On the news the other night I saw the 2010 Australian of the Year, Professor Patrick McGorry talk of his wish to set a target of a zero for youth suicide. The Professor is a mental health advocate, an internationally renowned expert in adolescent mental health. In an interview with ABC’s Sunday Profile Professor McGorry revealed
“We know of the 35 per cent of people with mental disorders, only 35 per cent of them actually get treatment, compared to 80 or 90 per cent of people with physical health problems. When we look at young people, that drops down to 25 per cent in young men, 15 per cent. So rather than over-diagnosing and over-treating, we are grossly under-treating and under-recognising ” .
The recognition of Patrick McGorry as Australian of the Year is in line with the increasing awareness of the need for better mental health care in our community. I personally have had friends and family touched by mental illness in their lives; depression after the death of a husband, post natal depression after the birth of a baby, a friend who lost her brother to suicide when he was only 17. These illnesses are as real and as debilitating as any form of physical ailment, yet the unmet need in the mental health area is double that of the physical health area
How you can help now? When you have time watch the following videos. The first is Patrick McGorry speaking about the increasing mental health illness amongst youth in a complex Australian society . The second is an advertisement from New Zealand that aims to help destigmatize mental illness in society and the third suicide survivor Terry Wise ( a national mental health award winner and author) who speaks of the darkness after after losing her husband. Take the time to learn from these and do your part to help further understand and destigmatize mental health illness in your community.
( Also, Getup.org has just made a video with Patrick McGorry following the Health Care debate between Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbot that went for an hour and did not mention mental health once. Watch it by clicking here. Sam March 28, 2010)
Tags: depression, mental illness, Patrick McGorry, suicide prevention
