said.

"As an independent body, the Commission will provide strong leadership and advocacy, and will focus on streamlining the mental health system rather than adding another layer of bureaucracy.
"It will engage continuously with consumers, families, service providers and other stakeholders, ensuring that consumers' needs and human rights remain paramount at all times and that services remain accessible and well coordinated.
"It will also play a key role in combating the social exclusion, stigma and discrimination which people living with mental illness experience.
"We are establishing an Advisory Committee of experts and other stakeholders, chaired by Professor Beverley Raphael, to inform the design and development of the Queensland Commission.
"We look forward to consulting widely over the coming months to ensure we put the right structure in place to continue driving the transformation and reform of Queensland's mental health system."
Mental Health Commissions already operate or are being established in several Australian jurisdictions and overseas

Press Release from Mental Health Council of Australia
Allan Fels appointed Mental Health Commissioner 16 October 2011 

The Mental Health Council of Australia (MHCA) warmly welcomes the appointment of Professor Allan Fels, AO as Chairman of the Mental Health Commission.
Allan Fels is a Patron of the Mental Health Council of Australia and a long standing advocate for mental health carers and consumers. Professor Fels was Dean of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) and also Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission from 1995 until 30 June 2003.  Prior to that he was Chairman of the Trade Practices Commission from 1991 to 1995 and Chairman of the Prices Surveillance Authority from 1989 to 1992.

“Allan Fels has championed mental health reform and governance issues for many years and his work with the MHCA and other organisations makes him an ideal person to lead the new Mental Health Commission,” said Frank Quinlan, the CEO of the Mental Health Council of Australia.

“Professor Fels will bring his years of experience on administration, leadership, and advocacy to this position and his appointment is warmly welcomed by the mental health sector.

“The establishment of a Mental Health Commission is a key part of the Government’s mental health reform agenda, which includes delivering a Ten Year Roadmap to reform.  The MHCA looks forward to working with Professor Fels in achieving this milestones in mental health, ’ Mr Quinlan said.

Borderline – 9-Point Action Plan

A national Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) Conference yesterday, 5 Oct 2011, called for improved BPD training for mental health workers, and a major community awareness program to help address the stigma associated with BPD.

The calls were part of a BPD 9-Point Action Plan drawn up by conference delegates at Victoria’s Darebin Arts Centre on National BPD Awareness Day.

BPD is a serious mental illness which affects between 2-5 percent of the population and mainly develops in the mid to late teens or early adulthood. The symptoms include frequent distressing emotional states, impulsive and self-harming behaviour and difficulty in relationships. The major causes include a wide variety of traumas in childhood and the pain of abandonment caused.

It affects men as well as women and has a similar incidence to schizophrenia.

Network spokesperson, Ms De Backman-Hoyle, said that the conference was the first of its kind in Australia and had been over-subscribed by people with BPD, carers, mental health workers and researchers.

“People with BPD have been the Cinderellas of the mental health system and this has to change at all levels of the system and the community.”

Ms Backman-Hoyle said that people with BPD are also often not told they have the condition due to the stigma of the diagnosis, and then denied the treatment they need.

“They can spend years in a mental health limbo. But very effective treatments do exist and people with BPD can go on to lead very productive fulfilling lives,” Ms Backman-Hoyle said.

The conference 9-Point Action Plan also included:

• A regular national conference
• A national lobby group with consumers at the centre
• A possible change of name from BPD (possibilities included Emotional Dysregulation Disorder and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
• Access to formal national services like the Victorian-based Spectrum
• A humanistic approach to treatment as opposed to the current mental health system which is dehumanising and re-traumatising
• The retention of the 18 mental health sessions available under the Federal Government’s Better Access Program (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, for example, which is an evidence-based treatment for BPD, is recommended for 18 months to two years but preferably several years)
• The focus of treatment on managing the emotions and feelings that people with BPD have difficulty regulating and not on the behaviours which result.

An update has just been released, 30 Sept 2011, on the progress on the National Health Reform.  There is a substantial portion devoted to Mental Health initiatives, around 12 pages. Other sections are well worth reading as some, particularly Primary Care, include initiatives that will impact  or deliver Mental Health Services.
Download::The National Health Reform Progress and Delivery update (pdf file of 70 pages)

Herald Sun
BEYONDBLUE, the national anti-depression organisation headed by former premier Jeff Kennett, has been making headlines recently for all the wrong reasons. The negative publicity started with an opinion piece written by Mr Kennett in which he made the observation that unless children were raised by heterosexual married parents, their mental health would somehow be worse off.
The fire has been fuelled with the sudden and unexplained resignation of Beyondblue CEO Dawn O'Neil. Even though her resignation was announced last week, it transpires Ms O'Neil resigned the same day she gave an interview on Melbourne's gay and lesbian radio station JOY 94.9 several weeks ago.Read More in The SUN

THE AGE
BEYONDBLUE faces a growing crisis, with its major sponsor under pressure to dump the mental health organisation over the gay parenting controversy engulfing its chairman, Jeff Kennett, and a former employee alleging poor morale and poor financial management.
Homosexual rights activists are urging a boycott of beyondblue's key sponsor, Movember, with gay and lesbian radio station Joy FM launching a rival ''Homovember'' fund-raising campaign.
Movember last year contributed $10 million to beyondblue - a third of the national mental health organisation's budget. Read more in THE AGE:

The use of health services by those with mental disorders
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
The 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing covers people aged 16 to 85 years. During the 12 months before the 2007 survey, among all people aged 16–64 years with mental disorders, people with severe or profound disability were more likely than those without disability to:

• access health services (including hospital admissions) for mental health (59% versus 24%)
• consult health professionals (including GPs) for mental health (56% versus 24%)
• consult health professionals (including GPs) 5 or more times for mental health (31% versus 12%)
• consult mental health professionals (41% versus 15%)
• consult GPs for mental health (32% versus 15%).

Of all people aged 16–64 years who had comorbidity of mental disorders and any physical conditions, people with severe or profound disability were more likely than those without disability to:

• access health services (including hospital admissions) for mental health (59% versus 21%)
• consult health professionals (including GPs) for mental health (56% versus 21%)
• consult mental health professionals for mental health (42% versus 12%)

Download: Full Report - The use of health services among Australians with disability

BASEL DECLARATION ON COMMUNITY CARE by EUFAMI (European Federation of Associations of Families of People with a Mental Illness)
Community care is the approach to mental illness that supports and treats people with
psychiatric disabilities in a domestic setting, rather than in a psychiatric hospital segregated
from society.

Community care means treating and enabling people to live in the community in a way that
maintains their connection with their families, friends, work and community, acknowledging
and supporting each person’s goals and strengths to further their recovery in their own
community.

Community care is a human right.
The empowerment and self-determination of people with psychiatric disabilities, as persons
as well as citizens, must be guaranteed to achieve all this.

In order to turn community care from a curse into a blessing for the family and for society as
a whole, the following results must be achieved throughout Europe:

• Formal and informal SUPPORT for service users and carers
• Equitable access to SERVICES IN THE COMMUNITY of the person’s own locality in the least restrictive environment
• Reduction of STIGMA affecting mental illness, which represents a heavy burden for
• families, reduces access to services and hinders integration into society, work, housing and opportunities to form relationships
• Right to CHOOSE for families whether or not to accept a caring role and a tangible recognition of it
• Promotion of SOCIAL INCLUSION
• Foster RECOVERY from the experience of mental illness for both service users and carers

Representatives from the 44 EUFAMI family associations and delegates from across all parts
of Europe confirm their support for this declaration following their participation at the
EUFAMI Congress held in Basel, Switzerland on 24th and 25th September 2011 and, in line
with the World Health Organization’s position on community care, call for action on the
following conditions to be established:

• Provision of community care services for all who need them
• Provision of treatments and rehabilitation services not only to reduce symptoms but also to increase functioning and independence of users
• Coordinated policies, plans and programmes
• Financial and budgetary provision to support services in the community
• Greater awareness in society as the basis for fighting prejudice and reducing stigma

Community care is everyone’s responsibility. Let us all commit ourselves to meeting the
challenge
Basel, Switzerland. 25th September 2011