Mental Health Week 2005
The theme for this year’s Mental Health Week is “Family, Friends and Intimate Relationships”. One of the difficulties faced by people suffering from a mental illness (and this ranges from mood disorders through to psychosis) is social isolation. By encouraging patients with mental illness to maintain good quality relationships with family and friends and being involved in the community through social clubs or volunteering organisations, GPs can help improve patient outcomes.
SANE Australia* has conducted research which shows that people with mental illness are more likely to report feelings of loneliness “often” or “all the time”; that 85% of people surveyed with mental illness said that it is “a bit” or “much” harder to maintain close relationships after being affected by mental illness; and 88% of those surveyed said that friendships and social relationships were rated as being “important” or “very important” in helping them manage their mental illness. However, 72% of people suffering from mental illness use support services such as rehabilitation services “rarely” or “never”. This is partly due to a lack of awareness of the existence of these services by primary health care providers.
In the Illawarra, organisations such as ARAFMI and Fernhill Place provide a valuable service to families of those who suffer from mental illness, as well as the patients themselves. There are many support groups throughout the Illawarra for general mental health issues, as well as specific mental illnesses.
South-East Sydney/Illawarra Area Health Service has several activities planned for this week – please click on this link for program information
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SANE Research Report 1: Mental illness and social isolation (August 2005). PDF version available at www.sane.org.
