Interact’s General Manager, Sean Betland shares his thoughts and recommendations.
The recently released ‘National Report Card 2023‘ from the National Mental Health Commission shows a steep decline in mental health, especially among young Australians — with access to mental health professionals, and the associated costs weighing heavily.
While there are some promising signs of progress, regarding safety and consumer rights, the overall picture is concerning.
The national report covers two years (2020 – 2022) and pulls data from reputable sources such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The report categorises the data into three main areas:
- Mental health
- Social determinants
- System inputs and activities
Worryingly, mental health concerns are rising
The study shows a clear deterioration in mental health for Australians, especially for those aged 16 – 24 years.
For 16 – 85-year-olds, the prevalence of mental health conditions increased to 21.5%, up from 19.5% in 2007.
For 16 – 24-year-old Australians, this rose from 25.8% (2007) to 38.8%.
And for young females, the prevalence of mental health concerns has dramatically increased to 45.5%, up from 28.5% in 2007.
Numerous social factors impacting mental health
The social factors having an impact on mental health are varied, hard to predict, and constantly changing.
Since 2007, ‘perceived loneliness’ for those with mental health conditions has increased, as have experiences of financial hardship, even with historically low unemployment levels.
According to data from multiple sources cited in the report, the major significant challenges during this two-year period, were:
- The effects of COVID-19
- Frequent natural disasters
- Global geo-political instability
- The hyper-inflationary environment
Some signs of progress
It’s not all doom and gloom.
In the two-year period, the rate of seclusion for people in public mental health hospital care, was less than half the rate in 2009 –10.
Evidence also suggests better coordination of hospital and community care services, such as the rate of community follow-up after people have been discharged (from an acute inpatient psychiatric unit) increasing from 60.6% in 2012 – 13 to 75.2% in 2021– 22.
Access falling; improvement not rising
Sadly, another declining area is access to mental health professionals, due in part, to the high costs.
Plus, those who can access support aren’t reporting significant clinical improvements.
We’re not seeing the whole picture
Importantly, it’s worth pointing out that this report card was ‘broken down’ by age and gender only.
When in truth, we know there are many other differences in the experience of mental health concerns in our wider community.
The report hasn’t considered at a more specific level:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
- People living in regional, rural and remote areas
- People from culturally and linguistically diverse communities
- LGBTIQA+ people
- People with disabilities
We need to better understand how race, gender, sexuality, disability status, neurodiversity, culture and class intersect and impact mental health.
Only then can we fully understand their unique challenges and be more strategic in the initiatives we implement to support them.
What are the lessons for health professionals?
In summary, we need to:
- Appreciate the complexity of contributing factors when it comes to a person’s overall mental health status — and try to understand what people perceive as important.
- Know the value of understanding and taking into account, people’s physical, psychological, and social influences.
- Be present for our clients – many of them are managing some form of challenge in their daily life, which may impact on their available resources and ability to cope.
- Listening with the intention of understanding their unique challenges, to establish meaningful strategies that result in positive outcomes.
