First Seminars for 2010

Professor Graham Burrows will launch this year’s Community Education Program on the 4^th March by outlining substantial differences of medical opinion in the treatment of major mood disorders.

In his long career, Professor Burrows has seen psychiatric attitudes and practices evolve. His observations on the latest controversies are not to be missed.

On March 18^th, consultant psychiatrist Manjula O’Connor will talk about the mental health effects of domestic violence in Melbourne’s South Asian and Indian communities. Dr O’Connor is active in the field of cross-cultural psychiatry and is dedicated to improving access to services for women in ethnic communities.

Professor Anne Buist, Director of Women’s Health at the Austin, returns to the seminar program on April 1^st to describe ways in which a new mother’s mental illness can affect her infant and what kinds of interventions and family support will improve outcomes for both mother and baby.

Our first three lectures will be given by notable speakers who are leaders in their fields.  For anyone interested in significant developments in the mental health arena of the health sciences, the Mood Disorders Support Group seminar program consistently offers the chance to be acquainted with the latest research and professional opinion.  Further details: www.mentalhealth.org.au

2010

Important Dates

World Mental Health Day

 Sunday 10^th October

Mental Health Week Victoria

 10^th – 16^th October

Golden Opportunity Ball

Thursday 14^th October

Cruden Farm Family Fun Day

Sunday 21^st November

Can the Mood Disorders Support Group help me?

For over 15 years, the MHFA(V) has offered people with a mood disorder, their families and close friends the chance to gain the support needed to be more active in their own stress management and recovery.

Sessions are run by an experienced facilitator who ensures that conversation is focussed on the therapeutic and educational aims of the group. Those who come along gain insight into their condition and a knowledge of available treatments.  Directed discussion can help build confidence and clarify goals.

The Mood Disorders Support Group meetings are held every third Thursday of the month from 7.30 – 9.00 pm. There is no cost.

Call the MHFA(V) to register your interest, or to find out more.

Victorian Government Mental Health Advice Line

In December 2009 the Department of Health launched its new Mental Health Advice Line. The line will be open 24 hours a day every day of the year and is staffed by mental health professionals. Callers unsure about where to obtain the right mental health care or how to access mental health information can ring 1300 280 737 for the cost of a local call.

The line is not designed to replace any of the existing support and referral lines, such as that of the MHFAV, nor the present triage system.

The government’s stated aim is to provide clear and easy access to professional mental health advice anytime of the day or night. Part of the Mental Health Reform Strategy announced last year, the advice line is to complement mental health, public hospital and emergency services.

Depression serves a purpose, say researchers

What good is depression? Why has it persisted throughout humanity’s evolutionary development as a significant response to trauma or difficulties of all kinds? Depression can make it hard to function, to work or take interest in normally enjoyable activities. If left untreated, it can lead to hopelessness and immobilising despair. Such a disabling tendency ought logically to have disappeared over time.

Now two researchers have suggested that depression may convey the benefit of greater attention to serious problems. The depressed person cuts out other activities and distractions and ruminates on what’s worrying them. This, the researchers claim, facilitates careful analysis and problem-solving.

The theory is controversial—the idea that obsessive rumination can be useful is contrary to contemporary medical opinion, although writing down and examining worries has been used successfully in some treatment models.

See the entire article at: www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10psyche-t.html

Mental Health News

On the Web

The journal Australia and New Zealand Health Policy has published a comparative study into the cause of deaths in Australia during the years 1916 to 2004. The study aimed to assess the trend in mental health-related mortality, defined as that arising from mental or behavioural disorders and from suicide combined. The study also looked at gains in longevity from mental health-related interventions.

Authors of the paper concluded that existing mental health interventions and treatments didn’t reflect the sorts of gains made in other areas over the period, for example, in lowering the road toll, or extending life for people with circulatory disease. They suggest that government needs to address a ‘knowledge gap’ in mental health by funding basic and applied research into more effective therapies for mental health disorders.

The complete article can be found at www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/7/1/3

The trend in mental health-related mortality in Australia

1916-2004