The “bible” for mental health disorders is getting a much-needed update. It could reshape diagnosis and treatment for many sufferers, and not everyone is happy, writes Wes Mountain at The Citizen.
READ MORE114 Results
PromiseWatch 2013: mental health services policy
What are the major parties promising in terms of mental health services? Crikey journalist Andrew Crook and the CDP’s Julia Hosking find out.
READ MOREBattle Scars: veterans and their families respond
To end the Battle Scars series on Crikey — examining the prevalence of PTSD in younger veterans — ex-military personnel and family of veterans weigh in.
READ MOREBattle Scars: why soldiers should kill with drones not guns
As part of Crikey’s Battle Scars series into mental health in the armed force, an anonymous ex-navy officer calls for more drones to avoid soldiers being so affected by what they’ve seen.
READ MOREBattle Scars: ‘I wish I could have the man I married back’
Crikey’s Battle Scars series explores the issues of mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder amongst our young veterans. One anonymous young army wife talks of living with a veteran battling PTSD.
READ MOREBattle Scars: how angry young veterans rewrote PTSD treatment
Younger veterans battling PTSD have different issues than from the Vietnam days — new treatment programs were needed. Psychologists tell Crikey how they treat those struggling with combat stress.
READ MOREBattle Scars: breaking PTSD stereotypes
As a young female navy veteran in her 30s, Hannah Parker doesn’t fit the mould of a post-traumatic stress disorder sufferer. But her story illustrates how the navy treats those who seek mental health support.
READ MOREBattle Scars: how the govt treats broken soldiers
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs is in charge of helping veterans struggling with mental health issues. Its deputy director speaks to Crikey about what the department is doing — and its future challenges.
READ MOREBattle Scars: fighting on ‘until you’re about to put a rope around your neck’
Steve Ager couldn’t admit his psychological suffering to himself, and was then warned off admitting it to his military superiors. The trauma of witnessing horrific scenes at home and abroad still haunts.
READ MOREBattle Scars: fighting the ADF’s warrior culture on mental health
Soldiers are told to be tough, but mental scars go undiagnosed. A new Crikey investigation Battle Scars examines post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues in younger veterans.
READ MORELatham: I only said what Robb had said himself
The former Labor leader is standing by his reference to Andrew Robb’s mental health issues in a newspaper column last week. He says the Right-wing commentariat has no right to call for his comments to be censored.
READ MOREMilitary mental health plan revealed — but problem underestimated
A new Defence Force report outlines how the military plans to deal with mental health issues like alcoholism and post traumatic stress disorder among troops. The problem is being underestimated.
READ MOREOn mental health and suicide prevention, are we stuck in Groundhog Day?
Australia’s first National Report Card on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention fails to address many important issues, writes Jaelea Skehan.
READ MOREWhat’s missing from the first national mental health report card
The National Mental Health Commission’s first report card suggests a new beginning, but the next should focus less about the past twenty years and more about the next twenty, writes Sebastian Rosenberg.
READ MOREFly-in-fly-out psychiatric services for Nauru detention
The company that will manage health services, including mental health services, for detainees on Nauru is at the centre of criticisms that detainee mental health problems have been poorly handled.
READ MOREGeiger counters, empty playgrounds: dispatch from Fukushima
The people of Fukushima face sadness and tough decisions — but some have found hope, writes Australian nuclear radiologist Dr Peter Karamoskos, who visited the region last month.
READ MOREIs our suicide rate falling? Yes — but …
Criticism of the ABS’s suicide statistics is unwarranted, but the picture it paints is not all positive.
READ MOREThe evolution of mental health services: a Q & A with SANE’s Barbara Hocking
SANE Australia’s Executive Director Barbara Hocking reflects on the success and failures of mental health treatment over the last two decades.
READ MORECounting the cost of mental illness in men
This week saw the release of the report Counting the Cost: The Impact of Young Men’s Mental Health on the Australian Economy. The issues of mental health treatment for young men are critical, writes Sebastian Rosenberg.
READ MORENo more secrets: Rudd a dud on health reform
In the health arena in 2007 there were great expectations for root and branch reform of the Australian health care system. Kevin Rudd simply wasn’t able to deliver, writes one of his mental health advisers John Mendoza.
READ MOREIan Hickie: on Twitter, The Lancet and my critics
It’s not uncommon in my world to be engaged in very lively academic debates, like the risk versus benefits associated with new antidepressant drugs, writes Professor Ian Hickie.
READ MOREMental health funding: well targeted or just well meant?
Since 2006, Australian governments have committed to spending about $8 billion of new money on mental health, writes Dr Lesley Russell, a research associate at Menzies Centre for Health Policy.
READ MOREThe unmet mental health needs of people with intellectual disability
Federal and state governments have recently recognised the importance of mental health reform, but the voice of mentally ill people with intellectual disabilities can barely be heard, writes Sophie Howlett.
READ MOREMind Games: what are the lessons from the mental health minefield?
What are the lessons learned on the hard road towards mental health reform? And amid all the debate, what does the future hold? The final chapter of Crikey’s four-part investigation into the vexed social and political issue.
READ MOREMind Games: Better Access for some, but reforms put others offside
Patrick McGorry and Ian Hickie may be considered revolutionaries by some, their headspace initiative and radical system reforms will come at a cost to some patients.
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