Today we at Utopia begin our video program ‘Bio Science Education’. Our first presentation is by Dr Albert Mensah on Biochemical Imbalances from the Outreach 2010 Biobalance

Dr Albert Mensah, received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) and his medical degree from Finch University of Health Sciences-Chicago Medical School, and completed his residency in family medicine at Swedish Covenant Hospital (Chicago). Following his residency Dr Mensah completed additional fellowship training in academic development at JHS Cook County Hospital (Chicago). He practiced as a staff physician at Melrose Park Clinic (Illinois) and is an adjunct professor of clinical medicine at Malcolm X College (Chicago).

Dr Mensah continues his devotion to the education of medical professionals by serving as the current Medical Director of the Physician Assistant Program at Malcolm X College and has treated patients at the Pfeiffer Treatment Center, an organization rooted in the treatment of biochemical imbalances including children with autism. Answering the need for specialist with backgrounds in both traditional as well as orthomolecular medicine, Dr. Mensah cofounded Mensah Medical.

His current practice includes family medicine as well as the management of cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety syndromes, ADD/H and post-partum depression.Philosophy of Care: …“We are not given knowledge to rule over the world for the sake of power, but to have power for the sake of serving.Taking the time to educate our patients, their families, and the health care community at large is consistent with our directive to leave the universe a better place than when we came”.

Utopia’s next ‘Bio Science Education’ program will be on 6th May 2011 at 10:00 am

Pharmaceutical companies are not in the business of Health, Healing, Cures, Wellness…why?

Because they have found a way to make incredible amounts of money.

The people they are making the money off of become so drugged up that they can’t complain and if they do…well, their doctor or psychiatrist will have them locked away in a padded cell!

Katherine McCormick, CEO Utopia

“The Longitudinal Study of Australians Vulnerable to Homelessness will follow the lives of about 1500 people across Australia, interviewing them every six months over two years, and will analyse the contributing factors that lead to homelessness.”  AND… Senator Arbib said if there were inefficiencies or inadequacies in the system, it was important the government was able to address them quickly so people could get back on their feet as soon as possible. Early intervention was critical.

Well let me say this…it looks to me like the Government has spent far too much on ‘studies’ that keep going around in circles.

Is it, ‘jobs for the boys’ or ‘stretching out the pay cheques for government bureaucrats’? The Australian Government MUST know by now how to fill the ‘holes’ and if this study is over two years…how is that going to help current homeless people with ‘early intervention’, or the 1500 homeless people in the study?

Sorry Ms Gillard but what they need is housing and better diagnostic and mental health services, not a two year study.

Surly it’s time for some hard core action from the Government instead of selling of the land that should be used for mental health facilities. Patients at Royal North Shore Hospital will suffer due to “Labor’s planning incompetence”.

It’s not just the Labor Party…the Libs don’t have a very good record when it comes to mental health.

Have your say…

Clement Chan, Training and Development Assistant

Written by Clement Chan, Training and Development Assistant

Mental health doesn’t just affect the individual but it also affects the people and the communities around them. If we are to look at the costs, we can start at the individual and what they stand to lose. Financial and emotional costs are at the top of the list, as mental health hinders the individual’s ability to function properly at work usually leading to high levels of absenteeism or unemployment.

A lot of the times, people are forced to hide their sickness in the fear of discrimination or embarrassment. This has a direct impact on the emotional well being, as their problems are not being confronted but simply pushed under the rug.

Depression and anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia and most often, the individual is unaware of their condition. Without the proper treatment and recovery, many people suffer emotionally, usually leading to alcohol or drug abuse. In worst cases, this could lead to suicide.

The cost of this illness of course reflects onto the individual’s family as well. The pain and heartache of supporting someone through a mental illness is taxing not just mentally but financially as well. As mentioned above, the individual struggles at work hence becoming financially unstable. Their family or loved ones are usually the ones who will be there to pick up the slack, either pay their bills, loan repayments or medical expenses.

In the event of the person losing their life, the emotional cost is devastating and many people find it difficult to recover and move on. The overarching cost to the community for mental health sufferers is the burden it places on taxpayers and employers.

States and territories spent $3,323 million on mental health services in 2007-08 with 4.6 million Medicare claims for health professionals such as psychiatrists. This statistic is rising every year and is costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Employers also bear the cost, as a lot of mental health employees are not being properly treated or in some cases ignored. In these instances, there is a high rate of absenteeism, impacting on a companies salaries and productivity.

As a Gen Y, if these problems are not alleviated then we are going to be the ones who are going to pay for it literally.

There needs to be a shift in how we manage mental health patients, not just prescribe drugs but actually create the framework for recovery and rehabilitation. Hopefully Callan Park will offer that for the thousands who are suffering and ultimately reduce the costs created by mental health.

References: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/hse/88/11415.pdf

Written by Jennifer Kwong, Executive Web Administrator/ Creative Assistant

Jennifer Kwong, Executive Web Administrator/ Creative Assistant

What do the majority of the prison population have in common? Certainly, they have been convicted of a crime and are mostly male. However, what is not so obvious is the alarming prevalence of mental illness in the prison population.

Imagine you are mentally ill. You have been charged with committing a crime for which the penalty is imprisonment. If you are found guilty, you might seek an acquittal by reason of mental illness and then be admitted to a psychiatric institute to receive treatment. Sounds reasonable, no? However, in practice, this defence is successfully raised in only a small minority of cases. The bulk of the evidence suggests that you will face imprisonment.

A study of the NSW prison population by the Corrections Health Service in 2003 confirms the over-representation of the mentally ill in prisons internationally: the prevalence of mental illness stands at more than three times that in the general community (74% vs. 22%).¹

Anecdotal evidence suggests that even 74% is an underestimation, as a large number of inmates who indicate drug use as a contributing factor to their offending are not assessed for a concurrent mental illness.

In NSW, prison is a community where:

• Psychosis is experienced at a rate thirty times higher than in the general community
• 1 in 10 attempt suicide
• 3 in 10 experience anxiety disorder
• 6 in 10 have a substance use disorder
• 4 in 10 are diagnosed with opioid use disorder

So, why is there such a high prevalence of mentally ill people in prisoner populations?

The most obvious explanation is the lack of diversionary options and deinstitutionalisation. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that 77,700 mental health patients visited NSW emergency departments in 2006-7.² Only 21,000 patients (27%) were later admitted to hospital. The 56,700 patients who were turned away deteriorated to such an extent that many ended up in prison for committing crimes.

Prison is probably the least conducive place for the rehabilitation of the mentally ill; the isolation and pressure experienced in prison exacerbates mental illness. Without support systems in the community for the mentally ill, does it still surprise you that 74% of inmates have a mental illness?

Where does the answer to reducing the prevalence of mental illness in the prison population lie? The Mental Health Council of Australia suggests that by investing in community-based residential care rather than hospital-run psychiatric beds, emergency visits can be reduced by 40%.³

Unlike hospitals, residential care provides trained on-site staff that rehabilitate, treat and care for patients for up to 24 hours/day. Hospitals will be forced to turn away fewer mental health patients. It will relieve these patients of a likely future caught in crime, and of the social dysfunction experienced after their release from prison.
These are sobering statistics, when we consider that mental health has been considered a national health priority area for the past 10 years. The answer lies in the government diverting the existing money to more effective options like community-based residential care that divert the mentally ill away from the courts towards rehabilitation, rather than necessarily spending more money.

There is no doubt that mental health must be a national health priority area. At Utopia Research Institute, our aim is to ensure the needs and concerns of the mentally ill are provided for in the most effective manner available.

1. Butler, Tony, and Stephen Allnutt. “Mental Illness among NSW Prisoners 2003.” Matraville: NSW Corrections Health Service, 2003.
2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. “Mental Health Services in Australia 2006-07, Part 3: Mental Health-Related Care in Emergency Departments”: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2006-07, p 2.
3. Crosbie, David. “Lack of services mean mentally ill sent to prison, not treated.” Mental Health Council of Australia. January 19, 2010. Web. November 14, 2010. <www.mhca.org.au>

Nicole Jackson, HR Liaison Officer & Sponsorship Marketing Assistant

Written by Nicole Jackson,  HR Liaison Officer & Sponsorship Marketing Assistant, Utopia Research Institute

In 2007, my friend Patrick was school captain of his high school, highly regarded by his peers and voted in the year book awards as ‘Most likely to succeed’. Now, less than three years on, he has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital on suicide watch. The thing is I never saw it coming.

He was so happy and everyone loved him then about halfway through year 12 he became distant. No one saw him except in class. Before then he’d come to all the parties on weekends, he wasn’t a party animal but he was always there laughing and smiling. Then he suddenly shut himself off from the world. I knew he was suffering from depression but he was receiving help and I naively thought everything would work itself out. When I saw him he was the same old Patrick. I had no idea there could be such demons raging inside of him.

Then the horrible news came. He had attempted to commit suicide by overdosing on his antidepressants. He was put into a medically induced comma to stop his kidneys from creating toxins that were poisoning his body. He pulled through, whether he wanted to or not.

Now Patrick is in a psychiatric hospital where he is checked on every 45 minutes. They don’t know how long they will keep him there while he undertakes classes to help him deal with his mental illness. I find it hard to understand what he is going through. He has a great family, a good group of friends and studies at university doing a course he loves. I wish I could just shake him and say ‘everything is okay!’ but that is not how it works. Depression is a mental illness and it affects many more young people than just Patrick.

According to Beyond Blue, Australia’s national depression initiative, depression is one of the most common of all mental health problems with one in five people suffering from it in some stage in their lives.¹ Not only this but everyone will at some time be affected by depression – their own or someone else’s, according to Australian Government statistics.

Young people are the worse off. Suicide is widespread among Generation Y. Why are these young men and women taking their lives when they have hardly even started them? And why hasn’t anyone stopped it?

Education and help must be available to Generation Y to help save them. Not only to those suffering but all of Generation Y who as loved ones have the opportunity to stop someone they know becoming a statistic. My friend Patrick is receiving help but what if I had known how to help? Could his situation have been different? It was almost too late for him, let’s not let it be too late for anyone else.

1. www.beyondblue.org.au

Mega Nindya, Social Science Assistant

Written by Mega Nindya, Social Science Assistant, Utopia Research Institute

“In 2005, suicide accounted for 299 deaths of young people—a rate of 8 per 100,000 young people… hanging, strangulation and suffocation were the major methods of suicide among young people—accounting for two-thirds of suicide deaths (199 deaths). Self-poisoning accounted for 12% of suicide deaths” (AIHW 2008, pp 29-30). ((Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2008) Retrieved 30th November 2010 from http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/aus/bulletin60/bulletin60.pdf))

Needless for me to emphasise the figures above is far from comforting.

One main overarching factor that I’ve learnt in social work is to look at the issue/client in a holistic framework. That is, not just focus on mental health, social life, family life, economic contribution or lack of or even biological make up but look at these factors as equal players in one’s life.

In other words, the issue of suicide cannot be viewed in a vacuum but rather it is a far more complex issue.

Through the eyes of a Gen Y, there are a vast number of determinants which have the potential to contribute to take one to the thought of leaping from the edge of the cliff as one’s only option.

It is when the level of pain is much higher than one’s coping resources, one of which is social support. Perhaps calling everyone on one’s Facebook friends list at least once a week is not the least practical but keeping a lookout for a handful of friends is much more manageable.

I believe in doing little things rather than one extravagant big action. So, keeping a looking could be in the form of a g’day text message, an email or just a phone call to ask how they are going. I am not saying that one should see every friend as a suicide victim. I am not saying that every suicide victim did not have a friend. But I think keeping in regular contact with one’s friends and keeping a lookout for each other is not only the best prevention but it is also a part of being a good friend. Most of the time the problem is much bigger than we can imagine after all suicide is a complex issue and as a mere friend we cannot fix every single problem that our friends have.

But we do have two ears and one mouth.

That is, we should listen twice as much than we speak and I don’t think it’ll hurt to shut our gabs for a moment and lend a friend an ear. Sometimes what could help is to just listen and acknowledge that they are going through a rough time, hard day at work or to hear how great their day was.

For those who wish to be able to do more at a time a friend expressing suicidal thoughts, it is also useful to educate oneself about suicide.

Diana Bello, Sponsorship Assistant

Written by Diana Bello, Sponsorship Assistant

The suicide has become a relevant issue nowadays. We all are concerned about this topic but only few of us know how to deal with this situation, how to overcome it, and what the main causes are.

Youth suicide is a very important and emotional subject. Most people do not realise that the highest rates of suicide actually occur among men in their thirties.¹ There is one suicide for every 100-200 attempts and a youth suicide, between 15 and 24 years, occurs every 100 minutes.²

“Suicide is a particular awful way to die: the mental suffering leading up to its usually prolonged, intense and unpalliated”.³ Suicide is presented not only during childhood but also in old age, and during the interval grows steadily age to age.⁴

Over 90 percent of people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the time of their death, and the mutual mental illness is depression. Depression in a young person is generated by experiences which are not positive. These include examples such as alcohol or drugs abuse, someone´s death, divorce of parents, being ridiculed or bullied by classmates or friends as well as many others.

As a result, when this type of illness is not treated in due course people’s overall life satisfaction is detrimentally affected.  Suicide, most of the times is the quickest solution for all the problems that people have. When people are in troubles life turns into a black tunnel, happiness is at the end of everything and help from others is null. Why? Because each person is seen to be responsible for their future and has to make their way through difficulties and problems that cannot often be resolved alone.

Loneliness and the desire to be in control of everything are factors considered in the first stage of this situation.

However, we are not the absolute owners of our lives, we depend on someone else and the purpose to be in this particular world is finally to complete our mission by interacting with individuals around us.

Youth suicide behavior could be reduced by promoting positive mental health. Therefore, parents and teachers should build solid and strong communication with children as well as improving relationships in order to gain confidence from them, advising them when is necessary and giving a space to share with others.

Thus, Gen Y will gain confidence in themselves, and will feel free to ask for help. They will also have a new way to look at their lives and their future.

1. http://responseability.org
2. http://suicide.org
3. Jamison, Redfield, Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide. 2000
4. Durkeim, 1897

Shaheena Anvar, Journalism Director

Written by Shaheena Anvar, Director of Journalism, Utopia Research Institute

There is only one word to describe mental health services for Indigenous Australians- appalling.

No- actually there are several words. Any synonym for appalling will do.

It’s funny how there is so much talk about getting Indigenous Australians more involved in society, especially ever since former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generation in February of 2008.

Yet…what has been done?

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing, the gap between the mental illness and well being of Indigenous Australians, compared to those of non-Indigenous heritage is very large.¹

Just to show how serious the situation of mental illness in Indigenous Australians really is, here are a few figures:

2004-05: approximately twice as many hospital separations of Indigenous Australians for ‘mental and behavioural disorders’ in states including Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, than would be expected, based on the rates of other Australians.²

2003-04: Approximately seven times as many hospital separations as expected for assault among Indigenous males. There was nearly 31 times as many for Indigenous females, when based on all-Australian rates. In addition to these shocking figures, there were also approximately twice as many hospital separations as usual for self-harm, for both Indigenous males AND females.

They are only a few simple figures, yet they paint a whole picture. And not a very nice picture at that. What makes this situation even worse, is that Indigenous Australians have the lowest rate of access to mental health facilities and services, compared to the wider Australian community.³

It has been way too long, that Indigenous Australians have been neglected from society. There is so much talk about inclusion from the government, yet it’s all talk and no action. Mental illness is a serious issue in itself, and it is simply not good enough to toss it aside only to realise years later that ignoring it was all a big mistake.

Geographic isolation ((http://www.mhcc.org.au/manual/ch14.aspx)) as an excuse? No. No way. In a first world country such as Australia, where many citizens gain first hand services whenever and WHEREVER they like, it does not make sense that Indigenous Australians who have occupied this beautiful land for so long, are simply left to fend for themselves. And in many cases, this means suicide.

We as a privileged society, need to stand up for those who cannot and be a voice for those who are silenced.

We need to stand by our fellow Indigenous Australians and let them know that the neglect will soon be over.

1. http://www.aihw.gov.au/indigenous/health/mental.cfm
2. http://www.aihw.gov.au/indigenous/health/mental.cfm
3. http://www.mhcc.org.au/manual/ch14.aspx

Amanda Axiak, Home Care Director & Web Administrator

Written by Amanda Axiak, Home Care Director & Web Administrator

The media and institutions of the government constantly pressure individuals into conforming to certain ideals such as attractiveness, rampant consumerism and the need to financially succeed.

It is the media that continually provide these pictures of normality that induce individuals to conform, for fear of rejection from greater society. It is these pictures that have the most impact on pressuring individuals to conform which further enhances issues of anxiety and poor self esteem.

The Daily Mail (2007, pg 1) stated that due to the increased distribution of digitally enhanced photos of women, 77 per cent of 11-14 year old girls indicated that they felt “fat, ugly and depressed”. One of the girls interviewed in this piece of research also stated that seeing pictures of beautiful women in magazines made her sad as she “could never be that beautiful”.¹

This is coupled with the fact that women’s magazines continue to perpetuate feelings of anxiety through their descriptions of perfection. For example, magazines such as ‘OK!’ and the American ‘Star’ magazine constantly make lists of the ‘best and worst bodies’ out of all well known celebrities. Recently, ‘Star’ featured a major section on the ‘Best & Worst Beach Bodies’ which wholly discouraged cellulite and any other imperfections, even though it has been noted that almost 98% of women have some degree of cellulite. ² Therefore, the fact that these images have negative implications on self esteem and that most of these images contain simply unattainable forms of beauty, should be proof enough that more needs to be done to stop the media projecting airbrushed ideals of beauty.

It has also been illustrated that these negative ideals of beauty may lead to serious eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa.³

Consequently, the Federal Government along with the Butterfly Foundation developed the Voluntary Industry Code of Conduct on Body Image which initiated an awards scheme that will recognize and celebrate organisations who have demonstrated positive body image principles.⁴ But after much fanfare, little is being done to promote positive body image and conform to this code of conduct.

To coincide with the introduction of this code of conduct, the Women’s Weekly featured Sarah Murdoch on the cover without any airbrushing or Photoshop work done to the image.⁵ However, even though they were trying to promote that ageing is beautiful, they still continue to present many “anti-ageing” products all over their website, mainly in the form of galleries and lists.⁶ Therefore, there needs to be more significant regulation of media outlets so that they are accountable for promoting positive body image in order to promote better self esteem across society.

Promoting a healthier and more positive body image where individuals are treasured for their human nature and personality rather than aesthetics is definitely the way forward in order to alleviate the growing issues of inadequate self esteem and deepening anxiety.

References:

1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-486393/Girls-bombarded-pictures-impossibly-perfect-women-day.html
2. Emanuele E, Bertona M, Geroldi D 2010. “A multilocus candidate approach identifies ACE and HIF1A as susceptibility genes for cellulite”. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology vol. 24, issue 8, pp.930–5; Wanner M, Avram M 2008. “An evidence-based assessment of treatments for cellulite”. J Drugs Dermatol vol. 7 issue 4, pp.341–5
3. http://nursing-resource.com/media-harming-peoples-body-image-say-psychiatrists
4. http://www.youth.gov.au/Documents/Ellis_Response_Body_Image_Advisory_Group_20100627.rtf
5. http://celebrities.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=525824&showcomments=true
6. http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/slideshow_ajax.aspx?sectionid=9885&sectionname=news&subsectionid=7776572&subsectionname=inpictures__anti-ageingsolutions_slide