Mental Health failure

John Howard has ignored the problem of mental health throughout his administration. A whole decade of neglect. Now he is trying to recoup some dignity with a quick buyout or two.
However, his buyouts fall far short consistently.

Mr Howard said that with three-quarters of mental health problems beginning before the age of 25 early intervention was vital.

The funding includes $30 million to allow GPs to spend more time with mental health needs, a further $30 million to the beyondblue foundation and $50 million to address substance abuse problems and other mental health issues in young people.

"There used to be a time in our society when we didn't want to talk about mental health issues," Mr Howard told a gathering of medical specialists at the Unley Council offices in Adelaide.

"We saw it as a mark of failure.

"Thankfully it's one of the ways in which society has changed profoundly for the better."

"We", Mr Howard. Oh face it. You still see it as a mark of failure.
Australia's attitude towards the mentally ill is simple: Go back to work. Go back to work til you die.
The problem is not with those under 25. The largest percentage of sufferers of this neglect are over 35, as reported by the Australian Psychological Society.

The federal government's $1.8 billion mental health package is disappointing and inadequate, Labor's health spokeswoman Julia Gillard says.

The government's initiative fell well short of what a recent Senate report recommended was needed as a minimum investment, she said.

"I think every Australian with a mental health illness and every Australian who loves that person will be very disappointed with (what was announced) today,'' she told ABC Radio.

"This is half of what the recent Senate committee into mental illness on a bipartisan basis said was a minimum investment.''

Mr Howard's ordinary character may be showing here. 'Ordinary' people fear and despise the mentally ill out of ignorance. Unfortunately, his attitude is too common. It pervades the courts, police, and social services of Australia.

Understanding the thinking

Let's see if we can understand the government's thinking with some quick numbers.
Mr Howard says he has funded 38,000 Australians for one year (or 12 visits) to the psychiatrist -- if there is one available.
That's for one year, Mr Howard. -- What happens next year?

At any given time in Australia, a conservative estimate is one person in 5 is mentally ill. That's 4 million people.
We know from the APS that there are 14,700 psychologists and psychiatrists in Australia.
Even if we assume that only half that 4 million people may need a psychiatrist, which is a ludicrous estimate, but ...
If every one of the 14,700 are psychiatrists, then they will each have 272 patients to see each year. Mr Howard's program will run out of money after the 140th patient, leaving 132 unfunded.
But then, less than one-quarter of those 14,700 are psychiatrists. So Mr Howard's program will leave ... 396 of those patients unfunded.

We have to factor in something else here. Because Australia has largely accepted Mr Howard's attitude that mental illness is just weakness, about 80% of those 14,700 psychologists and psychiatrists are note even available. They are not in private or clinical practice.
80% of the psychologists and psychiatrists are currently employed by the courts or the academic institutions.
The academics are not in clinical practice open to the public usually. They may take a few special clients.
Those employed by the courts are functioning as "forensic psychologists", and produce reports to support the politicized purposes of the courts. Why? Because that's where the money is.

So that leaves ...? 2940 psychologists and psychiatrists available to take advantage of Mr Howard's new funding.
How many of these are psychiatrists?
And, even if all of them were psychiatrists, how could they possibly handle the 560 patients each? (multiplying 4 times the original estimate of 140 who would be funded)
If they could handle 520 patients each, would the service be anything worth paying for, even by the government??

Now, we could deduct the 37,000 mental patients that are being treated in the jails and prisons, just to help Mr Howard out a little.
Striking, isn't it? Mr Howard funds 38,000 people for psychiatric services; and there are 37,000 in the jails. Does that mean he thinks everyone who's mentally ill should be in prison?

Is that the group Mr Howard intends to fund?

That has been pretty much the policy up til now at the federal and state level.

MP Julia Guilliard has stated that if physical health were managed like mental health, there would be rioting in the streets.