Australians+and+Mental+Health

Created by: Andres Scheffer Student Number: N8291454 Tutor: Sarah Jordan

**Mental Health in Australia ** **Cultural Artefact - Straitjacket ** According to Wikipedia the definition of this piece of clothing material is as a garment shaped like a jacket with overlong sleeves which is typically used to restrain a person who may otherwise cause harm to themselves or others. Once the arms are inserted into the straitjacket's sleeves, they are then crossed across the chest. The ends of the sleeves are then tied to the back of the wearer, ensuring that the arms are kept close to the chest with as little movement as possible. As this piece of clothing will undertake a good amount of strength it will require to be made of strong materials such as canvas or duck cloth. However, leather and PVC are materials used when making “recreational” straight jackets.  **Public Health Issue ** Mental illness is the state of the mind that emotionally and socially affects the capacity of a person or a group of people to interact with one another and with their environment. The impact of mental illness within Australians has become increasingly apparent with an estimated 20% of the Australian population aged between 16 and 85 being affected of a mental disorder in the last 12 months prior to a survey ran by the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing in 2007. Mental health problems can range from short term problems as in the case of anxiety and stress, all the way to severe issues such as psychosis. Being an issue that is greatly prevalent in our country, a good education in regards to this matter is needed. A research shows that stigma and myths that surround mental illness are the real issues that needs attention to improving the lives of sufferers (SANE, 2006; Department of Health and Ageing, 2007). **Literature Review ** A great number of factors such as social, psychological, biological and environmental can affect on a person’s mental health. Some individuals can develop symptoms and behaviours that are distressing to themselves or others, and interfere with their social functioning and capability to negotiate daily life. These symptoms and behaviours will require in many cases further treatment, rehabilitation and even hospitalisation. In a study done by the National Survey of Mental Health, it was found that the number of visits to GPs in Australia due to mental health problems increased by an average of 3% per annum, having 10.7 million patients visited their doctors for this reason only between 2006 and 2007, or 1 in 10 of all GP encounters. Having such a number of individuals suffering every year from different types of mental illnesses, the Government of Australia is indeed working towards improving these figures. In four years to 2005/06, the total expenditure on mental health done by the States and Territories increased by an average of 5.2% per annum, to AU$2.7 billion. However, interestingly enough, the number of Medicare funded psychiatrist services declined from 2.1 million to 2 million. Such a decrease even like this, will affect individuals from distinct geographic locations of low social economical backgrounds. According to The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, this geographic differences were also evident in the Medicare funded mental health services including, professions such as psychologists, social workers and occupational therapists. There were in total 33 services per 1000 people in major cities, while there were only 22 services per 1000 people in remote areas. This figure dropped to 5 services per 1000 in very remote areas, such as the Northern parts of Australia. Even when our Government has efficiently increased resources towards our mental health services, rates are still too high. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 1999/2000 an 18% prevalence compared with 20% in 2007/2008 was found. In 2007, and according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, around 800 thousand people suffering from a mental illness expressed their need for counselling, education and social intervention and about two thirds of these individuals reported not using any of the services available, indicating a lack of accessibility or perhaps a lack of awareness. The decrease on the number of Medicare funded psychiatric services might also be part of this problem. A report by the Department of Health and Ageing sustained that one of the biggest obstacles for people recovering from mental illness is confronting the negative attitudes of other people. Myths such as ‘People who are mentally ill are violent’, ‘Mental illness is a life sentence’, ‘Mental illnesses are all the same’ or ‘Some cultural groups are more likely to experience mental illness’ have not rhyme or reason. On the contrary, people suffering mental illnesses are more likely to be victims of violence including self harm, most people suffering mental illnesses will fully recover specially if they have received early attention, there are many types of mental illnesses and many types of symptoms so not all are the same and studies has shown that people from any background cab be affected by these illnesses. It is obvious that stereotypes and stigmas have not been yet completely broken down in regards to mental illness; however, more people are willing to talk about this issue and seek for help. As education is given to the broad population in Australia via the hard work of different institutions and the media, this wrong action of enclosing everyone with mental health in the same bag will significantly decrease. An important to be considered and really sad collateral problem is the high rates on suicide within these patients. According to the survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, suicide occurs at a rate of about 1 per 10 000 people per year. In 2007, people suffering from different mental problems were much more likely to have had serious thoughts about committing suicide than other people, 8.3% compared with less than 0.8%. The rate was also higher in patients suffering from mood disorders (17%). About three quarters of people who had had serious thoughts about committing suicide had a mental disorder (72%). It is also important to mention that a great number of these cases come from young people and many reasons can be behind this fact. In 2004/05 there were 8013 hospitalisations among young people for mental and behavioural disorders due to drug and alcohol use and about 12% of these cases reported having serious thoughts on committing suicide, while 4.2% had actually made a suicide attempt being females more likely than males to follow this road. **Cultural and Social Analysis ** Having talked about the issue of suicide, it is important not to just relate on the mental health part of the problem but to consider the sociological implications of the subject. An interesting point of view comes from Durkheim’s theory of suicide. Durkheim’s theory relates suicide directly to an individual’s level of social integration (Durkheim & Simpson, 1951). Durkheim’s theory declares that suicide levels increase in times of societal change; radical changes in one’s life can often result in feelings of ‘meaninglessness’, ‘normalessness’ and ‘rootlessness’ are described as anomic suicide; isolation from societal groups is described as egoistic suicide; feelings of powerlessness, hopelessness, or when one feels there life has no meaning and there is no way to improvement is described as fatalistic suicide (Willis et al., 2002; Berk, 2006). As mentioned before, younger Australians have a higher suicide rate compared to other groups (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010); moreover, this age bracket is also more likely to be experiencing social changes and also more likely to use drugs and other stimulants. The cultural concept of individualism versus collectivism can also be applied to the topic of mental health and suicide in Australia. Individualism refers to societies which emphasise on an “I” consciousness, their primary concern is on the individual (Fujimoto & Härtel, 2004; Yoo et al., 2009). In contrast, collectivism refers to societies where a “WE” consciousness is emphasised and value cohesion within the group (Fujimoto & Härtel, 2004; Yoo et al., 2009). Individualists predominately refer to western societies (e.g. Australia) and personal freedom, uniqueness and autonomy are valued (Fujimoto & Härtel, 2004; Yoo et al., 2009). On the other hand, collectivists are predominately eastern societies (e.g. East Asia and South America) and value interdependence (Fujimoto & Härtel, 2004). Another hypothesis states that the rising rates of depression and suicide may be related to individualistic cultural values (Scott, Ciarrochi & Deane, 2004). The stigma and misconceptions that societies have applied upon people suffering from mental illnesses have had extremely negative consequences on the delivery or/and the access to appropriate health care to those who suffer from such disorders (Sartorius 2007). These social misconceptions have discriminating effects on the provision of health care as people with mental illnesses are portrayed as “dangerous” and “scary” and when presenting with a physical illness it is often overlooked due to the fear a health professional may hold for their mental health (Sartorius 2007). This feeling of shame and being pointed as different or even weird because of suffering from a mental illness is definitely a social influence that greatly affects this particular public health issue. **Artefact Reflection ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The artefact that first caught my attention was the <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">straitjacket. Having a South American background myself, this clothing is greatly associated with mental health patients and sadly I have to admit these people are many times called ‘Locos’ or crazy. So when I see a straitjacket instead of thinking on magicians or even sexual ‘games’ my mind goes directly to think in mental health issues. I also have to admit that before becoming an Australian, while leaving in South America I used to think of mental health patients as probably violent or scary people, perhaps for the fact that many of them live in the streets, naked asking for money, eating from the rubbish bins and acting violent sometimes specially if they don’t get what they want. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">However, my perception has totally changed since studying the topic and finding that these people are like you and me and in necessity of a friendly hand and if attended properly the chances of improving are good. Preparing me to become a paramedic has also opened my mind in regards to patient care and in how important is to love your patient and to show that love by our actions without judging. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">References **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011). //Australian Social Trends.// Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[]
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1997). //Mental Health and Wellbeing: Profile of Adults, Australia.// Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[]
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2005). //Suicides, Australia.// Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[]
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2006). //2004-05 National Health Survey: Summary of Results//. Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[]
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2007). //National Survey of Health and Wellbeing: Summary of Results.// Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">@http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4326.0Main%20Features22007?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4326.0&issue=2007&num=&view
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Durkheim, E., & Simpson, J. (1951). Suicide: A study in sociology [EBL version]. Retrieved from []
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Fujimoto, Y., Härtel, C. E. J. (2004). Culturally specific prejudices: interpersonal prejudices of individualists and intergroup prejudices of collectivists. //Cross cultural management, 11//(3), 54-69. doi: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|10.1108/13527600410797846]
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">SANE Australia. (2011). Retrieved November 2, 2011 from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[]
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Sartorius, N. (2007). Stigma and mental health. //The lancet (British edition) 370//(9590). Pg: 810-811. doi: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61245-8
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Willis, L. A., Coombs, D. W., Cockerman, W. C. & Frison, S. L.(2002). Ready to die: a postmodern interpretation of the increase of African-American adolescent male suicide. Social science & medicine (0277-9536)//, 55//(6), 907-920. doi: 10.1016/S0277-9536(01)00235-0
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Yoo, S. H., Safdar, S., Friendlmeier, W., Matsumoto, D., Kwantes, C. T., Kakai, H., & Shigemasu, E. (2009). Variations of emotional display rules within and across cultures: A comparison between Canada, USA, and Japan. Canadian journal of behavioural science(0008-400X)//, 41//(1), 1-10. Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[]