Queensland Alliance of Mental Illness and Psychiatric Disability Group... http://www.qldalliance.org.au/news/detail.chtml?

filename_num=316856

Queensland Alliance of Mental Illness and

Psychiatric Disability Groups Inc
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's newly announced mental health funding would be more effective and
cost-saving if there was investment in anti-stigma initiatives. Discrimination against people with mental
illness not only generates social exclusion, it creates a drain on the economy. Governments in Britain, the
US, Canada and New Zealand have all invested in anti-stigma mental health campaigns to reduce the costs
to society of mental illness.

A reduction in discriminatory attitudes towards mental illness means people are more likely to talk about
their own stresses and mental health needs, and to seek treatment and support. When people seek support
and treatment early – rather than waiting until things reach a crisis point – there is a significant economic
benefit. Seeking help early speeds people's recovery and reduces their call on expensive hospital services.
This also reduces payment of disability or unemployment pensions, costs to family and friends, and
productivity loss through days off work and/or loss of trained employees.

Research from the London School of Economics, based on the Scottish "See Me campaign that challenged
discrimination against people with mental illness, has identified that for every 0.55 pence spent on the
campaign there was an economy-wide saving of £4 pound 26 pence. A national survey showed 32 per
cent of Scots believed people with mental illness were dangerous. After only four years of the See Me
campaign this reduced to 17 per cent of the population. Recently released research in New Zealand
identifies similar returns on investment.

It is disappointing that the newly announced Council of Australian Governments initiatives are focused
only on treatment services, when an anti-discrimination initiative demonstrably reduces the demand for
acute hospital beds and provides an economic return.

Half of all Australians will experience a mental health disorder at some point in our lives. Why is it that an
experience so common is so rarely spoken about?

Significant progress has been made in raising awareness of depression in Australia – thanks to
organisations such as beyondblue. It is time for a campaign that talks about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder
and other mental health issues. The Mental Health Council of Australia is seeking $45 million over three
years to undertake such a campaign in Australia. This represents less than 1 per cent of the new funding
announced from the COAG meeting on health and hospital reform. Surely we can afford such a small
investment that will yield such positive results?

Jeff Cheverton is a board member of the Mental Health Council of Australia, the main national
organisation for the community mental health sector, and chief executive of the Queensland Alliance for
Mental Health. Australia's biggest mental health conference Unfinished Business: Pathways to Social
Inclusion is on in Melbourne today.

Contact Name: Louise Stokes

Contact Phone: 07 3832 2600
Contact Email: lstokes@qldalliance.org.au
Website: See full article and comments here
Readability — An Arc90 Laboratory Experiment — http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readabilityFollow us on Twitter »
Follow us on Twitter »

1 of 1 2/05/2010 11:36 AM