Message from the Minister

Recently I met a young mother with bipolar disorder. She spoke to me about her descent into despair – a growing alienation from her friends and family, who didn’t understand what was wrong or how to get help. Trapped alone in her apartment with a young child, she withdrew from society and suffered alone.

It is a fate no Victorian deserves; and yet it is too prevalent. One in five Victorians will suffer from depression, anxiety, or other mental illnesses at some time in their life.

Because we are all members of a caring community, we all have a responsibility. Together we must look out for the warning signs and take action – providing the right advice, support and treatment to help our friends and family to regain their mental health and wellbeing.

Fortunately, we have come a long way in Victoria from the days of asylums and segregation of the mentally ill. Deinstitutionalisation was a positive step in our understanding of and treatment for mental illness. And Victoria now provides modern and sophisticated care for over 60,000 mental health patients every year.

And yet many people are missing out on treatment. Many Victorians don’t see the warning signs, don’t seek help, or don’t know where to turn. And that’s not good enough.

We would never allow a person to suffer alone with crushing chest pain and not treat them for a heart attack. In the same way, it is inhumane to allow a person to suffer alone with anxiety, depression, delusions, or paranoia and not treat them for mental illness.

We know we can do better, because a growing body of research, together with our extensive local experience, tells us there is a better way of doing things.

We need a mental health system in Victoria that provides world-class care for everyone – from those with anxiety and depression, through to those most vulnerable people who live with severe mental illness complicated by other social and physical health problems.

We need a system that recognises mental health problems as early in life as possible and acts to prevent a lifetime of chronic and unrelenting illness. To achieve this it is crucial that we address mental health issues in childhood and adolescence and make fostering resilience in our children and young people a top priority.

And we need a system that is focused on recovery – and the ability and opportunity for Victorians experiencing mental illness to fully participate in our community.

Fortunately, for the young mother I met her life is back on track. A caring person saw her despair and reached out to her. Through a local community group, she received the help and advice she needed. Healthy and active, with a thriving child, she now volunteers at a community centre, is working again in a stimulating part-time job and mentors other mums with mental illness.

Her story convinces me that with the right help, all Victorians living with mental illness can lead healthy and meaningful lives and recover from their illness whenever possible.

That is why the Government is taking action and embarking on generational reform of Victoria’s mental health system. This consultation paper foreshadows the Government’s proposed direction for mental health care over the next decade.

The 2008/09 State Government budget provides a framework to seed this reform and address critical early priorities of the agenda.

But to make it happen we also need your expertise and input.

Working with you, I am determined to deliver a new era of reform to Victoria’s mental health care system.

Hon Lisa Neville MP
Minister for Mental Health

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