Individual Written Assessment

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Mental illness also known as mental health disorders can involve a wide variety of
disorders like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, stress, anxiety and depression. Mental
health disorders or mental illness have become a great issue in every part of the world
(Memish et al., 2017). As the world becomes more developed, the amount of stress
taken by each individual has increased to a great extent which has, in turn, increased
the occurrence of mental health disorders. In Addition to this, the current pandemic
caused by the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the whole world has further increased the
seriousness of the mental illness. Every mental health disorder varies in their severity.
Mental disorders can have a severe impact upon a person as well as their concerned
families and it can also influence the far reach of society. Mental health disorders can
often become a massive problem for an individual as their influence a person’s
behavior, thinking and mood. Mental health concerns occur to many people from time to
time but these health concerns take the form of mental illness when the individual’s
ability to functioning is impacted by the ongoing symptoms of the health concern and
frequent stress is caused by it (Jones, 2013).Mental illness can make a person
wretched as it can cause problems in the person’s day to day life aspects like
employment, education, family, relationship, etc. Mental health experts, however, in
most of the cases, can decrease the impact of the symptoms through combining some
medicines with therapies. Mental illness has become a major health issue in the recent
era due to increasing stress on every human being. This report will evaluate one current
mental health agency in Australia, Helping Hands. Research will be conducted for
analyzing the agency’s current services and frameworks in its mental health practice.

The necessity of better mental health care has increased due to this increment in stress.
Moreover, now that the whole world is facing the massive pandemic caused by the
spread of the Covid-19 virus, the betterment of the mental health of every person has
become much more crucial (Yao, Chen and Xu, 2020). The first and foremost step for
the betterment of a person’s mental health is the identification of the signs and
symptoms of the mental disorder. These symptoms can vary depending on the aspects
like the disorder or the environment and circumstances which is experienced by the
person. Some of the common mental illness symptoms include confusion thinking,
excessive fear, low energy, suicidal thoughts, mood swings and even drug abuse and
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addiction. Mental disorders also have some physical symptoms like stomach and
headache or back pain. Mental health experts from all over the world have extensively
analyzed different mental disorders and some of the factors which are found to be
causes of mental disorders were some genetic as well as environmental factors. It has
been found out that genetically inherited traits are often the main cause behind mental
disorders as the majority of the people with mental illness were found to have a blood
relative with mental illness as well (Memish et al., 2017). Moreover, the risk to acquire a
mental illness can also be increased by certain genes. Other than that, exposure to a
toxic substance or environment before birth can also be a cause of some mental
disorders. In many cases, mental disorders were found to have a link with exposure to
alcohol and drug or toxic material prior to birth while in the womb (Yao, Chen and Xu,
2020). Other than that, everyday stress has always been a major cause of many mental
disorders like depression and bipolar syndrome. There has always been a huge
requirement of proper agencies for mental health care but due to the present pandemic
this requirement has further increases and the pandemic has increased the severity of
mental illness.

Mental illness in Australia is a common issue. Each year up to 20% of Australians aged
between 16-85 suffer from one or more mental disorders. Among all the types of mental
disorders experienced by Australians, the most common ones are depression, drug
abuse and anxiety. Moreover, many patients have often been identified to have been
suffering from multiple mental disorders like anxiety caused due to drug abuse or
depression caused due to anxiety (Australia, 2016). Up to 8.5% of the total 20% of
Australians suffering from mental illness experience multiple mental health disorders
and a single mental disorder is experienced by the remain 11.5% of Australians. It has
been estimated that 45% of the total population of Australia will experience one or more
mental health disorders in their lifetime (Daly et al., 2019). Among entire Australia’s
population within the age of 18 to 24 years, 45% of the people will experience mental
illness in the entire lifetime. Mission Australia’s youth survey identified that 22% of the
entire population of Australia between the age of 15 to 19 years met the criteria to
probably face a mental illness. The availability of effective medical treatment is very
essential for the elimination of mental health disorders from Australian citizens as it has
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been seen that mental health patients who received proper medical support from the
mental health agencies experienced an improvement in their mental health conditions
notably in 75% of the cases.

One of the most renowned Australia based agency of mental health care is
HelpingMinds. The organization began its operations on 20 th July 1976 as The
Association of Friends and Relatives of Mentally Ill through a public meeting for the
people who cared for patients of mental illness. The organization has experienced
considerable growth since its initiation and the name was changed to HelpingMinds in
2015. The organization has experienced notable growth over the years and now the
organizational has established a team which offers support across regional and metro
Darwin and WA in the entire Northern Territory of Australia (Yao, Chen and Xu, 2020).
The organizational operates for offering support to the carers of individuals suffering
from a mental health disorder. An individual related to a mentally ill person may feel an
emotional mixture which can include emotions like sadness, anger and loss. The
organization offers confidential and free support to individuals living in WA who support
their loved ones and relatives suffering from mental illness. The organization offers
various support programs like individual counselling for young and adults between the
ages of 7 to 17 years, in-school counselling for the students and even telephonic
counselling for people living in remote and regional areas of WA. Moreover, the
organization has also been offering counselling programs for children who face social
and emotional difficulties and have the risk to develop a challenge of mental health in
the cities of Broome. Carnarvon, Geraldton and Swan (Jones and Mortimer-Jones,
2020). Apart from this, the organization also carries out regular workshops and events
for the provision of a safe and sound environment to the mental health carers for
meeting each other, sharing their experiences, information and skills and developing an
empowerment sense among them to decrease their feelings of isolation, exhaustion and
distress. The organization carries out their workshops in every part of WA for the people
close to mental health patients and even for the young individuals who seen be at the
risk of acquiring any mental disorder (Memish et al., 2017).

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In Western Australia, the system of mental health is very complex therefore, the
organization of HelpingMinds provides assistance to the people living there for
navigating the system, protecting their rights and expressing their wishes. The
organization has a special advocacy team which offers assistance to the people of WA
for understanding their resources, information, rights, complaints and referrals. When
someone close to a person is unwell, the person may feel discouraged and low. The
organization offers support and comfort to such individuals through experienced staff
who have already experienced the situation which the individuals go through. The
organization includes Peer Support Workers who are capable of helping such
individuals by guiding them through their difficult times as they are already experienced
in such situations (Jones, 2013). The organization has also developed NDIS or National
Disability Insurance Scheme. The NDIS has been developed for offering assistance to
the individuals supporting their friend or family who are mentally ill and the illness have
a longstanding, significant and severe impact of the person’s day to day life. The NDIS
plan makes it possible for the organization to offer specialized mental health support to
the people living in Darwin, Hedland, Broome, Geraldton, or Perth Metro. The
organization also operates for supporting young people and children who are at the risk
of being mentally ill. Most of the challenges of mental health emerge prior to the age of
twenty-five. The earlier support is provided to the people who are at risk, the more is the
probability of them to cope with the emotions and challenging situations (Yao, Chen and
Xu, 2020). Therefore, the organization offers early intervention services like workshops,
practical support and counselling events for the youth of WA below 18 years of age and
are at the risk of developmental disorder or with emotional issues in the cities of
Kimberly, Pilbara, Gascoyne and Midwest. Apart from this, the organization also offers
information programs related to mental health for educating everyone about these
issues and that too for totally free of cost (Jones, 2013). The organizational leaders
believe that the main reason behind the growth of mental illness is low awareness about
the problem. Therefore, the organization carries out interactive and fun workshops for
raising awareness regarding mental health and its significance.

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Apart from this, the organization has also been successful in the provision of mental
health support to the country’s youth and children. Every young person who grows up
around mental illness can be heavily influenced by it. An experience involving a family
member suffering from mental health issue can be frustrating, confusing and even
scary. Therefore, the organization offers various free support services that are
empowering, informative and fun for helping young person understands the illness and
how they can cope with such challenges. When an individual close to a person
becomes mentally ill, the person may experience multiple emotions including sadness,
loss and anger (Goodell et al., 2011). Therefore, the organization offers confidential and
free support to individuals living in WA who support their loved ones and relatives
suffering from mental illness. The organization offers various support programs like
individual counselling for young and adults between the ages of 7 to 17 years, in-school
counselling for the students and even telephonic counselling for people living in remote
and regional areas of WA. Various workshops are delivered by the organization in the
cities like Pilbara, Kimberley, Midwest, Gascoyne and Swan. Qualified counselors have
been appointed by the organization for supporting the mental wellbeing of the young
individuals of these cities between the age of 6 to 18. The workshops are hosted ina
nurturing and fun environment which encourages the youth to take part in the
workshops and achieve positive goals of mental health. There are various student
workshops which are carried out by HelpingMinds such as C.R.A.F.T., FriendFest,
Healthy Horizons, Protective Behaviors and Stepping Stones. The organization has
been very committed to the embracement of diversity and the elimination of every form
of discrimination in the distribution of healthcare services (Cook, 2019). Every person is
welcomes by the organization irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, faith, lifestyle
and ethnicity. The organization has been very inclusive and accessible to ensure that
anyone who requires support can access the correct service and receive the proper
support that they require.

There are various aspect which have a huge influence over the services of a mental
healthcare facility like HelpingMinds such as diversity and comorbidity. There is a huge
diversity among the receivers of health care services which are provided by
HelpingMinds. This cultural diversity has significant influence over various aspects of
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mental healthcare such as the ways in which the consumers perceive illness and health,
the behavior of health seeking, consumer attitudes and systems of mental health
practitioners as well (Cook, 2019). Communication styles and language differences may
delay services to clients, creating tension between clients and providers, which can
negatively impact the client diagnoses. It can also hinder the health0seeking practices
of diverse clients. One of the main components of diverse culture is emotional
expression which can be very significant for efficiently discussing the issues and
symptoms faced by the patients. Moreover, how the consumers seek treatment of
mental health is also a very significant and diverse aspect which can influence the
services offered by HelpingMinds. There is a huge diversity in this aspect as every
person perceived the treatment differently (Hechanova and Waelde, 2017). Some
people often perceive the treatment of mental health as shameful. Other than that, the
understanding of some of the most prominent mental disorders is different in different
cultures. The onset of some disorders are ascribed by some cultures as possession of
spirits, black magic, etc. Such believes can make it difficult for the health carers of
HelpingMinds in effectively treating the condition.

Another major factor which can influence the services offered by HelpingMinds is
medical comorbidity. Medical comorbidity basically describes the condition involving a
person suffering from mental and physical health problems together. A person
experiencing medical comorbidity can be associated with adverse conditions of health
like disability, psychological problems and greater mortality. They require various kinds
of selected care including emergency hospitalization, poly-pharmacy, etc. Presently, the
care workers of HelpingMinds have limited experience and guidance for approaching
care decisions regarding the patients suffering from comorbidity. The present clinical
care and medical training which is provided to the care professionals have been based
on the guidelines and evidence for specific diseases and health systems(Goodell et al.,
2011). Therefore, the present medical care systems in the health care facility like
HelpingMinds itself, are not prepared enough for dealing with patients with comorbidity
as the care professionals are not educated and prepared for taking care of multiple
diseases rather they have only got specialized education and training for relatively
narrow aspects of mental and physical health of a person. The present medical care
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systems of the entire world including HelpingMinds are not prepared efficiently for
dealing with the patients experiencing comorbidity. The most cost effective and practical
treatment for comorbid patients is the approach collaborative care which involves
multidisciplinary teams for screening and tracking the mental conditions of the patients
(Wyn et al., 2020). HelpingMinds doesn’t have such teams thus comorbid patients can
experience difficulties in HelpingMinds as they are not fully prepared. Moreover, mental
health care professionals may encounter challenges in the provision of care to the
patients with comorbidity regarding aspects like health care delivery and clinical
decision making.

The above report has identified that mental health disorders or mental illness have
become a great issue in every part of the world. As the world becomes more developed,
the amount of stress taken by each individual has increased to a great extent which
has, in turn, increased the occurrence of mental health disorders. In Addition to this, the
current pandemic caused by the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the whole world has
further increased the seriousness of the mental illness. It can be concluded from the
report that Mental illness in Australia is a common issue. Each year up to 20% of
Australians aged between 16-85 suffer from one or more mental disorders. Among all
the types of mental disorders experienced by Australians, the most common ones are
depression, drug abuse and anxiety. Finally, the report made it clear that in Western
Australia, the system of mental health is very complex therefore, the organization of
HelpingMinds provides assistance to the people living there for navigating the system,
protecting their rights and expressing their wishes. The organization has a special
advocacy team which offers assistance to the people of WA for understanding their
resources, information, rights, complaints and referrals.

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References

Australia, M., (2016). Helping Minds, Private Mental Health Consumer Carer Network
(Australia). Mental Health Carers ARAFMI Australia and Mental Health Australia.

Cook, L. (2019). Mental health in Australia: a quick guide. Parliament of Australia, 14.

Daly, A., Carey, R.N., Darcey, E., Chih, H., LaMontagne, A.D., Milner, A. and Reid, A.,
(2019). Using three cross-sectional surveys to compare workplace psychosocial
stressors and associated mental health status in six migrant groups working in Australia
compared with Australian-born workers. International journal of environmental research
and public health, 16(5), p.735.

Goodell, S., Druss, B.G., Walker, E.R. and Mat, M.J.R.W.J.F.P., (2011). Mental
disorders and medical comorbidity. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2.

Hechanova, R. and Waelde, L., (2017). The influence of culture on disaster mental
health and psychosocial support interventions in Southeast Asia. Mental Health,
Religion & Culture, 20(1), pp.31-44.

Jones, P.B., (2013). Adult mental health disorders and their age at onset. The British
Journal of Psychiatry, 202(s54), pp.s5-s10.

Jones, R. and Mortimer-Jones, S., (2020). 16 The role of the Community Mental Health
Nurse. Nursing in Australia: Contemporary Professional and Practice Insights, p.161.

Memish, K., Martin, A., Bartlett, L., Dawkins, S., & Sanderson, K. (2017). Workplace
mental health: An international review of guidelines. Preventive Medicine, 101, 213-222.

Wyn, J., Cahill, H., Holdsworth, R., Rowling, L., & Carson, S. (2000). MindMatters, a
whole-school approach promoting mental health and wellbeing. Australian & New
Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34(4), 594-601.

Yao, H., Chen, J.H. and Xu, Y.F., (2020). Patients with mental health disorders in the
COVID-19 epidemic. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(4), p.e21.