INTHEBLACK Mental Health 2021 - Magazine - Page 10
Mental Health and Resilience
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“When Steve Jobs held up the iPhone for
the first time and everyone said, ‘I want one
of those’ – well, it was a bit like that with
headspace,” McGorry says.
“When we put it into Australian
communities – in a welcoming, youth-friendly
way – people said, ‘We want one of those’.”
THE “MISSING MIDDLE”
Naturally, the plaudits have followed in
recognition of McGorry’s work – including
the titles of Australian of the Year and
Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in
2010 – but he feels there is more work to be
done, and that this is no time to rest.
In addition to championing funding for
mental health services, McGorry has set up
Australians for Mental Health, a grassroots
campaign body and social movement to
drive improvements in Australia’s mental
healthcare system.
“People can talk to their GP about their
mental health, and young people can
access headspace, but if a problem is more
complex or enduring, and there needs to
be a team-based approach or a psychiatrist
10 ITB October 2021
involved, then that is still very hard to find,”
he says. “The Productivity Commission has
estimated one million [Australians] fall
into this ‘missing middle’ category, but I
think it’s more likely to be two million.”
MENTAL HEALTH IN THE NEW NORMAL
Like many health professionals, McGorry
is also concerned about the long-term
ramifications of COVID-19 and the flow-on
mental health issues from the economic fall-out.
“The mental healthcare system was
already overwhelmed with demand before
COVID-19,” says McGorry, commenting
on what he sees as inadequate efforts by
the Australian Government to encourage
a culture of support while topping up the
spend on mental health helplines in 2020.
Many people, too, continue to feel the
strain associated with working from home.
McGorry estimates that 30 per cent of
Australians will need some kind of mental
healthcare as a result of the economic
ramifications of COVID-19.
“If people are out of work, they lose their
sense of identity, and we know that suicide
rates do go up in times of recession,” he
says. “The GFC [global financial crisis], and
the tough austerity policies that followed
globally, was a major driver of suicide risk
and mental ill health. “The temporary threats
are not as significant as the long-term ones.”
Since McGorry’s interview with
INTHEBLACK last year, the Australian
Government has, in its 2021-22 Budget,
committed a A$2.3 billion investment
in its National Mental Health and
Suicide Prevention Plan – the largest
Commonwealth mental health investment
in Australia’s history.
THE FUNDING NEEDS
McGorry has spent decades advocating for
change, but acknowledges that it wasn’t until
his Australian of the Year award that he was
able to most fully leverage his leadership
skills among the halls of power.
“I have spent the past decade since [the
award] trying to make my case and working
with friendly politicians,” he says.
When it comes to pushing for change,
“it’s important to state that it is not a party