Mental health services lacking in regional Australia

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Regional health reporter Steven Schubert travelled to the regional city to report mental health services, and a warning this interview discusses mental health issues and suicide

Transcript

00:00 My diagnosis is major depression with associated panic attacks and dissociative episodes.

00:14 It was nearly 10 months to get an initial appointment with a psychiatrist and then you're

00:21 on the books there and it was over four months for a second appointment.

00:25 Were you left to look after yourself when you moved to Bathurst?

00:30 I became a hermit.

00:32 I really didn't go out much.

00:34 There's been a few times where I realised that the only person I had spoken to in a

00:42 fortnight was the checkout person at the supermarket.

00:46 What's the disparity like between accessing mental health care in the city compared to

00:50 a regional town like Bathurst?

00:53 Night and day.

00:56 It's a much better saying than chalk and cheese because it is night and day.

01:00 It's lightness and darkness.

01:02 You have choices in Sydney.

01:06 Is the difficulty in accessing care in regional Australia dangerous?

01:10 No, I don't think it's dangerous.

01:12 I know it's bloody dangerous.

01:14 It's costing the community and it's costing individuals and it's costing some individuals

01:21 everything.

01:23 I'm now joined by Dr. Katrina Davis-McKay, President of the Australian Psychological

01:28 Society.

01:29 Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us.

01:32 Let's just start, if you could, give us an indication as to how long it would take for

01:38 rural or regional communities to get an appointment with a mental health specialist.

01:43 We know that across the nation there is huge wait lists.

01:47 One in three psychologists actually have their books closed.

01:51 This was during the pandemic, one in 10 before the pandemic.

01:55 So with a significant mental health crisis, a lot of people waiting.

01:59 But with less psychologists in regional areas, regional people are waiting longer.

02:05 And are there specific mental health issues unique to regional or rural patients?

02:11 What we often find actually is that people often have poorer mental health in regional

02:18 areas.

02:19 So we might be thinking about things like drug and alcohol issues, depression, suicidal

02:25 ideation.

02:27 And often this is because there is a lack of treatment available.

02:31 People are not able to access the treatment.

02:33 So in these areas, they're often going undertreated or untreated.

02:38 And what happens then is symptoms are worsening and people's mental health is suffering.

02:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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