The Australian e-journal for the advancement of mental health 

About: The Australian e-journal for the advancement of mental health is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Mental health & Mental illness. Over the lifetime, 215 publications have been published receiving 5914 citations.

Young people’s help-seeking for mental health problems

Abstract: This paper summarises an ambitious research agenda aiming to uncover the factors that affect help-seeking among young people for mental health problems. The research set out to consider why young people, and particularly young males, do not seek help when they are in psychological distress or suicidal; how professional services be made more accessible and attractive to young people; the factors that inhibit and facilitate help-seeking; and how community gatekeepers can support young people to access services to help with personal and emotional problems. A range of studies was undertaken in New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT, using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data from a total of 2721 young people aged 14-24 years were gathered, as well as information from some of the community gatekeepers to young people’s mental health care. Help-seeking was measured in all the studies using the General Help Seeking Questionnaire (Wilson, Deane, Ciarrochi & Rickwood, 2005), which measures future help-seeking intentions and, through supplementary questions, can also assess prior help-seeking experience. Many of the studies also measured recent help-seeking behaviour using the Actual Help Seeking Questionnaire. The types of mental health problems examined varied across the studies and included depressive symptoms, personal-emotional problems, and suicidal thoughts. The help-seeking process was conceptualised using a framework developed during the research program. This framework maintains that help-seeking is a process of translating the very personal domain of psychological distress to the interpersonal domain of seeking help. Factors that were expected to facilitate or inhibit this translation process were investigated. These included factors that determine awareness of the personal domain of psychological distress and that affect the ability to articulate or express this personal domain to others, as well as willingness to disclose mental health issues to other people. The results are reported in terms of: patterns of help-seeking across adolescence and young adulthood; the relationship of help-seeking intentions to behaviour; barriers to seeking help—lack of emotional competence, the help-negation effect related to suicidal thoughts, negative attitudes and beliefs about helpseeking and fear of stigma; and facilitators of seeking help—emotional competence, positive past experience, mental health literacy, and supportive social influences. The paper considers the implications of the findings for the development of interventions to encourage young people to seek help for their mental health problems, and concludes by identifying gaps in the help-seeking research and literature and suggesting future directions.

Prevention of emotional problems and psychiatric risks in children of parents with a mental illness in the Netherlands: I. The scientific basis to a comprehensive approach

Abstract: Children of parents with a mental illness are at significant risk of developing mental disorders and other adverse outcomes at some point in their lives compared to children of healthy parents. During the last 20 years, a comprehensive preventive program for children of parents with a mental illness has been developed in the Netherlands through a longstanding national collaboration between prevention practitioners and scientists. This science- and practicebased program has been implemented by all mental health centres throughout the country (see van Doesum and Hosman, 2009 in this issue). This article describes the scientific underpinnings of this multicomponent program. First, the available epidemiological evidence on risk and the impact on children are discussed, regarding whether parental problems result in similar problems in children (i.e., disorder-synchronous outcomes) or in broad-spectrum outcomes. The article further presents the developmental model of transgenerational transmission of psychopathology and discusses the major mechanisms of risk transmission and the evidence-based risk and protective factors linked to these mechanisms. It finally discusses some implications and future challenges for research, knowledge innovation and implications for program development.

Engagement of Indigenous Clients in Mental Health Services: What Role do Cultural Differences Play?

Abstract: Research studies on Indigenous groups in Australia and internationally continue to illustrate the negative impact of colonialisation on their mental health (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2002, 2003). Despite this, a number of recent articles have argued that Indigenous people do not access mental health services at a level that is commensurate with this need (Dudgeon, Grogan et al., 1993; Garvey, 2000).

That’s just the way he is’: Some implications of Aboriginal mental health beliefs

Abstract: Recent qualitative research conducted in metropolitan Perth and the Kimberley region of Western Australia has highlighted major gaps in service delivery to Aboriginal clientele suffering depression and suicidal ideation (Vicary, 2002). Seventy Aboriginal people were interviewed about their beliefs and attitudes towards mental health, western psychology and western practitioners, and strategies for improving mental health care delivery. The study highlights that participants consistently perceived the course and treatment of depression as following a different aetiology to that of mainstream Australia. The authors’ references to depression do not conform with Eurocentric perceptions, but rather to the Aboriginal Australians’ conceptualisation, as explained within the paper. Almost three in four respondents indicated that they believed that Aboriginal people did not perceive depression as a state that could be addressed via treatment. Instead they perceived it as a characteristic of the individual c...

The employment of people with mental illness

Abstract: People with a mental illness are among the most socially and economically marginalised members of the community. They experience high levels of unemployment and nonparticipation in the labour force. Unemployment has a number of negative effects including the loss of purpose, structure, roles and status and a sense of identity which employment brings. Employment enables social inclusion in the wider community and is an important way that people with a mental illness can meaningfully participate in the wider community. Australia has a mental health strategy, which guides the ongoing reform of mental health services. However, specific strategies to address the social and economic marginalisation of people with a mental illness have not been addressed. A recovery-oriented approach is recommended, which integrates the key sectors involved. To date there has been little intersectoral collaboration between the various sectors such as mental health services, housing, and vocational services. People require more role-specific assistance to enable them to participate in socially valued roles implicit with citizenship. There is a need to formulate improved pathways to assistance and more evidence-based forms of assistance to re-establish career pathways. This report aims to: 1) collect relevant overseas and Australian evidence about the employment of people with mental illness; 2) identify the potential benefits of employment; 3) describe patterns of labour force participation in Australia among people with mental illness; 4) identify how mental illness can cause barriers to employment; 5) outline the type of employment restrictions reported by people with mental illness; 6) identify the evidence-based ingredients of employment assistance; 7) identify relevant policy implications; and 8) suggest strategies to improve employment outcomes and career prospects for people with mental illness.