Category Archives: Media

Excerpt from Mental Health Australia Weekly Update

The Promise Documentary
Directed by Jye Currie, a new documentary, titled The Promise, is being featured at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival on 28 July at Cinema Nova, on Lygon Street in Melbourne.

At its core, The Promise delves into the depths of hope and human resilience, offering an intimate exploration of the challenges faced by those affected by suicide. Through the courageous journey of Craig Hamilton and the poignant stories of survivors and loving families, the film offers a raw and unfiltered look at the impact of suicide on individuals and communities alike.

The documentary is described as a journey of discovery, understanding, and hope. Through powerful interviews with leading researchers and health experts, the film provides valuable insights into the complex factors contributing to suicide and the strategies for prevention.

A media release is attached. Mental Health Australia has no affiliation with the production.

https://www.cinemanova.com.au/films/mdff-the-promise

Excerpt from Andrew Leigh’s May Report 2024

 

How Social Media Fuels Teen Anxiety

Over the past fifteen years, the mental wellbeing of young Australians has become much worse. In a two-minute video, I look at the evidence on how social media and smartphones affect teen mental health, offering seven key facts and four solutions (click to view). And if you’re curious about the emerging debate, check out my review of Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation, recently published in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Screenshot 2024-05-01 at 11.53.27 PM

Social media and mental health – click to play

Australians for Mental Health

Australians for Mental Health
 

Did you catch Vanessa Kenny’s compelling story about her family’s struggle getting access to mental health services over the weekend?

In a very blunt and powerful open letter to the Australian people — particularly politicians and other decision-makers — Vanessa charts what it is like to love a child with complex mental health needs.

You can read Vanessa’s letter in full here.

“The health system, their executives and our own Ministers likes to say that he “fell through the cracks”.  This is not true.  This is a system that is designed to fail.  Designed to push somebody onto another public service so that they do not have to address the issues at hand” she writes.

“We have endured accusations of domestic violence simply because our son needed us to restrain him during neurological episodes, an act necessary to prevent self-harm.  We’ve witnessed the havoc wrought by potent medications, rendering our home unsafe for all.  Like Cauchi’s family we’ve hidden sharp objects, transforming our household into a battleground where safety is a fleeting illusion.”

“Amidst the despair, I would like to think there’s a glimmer of hope—a call to action for greater empathy, for a society that sees beyond the surface and acknowledges the humanity in us all. It’s a call to recognise that behind every headline lies a story, a struggle, a life worth fighting for.”

These are stories that need to be heard: that’s the only way change will be possible.  In coming forward, Vanessa is taking a stand for her family, and we stand with her.

If you have experience trying to access the mental health system, either for yourself or someone you love, and would be willing to work with me to engage politicians with our stories, I’d love to hear from you.

I’ll be holding a Zoom call next Tuesday evening, 7 May at 5:30pm Sydney time.  If you’d like to join in please RSVP here.

If you’d like to be involved but can’t make that time, please let me know by clicking here.

Chris Gambian
Executive Director
Australians for Mental Health

Mental Health Day October 2023

Department of Health Warning on Ayurvedic medicines

Ayurvedic medicines 

The Department of Health has been notified that some Ayurvedic medicines for sale in grocery stores in Victoria contain ingredients – including lead – that are scheduled poisons.

The Victorian Department of Health also continues to receive notifications of cases of lead poisoning caused by the ingestion of Ayurvedic medications that are contaminated with lead and imported from overseas.

Advice for public

  • An ‘AUST R’ or ‘AUST L’ number on the packaging of products indicates that they are approved for supply by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
  • Anyone who is using Ayurvedic medicines purchased or imported from overseas or purchased in Victoria where the product does not have this number should stop consuming the product immediately.

Advice for Clinicians

  • Anyone taking unapproved medicines with potential symptoms of lead poisoning should be screened for lead toxicity.
  • These incidents are a timely reminder about the value of asking patients if they use complementary medicines and where they purchase the products from.
  • For advice when poisoning or suspecting poisoning occurs contact the Victorian Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26.  

SANE Newsletter 24 May 2023

More than 24 million people worldwide live with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. But despite this statistic, community awareness around the condition is still low and stigma still remains.
This week, we are sharing stories from people with lived experiences of schizophrenia, like Hanna, one of SANE’s peer ambassadors, to encourage people to take a moment to ‘walk in another person’s shoes’ and challenge the stereotypes that still exist.
We are encouraging other people in our network to share their stories and find ways to raise awareness.
 
Click here to read more about Hannah’s story

Click here to read the complete SANE newsletter: https://saneaustralia.cmail20.com/t/t-e-zwsz-jtuyyktuki-r/

News from Mental Health Australia Weekly Update April 2023

Mental health and wellbeing reform in Victoria 2 March 2023

The following paragraphs are excerpts from an update by the Deputy Secretary, Mental Health and Wellbeing 2 March 2023

Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 – A new Q&A
Our new ‘Q&A’ aims to promote understanding of the Act and the activities underway to support implementation. We’ll start this series with a question about the broader goals the Act is trying to achieve. You can email your questions to mhwa@health.vic.gov.au.

Q: ‘What does the new Act do?’
A: The new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 delivers on the Royal Commission’s vision for rights-based mental health and wellbeing laws which reflect the diverse needs of our communities and creates the structures that will hold government to account on providing a high-quality, compassionate public mental health and wellbeing system.

The new Act puts people with lived and living experience of mental illness and psychological distress, and their families, carers and supporters at the centre of the mental health and wellbeing system. It does this through the introduction of new rights-based objectives and principles and the inclusion of designated lived experience roles at the highest levels of new and existing governance and oversight entities.

It also establishes key elements of the new system architecture, including the Chief Officer for Mental Health and Wellbeing, statutory Regional Mental Health and Wellbeing Boards to provide advice on the planning and commissioning of services at the local level, the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, a legislated opt-out non-legal mental health advocacy service and Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Victoria.

The Act will ensure the legislative framework reach beyond merely authorising and regulating the use of compulsory treatment and restrictive interventions and enable a connected and coordinated system where people do not fall through the cracks and receive the treatment, care and support they need.

Please email your questions to mhwa@health.vic.gov.au

Calendar of engagement opportunities

This calendar reflects the most up-to-date view of upcoming mental health and wellbeing engagement opportunities, including consultations, EOI processes and tenders.

Targeted engagement refers to engagement activities where we are seeking input from priority groups and cohorts. In many cases, we will be working with peak bodies and organisations that represent those communities to identify participants, including people with lived and living experience.

Open engagement refers to public engagement activities where anybody with an interest in the work is welcome to contribute. Where available, we will provide a link to where you can find out more about the engagement and how to participate.

Last updated: 2 March 2023.

Visit our engagement webpage to find out about targeted and open engagement taking place in the next couple of months.

Update from Mental Health Australia 14 October 2022

To read the complete update click on the link below:
View mailing in browser

 

Self-check in infographic
As part of the Mind Your Health wellbeing initiative launched by SBS this October, the Embrace Project in collaboration with SBS has adapted a self-check in infographic that sets out six questions for an individual to reflect on when assessing their own health and wellbeing.

Ruth Das, Embrace Project Lead – Partnerships and Engagement spoke to SBS about the specific aspects that an individual should consider when answering each question in the self-check-in. You can check out the article here.To find out more information and access articles, podcasts and videos in English and in a number of languages visit here.

The Embrace Project would like to say a special thanks to SBS, Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health and the Embrace Lived Experience Group.