The Australian National Mental Health - 1191 Words

Mental illness has a profound impact on the Australian community, with 45% of Australians expected to experience mental illness at some point in their lives. In 1991, Australian Health Ministers commenced The Australian National Mental Health Strategy, which has since transitioned to its Fourth National Mental Health Plan Agreement. The Australian healthcare policy that has recently received attention in the Australian media is the revised National Mental Health Policy of 2008. The media article, ‘‘Futures will be lost’: Health fears as youth psychosis program dropped,’ has been analysed on its illustration of current structural reform proposed in the Mental Health sector. The role of media is critical in conveying policy to the public and†¦show more content†¦How does the media portray this issue? Author Jane Lee writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, evokes an emotional response within readers from the get-go in true left wing fashion. The doom and gloom heading elicits fear by using bleak words such as ‘lost, fear and dropped’ to describe the future health of young Australians experiencing psychosis. Delving into the first paragraph, the author capitalises on the power of expert opinion, bequeathed by ‘Leading mental health expert’, Patrick McGorry. McGorry is referenced multiple times during the article, expressing a strong opinion opposing the abolishment of funding for the hYEPP. If that alone is not enough to convince a lay person to side with the article, McGorry exclaims ‘almost certainly, lives will be lost’ when referring the closure of the program. This parallels with concerns ‘Futures will be lost,’ if adequate infrastructure is not put in place to facilitate patients with psychosis back into school, social settings or the workforce. Increased rates of suicide within the schizophrenic patient population is a grim reality of the disease and readers will most likely empathize. It is important to note, that Patrick McGorry, ‘Leading mental health expert’ is also the pioneer of Early Intervention in Psychiatry, namely the Early Psychosis Intervention Prevention Model. The is the evidence-based model, to which the hYEPP has been constructed on. Patrick