By Brendan Rees
More than 70 Casey residents have gathered for a virtual forum to discuss ways of supporting people’s mental health and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Federal Labor MP for Holt Anthony Byrne led the Zoom forum on Thursday evening, 13 August which included leading mental health professionals in Australia.
Mr Byrne said the question and answer style forum provided genuine conversations about current mental health challenges facing Victorians with some participants raising ideas for improvements in mental health practices.
Special guests included Patrick McGorry, a Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne; Dean McCaughan, Headspace Narre Warren manager; Jemma Schmutter, co-chair of the youth action committee at headspace Narre Warren; and youth advocate Jake Downward.
“I wish to thank everyone for being involved in the mental health and well-being forum, and special thanks to Professor Patrick McGorry for his excellent mental health briefing during a challenging period of time for everyone with the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mr Byrne said.
Mr Byrne told the forum that Australia had seen a surge in demand for mental health services due to the Covid-19 pandemic – with “extraordinary and unprecedented constraints” placed on public mental healthcare services and practitioners who “continued to provide the best care they can”.
“We know that young people are disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the stage four lockdown measures that are needed to stop the spread of this deadly disease,” Mr Byrne said.
“Many health professionals – including GPs, psychiatrists, and emergency physicians – are seeing significant growth in the number of patients seeking treatment and support for their mental health like at headspace Narre Warren.
“Data shows there has been a 33 per cent rise in children and young people in Victoria presenting to hospital with self-harm injuries over the past six weeks, compared to a year earlier.”
Professor and psychiatrist Jayashri Kulkarni, who is the director of the Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre, said mental health symptoms could be exacerbated by fears of a “never-ending lockdown” – leading to an increased sense of panic.
“If you’re worried that you or someone you know is having mental health difficulties, it’s important to seek help from your GP or another mental health professional,” Prof Kulkarni said.
“Everyone is going to experience ups and downs during isolation – feelings of hopelessness, frustration, anger, sadness and anxiety will be commonplace,” she said. “It’s important that everyone builds an element of routine into their lives to combat mental deconditioning, and ensure that they are continuing to function normally. This will also help them transition back to ‘normality’ when lockdown is lifted.”
In August, the Australian Government announced it was providing an additional $12 million to ensure people in Victoria can access 24-7 mental health support through digital and telephone counselling services during the difficult time.
This is in addition to 10 additional Medicare subsidised psychological therapy sessions for people subjected to further restrictions in areas impacted by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
