People in the general community are pretty unhappy with the latest show of media bias in regard to mental health. In an article published yesterday, a petition with only 300 signatures has received coverage. Although consumers are happy that mental health is getting any media coverage at all, they are feeling frustrated that it seems to take a well-known personality to raise these issues. For most of last year, the Alliance for Better Access had an online petition running, which accumulated over 6500 signatures calling for the decision to cut the Better Access program to be reversed. That’s over 20 times as many people calling for change. When the Federal Government switched goal-posts two weeks ago, the Alliance for Better Access launched a new petition to restate our objectives in line with those changes. This new petition started around the same time as Mendoza’s petition and is approaching 1000 signatures already.
Patients who access mental health services are struggling to work out why the mainstream media is not picking up their story. It seems farcical and counter-productive for the media to rely on public figures to represent mental health consumers, when there are plenty of everyday people who can speak for themselves. Few stories have covered this issue from the vantage point of those most affected by mental health policies. This whole area is left wide open to misrepresentation.
None of that would be problematic if the sensitive area of mental health was being represented accurately by the popular spokespeople that keep getting media attention. But the reality is that serious questions are being raised about the accuracy of statements coming from people like Mendoza. This is extremely important, because if our well-known representatives are making inaccurate statements about mental health care, then our policy makers, who take their comments in good faith, end up being misinformed. A glaring example of this happened yesterday, when Mendoza told ABC news radio that campaigners in Australia “want to hold onto old 19th century style institutional beds.” If we are to take his comments seriously, then apparently he doesn’t know who he is talking about, or even what century it is. That may sound like a bold statement to make, so let me explain…
The bulk of Australian campaigners right now are calling for better access to psychological services in Medicare, which Hickie and his close network of colleagues have persistently argued against. Psychotherapy (‘the talking cure’) was not even around until the early 20th century. Further to that, psychologists were not delivering psychotherapy for the most part until at least the 1940s, circa WW2. It wasn’t until November 2006 that Medicare funded psychological services became accessible in Australia. That was less than 5 years ago, so what we are actually talking about is 21st century policy reform. In other words, the Australian campaigners are asking for evidence-based change in our mental health care policies. They do not want to see services cut on the say-so of a few key opinion leaders.
As much as I dislike reality television, one thing it does have going for it is that it brings the story of real people into public view. In the area of mental health, the overwhelming majority of people prefer not to step forward into the spotlight and draw attention to themselves. This typically leaves it up to representatives to advocate on their behalf. As I have explained however, this situation right now is a little different. People who have experienced mental health disorders are actually coming forward, telling the well-known (and sometimes self-appointed) spokespeople to step aside and let both patients and the general community speak for themselves. Despite this, the well-known figures who dominate the area have trained the media a little too well. Our biggest news sources in Australia just keep on giving public attention to a small network of well-known figureheads, who have something of a ‘celebrity’ status in the sector. In the area of mental health, we need more reality to enter the mainstream media, by giving voice to our mental health consumers – particularly when they are asking to be heard. The last thing we should be doing right now is drowning out the genuine perspective of the real people out there who disagree with well-known figureheads who are meant to be representing them.
Want to help?
Oppose the cuts to psychological services by signing our petition at at CommunityRun and Change.org. You can also join in discussion about this important issue on our Facebook Group.
If you would like to email your concerns to a politician, you might start by taking this directly to Prime Minister Julia Gillard: http://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm/. You can also send an eail to the Mark Butler, the Minister for Mental Health, or Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, the Shadow Minister for Mental Health, or Senator Penny Wright, senator for The Greens on Mental Health. Make your message loud and clear – ten sessions is not enough. Every voice makes a difference!
Your comments are welcome below