Australia not so “lucky” on mental health – new report
Local physician specialises in pain management
In many ways Australia may be “the lucky country” but the picture is bleaker when the nation’s mental health is taken into account.
Specialist Pain Medicine Physician Dr Timothy Grice has commenced an anaesthesia and pain medicine practice on the Gold Coast and Northern NSW.
This message formed the basis of the 27 November launch of A Contributing Life: The 2013 National Report Card on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention by the Chair of the National Mental Health Commission, Professor Allan Fels. The Report Card highlighted the need to increase investment in early intervention across a range of areas and in people’s lives, and recorded concern about the criminalising of people who live with a mental health difficulty. Cited statistics show that only 25 per cent of young people and 15 per cent of boys and young men with mental health problems receive treatment of any kind. Meanwhile, 44 Australians, on averProfessor Alan Fels age take their own lives each week and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are twice as likely to die by suicide than non-Indigenous people. Prof Fels called for more “political courage in reforming mental health and providing better outcomes for the 45 per cent of Australians who will experience a mental health problem in their lifetime.” He felt it “scandalous that only seven per cent of the 340,000 people who have co-existing mental illness and substance use disorders each year are estimated to receive treatment for both problems.”
Tim became a fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists after completing a Fellowship year at the Gold Coast Hospital in 2008. He went on to undertake a Pain Medicine Fellowship at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. Tim has strong ties with Rehabilitation Physicians and Psychiatrists, and works as part of a multidisciplinary pain team. He is very interested in a close liaison with Specialists and Primary Care providers to ensure the needs of people with complex pain issues are met effectively. Tim will be consulting at Pacific Private on the Gold Coast and Tweed Day Surgery in Northern NSW. Special Interests include back and neck pain, headaches, shoulder pain, spinal cord stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation
Dr Tim Grice MB CHB, FANZCA, FFPMANZCA, Dip Musculoskeletal Medicine, Dip Child Health
Prof Fels said the lives of these Australians are being cut short by an average of 20-30 years; they are more likely to take their own lives; and they are more likely to be in prison or homeless. In 2012, some 38 per cent of all people entering Australian prisons reported being told they have a mental illness, with 87 per cent of young people in the juvenile justice system in NSW being found to have at least one psychological disorder. “Compared to other prison entrants, people with poormental health have more extensive and early imprisonment histories, poorer school attainment, higher unemployment rates and higher cont p17 Journal of the Northern Rivers General Practice Network
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Dec 2013 - Jan 2014 page 14