Today the National Mental Health Commission released the World?s First National Report Card into Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. Professor Allan Fels, Chair of the National Mental Health Commission, announced that Australia can improve the lives of millions of Australians if the Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers ?through COAG ? reaffirm their commitment to mental health and have the courage to respond tenaciously to the first national report card into mental health and suicide prevention.
The first annual report highlighted:
- 900,000 Australians with a mental illness are missing out on the services they need
- mental illness is costing the economy $20 billion a year
- more than two thousand deaths from suicide in Australia each year and over 65,000 suicide attempts
- one in eight people discharged from a mental health service are left homeless
- half the Australian population will experience a mental illness at some time in their life and around 3.2 million adults a year have a mental health problem
- mental illness is costing the economy $20 billion a year
- a person with a mental illness will live 10 -32 years less than someone from the general population
The media is choosing to highlight that ??one third of those who get help via a hospital are there against their will and many are subject to physical restraint such as a locked door, straps or belts or sedation.? Professor Fels report is also seeking to ??minimise the use of seclusion and restraint?
As a mental health professional with 15 plus years of experience in senior clinical roles I can assure Professor Fels, the commission, the media, families and consumers of the mental health system that many numerous quality improvement activities, policies and procedures are already in place to protect individuals against improper use of seclusion and restraint. Personally I would be elated if I didn?t have to restrain or seclude another person ever again! A clinician?s stance is always the least restrictive environment. Always without exception!
What do we suggest a mental health professional does if someone is at risk of and threatening to assault staff or seriously injuring themselves or at risk of killing themselves? Measures like seclusion, chemical restraint and physical restraint are sparingly used at the moment and any additional restrictions will make the workplace even more dangerous than it already is. My colleagues in the emergency department are constantly professing ?there is no way I would do your job!? and asking ?How can you do this job?? and my response is simple, ?I enjoy doing what I do?.
Although I enjoy my job, I do not enjoy the violence! I can not count how many times I dodged a left hook or have had to restrain someone from wanting to leave the emergency department when at serious risk of personal misadventure. This is a?concerning part of?a mental health professionals working day. In the last week I have witnessed colleagues being kicked in the head, spat on, threatened with serious assault and I was threatened with death.
This is the environment that mental health professionals ply their trade and something needs to be done!
MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND CONSUMERS NEED MORE SUPPORT AND MORE RESOURCES!
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NOTE FROM EDITOR: This post has been posted?anonymously?as the author has?requested not to be identified and?is currently an employee of the public mental health system. Mental Health Hub has been assured that the intent of the author is considering the view of all parties when discussing the treatment of individuals with mental illness.
Mental Health Hub is an online resource for Mental Health Professionals.?
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