Unwell

My artefact is a song called Unwell, written by Rob Thomas who is the lead singer of American band Matchbox Twenty. Unwell was a record on Matchbox Twenty’s album More Than You Think You Are, and was released as a single on April 3, 2003. Below is a link to a video of the song with the official video, listening to the song and watching what goes on in the video will give you a good understanding about what this song is about. Although some people may argue the song is related to the use of drugs, I believe it underlines issues in mental health, particularly in today’s society.
 * Present your artefact (100) **

media type="youtube" key="WziA88-n02k" width="425" height="350"
 * Name the public health issue central to your analysis (100) **

The public health issue central to my analysis is the mental health situation in Australia. I look at statistics in which what sex, and at what age, people begin to suffer from a mental disorder. Also instances in which the individual has seen professional help, as well as the attitude the individual has towards mental health professionals. I will also analyse the effects of stigma in Australian society and culture has on the individual.


 * Literature review (750 – 1000) **

Mental health in Australia is an important issue, which seemingly just isn’t getting better. A study conducted on Australian persons aged 16-85, by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2007, found that of 16 015 300 participants, 7 286 600 (45%) had experienced any mental disorder in their lifetime ( ABS, 2007). On average, 45% of the population experienced a mental disorder themselves during their lifetime ( ABS, 2007). If mental disorders affect just under half the population itself, it’s safe to say mental disorders affect the lives of the remainder of the population as well in one way or another during their lifetime. Not only that, but of that 7 286 600, 3 197 800 (20% of total participants) had displayed symptoms of a mental disorder sometime in the duration of 12 months prior to the study been undertaken ( ABS, 2007). This shows that in the previous 12 months, around 20% of the population have been affected directly, which one could say a large chunk of the Australian population have endured the effects of mental disorders directly, or indirectly, in the 12 months prior to the survey being completed. These results in comparison to the results to a similar study conducted in 2001 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the mental health situation in Australia isn’t getting better, in fact, the situation is getting worse. In 2001, 1 812 600 (9.6% of total participants) people reportedly had experience a mental disorder that had lasted or was expected to last 6 months or more ( ABS 2001). This can be compared to the result that approximately 20% of the population had experienced a mental disorder in the 12 months prior to the study in 2007. An increase of just over 10% in 6 years shows this health issue is a national priority. As described in The National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing in 2007, by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the mental disorders experienced by the Australian population can be categorised into three different types of mental disorders; anxiety disorders, affective disorders, and substance use disorders ( ABS, 2007). Anxiety disorders include; panic disorder; agoraphobia; social phobia; generalised anxiety disorder; obsessive-compulsive disorder; and post-traumatic stress disorder ( ABS, 2007). Affective disorders include; depressive episode, which also includes severe, moderate and milds episodes; dysthymia; and bipolar affective disorder ( ABS, 2007). Finally, substance use disorders include; alcohol harmful use; alcohol dependence; and drug use disorders, which include harmful use and dependency ( ABS, 2007). When comparing the statistics from the two studies, we can see that this too concludes that mental disorders are increasingly becoming wide spread around Australia. The study in 2001 concluded that approximately 4.5% of the population had experienced a anxiety disorder, again 4.5% experienced an affective disorder, whilst around 0.7% experienced a substance use disorder ( ABS 2001). In comparison to the results from the 2007 study that 14.4% had experienced an anxiety disorder, and 6.2% had experienced an affective disorder, while 5.1% had experienced a substance use disorder. In both studies, some participants may have experienced more than one type of mental disorder ( ABS, 2007). Researchers have found that there are a few major differences that need to be made in order to improve the mental health situation in Australia. Three main issues are; the stigma mental health patients experience; the ‘she’ll be right’ mentality towards mental health and health in general; as well as the mental health literacy of the Australian population. A study completed by Jorm et al. had an aim to “assess the public's recognition of mental disorders and their beliefs about the effectiveness of various treatments”, in other words, to assess the mental health literacy of the general population (Jorm et al. 1997). One problem Australian have is accepting they may have a mental disorder, a study conducted by Parslow et al. found those who had been diagnosed a affective, anxiety or substance use disorder do not admit to a problem. Stigma is a major problem being put on mental health patients, Hocking has found that stigma increases likelihood the individual would develop suicidal thought that may form into actions, the main contributors to stigma are the health care professions, in particular psychologists (Hocking, 2003). Improving the populations mental health literacy will help improve all three of these issues. With a greater understanding of mental health, health care professionals and the general public will decrease the amount of stigma being experienced by the patient (Hocking, 2003). Reducing the amount of stigma experienced will decrease the amount of stress experienced by the patient (Hocking, 2003). An improved knowledge on mental health will also improve the population’s knowledge on detecting mental disorder symptoms (Parslow et al. 2000). A wide spread education on the issue to the population of Australia would improve mental health literacy and thus improve the situation on each of the issues. Some limitations of this methodology are that idea’s and theories develop over time, so keeping the general public up to date with the latest research would become very difficult. But apart from that, there is no reason why this couldn’t work, as with many things, education is the key.


 * Cultural and social analysis (500) **

The continued improvement of mental health care services has been because of a focus on human rights, considering patients as normal people, which in then results in a quicker and more complete recovery. A dominant cultural norm of the Australian population is the “she’ll be right” mentality towards health care, which influences the outcome of this issue immensely. Those most affected by this health issue are not only those who have the mental disorder, but those who care for that person, including mental health professionals, and those close to the patient, such as family and friends, all play a big part in the recovery of the patient. As previously mentioned, education on this issue is the key to help improve the current situation in Australia, raising awareness and provoking discussion on the issue because not only will it allow the general public to identify a mental disorder faster in someone else, or in themselves, but know the best way to respond to it. Because as previously mentioned, with just under half the population experiencing a mental disorder at some stage in their lifetime, everybody has a good chance of being affected by it either directly or indirectly. A regulation in the competency of mental health professionals should keep the standard in which patients are being treated should of high standard. Perhaps with an increased education of mental disorders, mental health professionals will be a service used more. So the mental health professionals will hold a greater responsibility on the development, experience, and education of the general public.


 * Analysis of the artefact and your own learning reflections (250) **

Personally, I believe the song Unwell by Matchbox Twenty is a great artefact to represent the mental health situation currently in Australia. The fact that Rob Thomas feels lost and is feeling unwell is similar to the disorders covered earlier, for example when he sings about staring at the ceiling, he is describing depression. He is also feeling a stigma, saying “I’m not crazy, I’m’ just a little unwell”, arguing the label that’s been stuck on him by those around him, for example when he’s on the train “dodging glances”. It’s a song about hope, and gradual improvement, as the song aims to rid the listener of misconceptions about mental disorders. 1) ABS (2007) //National survey of mental health and wellbeing: Summary of Results//. Retrieved from http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/6AE6DA447F985FC2CA2574EA00122BD6/$File/43260_2007.pdf 2) ABS (2001). //National Health Survey: Mental Health//. Retrieved from http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/E7621A9758D3A4B5CA256DF1007C0637/$File/48110_2001.pdf 3) Jorm, A., Korten, A., Jacomb, P., Christensen, H., Rodgers, B., Pollitt, P. (1997). “Mental health literacy:” a survey of the public’s ability to recognise mental disorders and their beliefs about the effectiveness of treatment. //The Medical Journal of Australia,// 166: 182-186. Retrieved from http://mja.com.au/public/issues/feb17/jorm/jorm.html 4) Parslow, R. A. and Jorm, A. F. (2000), Who uses mental health services in Australia? An analysis of data from the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34: 997–1008. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1614.2000.00839.x 5) Hocking, B. (2003). Reducing mental illness stigma and discrimination – everybody’s business Medical Journal of Australia 178: S47–S48. Retrieved from http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/178_09_050503/hoc10581_fm.pdf
 * Reference list **