Ask a Pro Live: Navigating the Mental Health System October 2019

What are your thoughts on mental health awareness and stigma? 

Increasing mental health awareness and helping to break down stigma to have open and honest conversations is so important, and I agree this should be a priority. When we speak to young people on the forums who are thinking about speaking up about their mental health, fear of being judged or others not understanding is up there with one of the biggest reasons for not seeking help!

There is a big role for schools, families and communities, and i definitely feel that mental health awareness and literacy is increasing globally! The work of anti-stigma campaigns have been really important, but there is also things we can all do!

By talking about mental health and making it a conversation that we have with our friends, family and community, we can help to educate others and them know we are a safe person to talk about mental health with. Sharing your story and offering a piece of your experience can help others feel comfortable, or even checking in! You never know when your compassion and courage to share your experiences may inspire someone else to speak up too 

@Jess1-RO Agreed! Building on mental health awareness is a shared responsibility and the more people who speak up the more commonplace it will become to reach out when we're having a tough time  

We are talking navigating the mental health system tonight and we've had some great questions. This next question is one I've often asked myself so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this Jess. 

How I can receive more affordable support once my mental health care plan is finished up?

@Jess1-RO  I totally agree with you and can understand a lot of people's concerns. My own family did not believe that I needed to see a psychologist or psychiatrist, and would say things to me like 'why can't you just get over your issues?', 'why can't you just enjoy life' or 'what do you have to be depressed about?'. I didn't have much support from friends either, because they would say things like I was making up my struggles to get attention.

This is such a great question!

How I can receive more affordable support once my mental health care plan is finished up?

I am just going to take this question one step further back first: What is a Mental Health Care Plan/Treatment plan and what does it mean?

For those who may be new to navigating the mental health system, a Mental Health Treatment Plan/Care Plan is something you work collaboratively with your GP to develop. If you are eligible for a Mental Health Treatment Plan, you may be able to access up to 10 individual appointments in a year with a mental health professional at a subsidised rate, and 10 group sessions.

Mental health professionals may set their own rates, so depending on who you see, some or all of the appointment is covered by government subsidy under medicare. For those looking to access mental health care plans, your GP is the best starting point- they can help you with the Treatment Plan and refer you to a mental health professional.

So you have a Mental Health Care Plan, but what happens after 10 sessions? Where can you find affordable mental health support?

We know that often young people need more than 10 sessions. So, where can you go? Depending on the services you are accessing, and what support you need you may be able to find more affordable appointments through headspace centers, lifeline centers, outreach community teams, bulk billing mental health clinics, drop in centers, youth centers, recovery colleges, schools, universities, online peer support or counselling services... there are a lot of avenues (sometimes so many it can be overwhelming!).

One of the complicating aspects of navigating the mental health system is that access is often dependent on the area you live in, and each service has a specific set of criteria. So, it can be helpful to see what is in your local area and weigh up your options! WayAhead have a directory of mental health services, as do Health Direct that can help you find services near you. It may mean doing some research to find something that works for you, or accessing a range of services in conjunction!

@Jess1-RO I totally relate when you say all the options can be overwhelming. I know it's taken me a long time to figure out what I need to do to stay mentally well. It's also an ongoing thing that I'll have to do for the rest of my life. Sometimes that can be an overwhelming thing to accept and come to terms with. I've found at times when there are long wait-lists and I'm tired of taking traditional routes to address what's going on for me, thinking outside the box helps. 

Everyone is different but for me finding a community helps, getting involved in some kind of creative pursuit, exercising in some way. The experiences and relationships you have can be therapeutic and for me seeking that out has been really helpful. 

There are areas of the health system that we can’t deny need improvement. A part of acknowledging everyone's experiences is bringing up that there times when service delivery falls short for a number of reasons. It’s complex to get into but what we’d like to say about this is that there are ways of advocating for yourself and exercising choice.

We'll be putting together a list of ways you can contact local members, blogs to write about your experiences and committees to join if that's your thing. We want to acknowledge here that sometimes you're doing everything you can and it feels like you're not getting anywhere. We had a question about this: 

What should I do if my current treatment isn’t working?

Thank you to everyone who has joined us tonight We don't have long left so I'm going to throw a few questions up that we have. I look forward to reading more of the communities thoughts on Navigating the Mental Health System. 

What improvements would you like to see in the mental health system in the future?

What apps are available to help me navigate the health system?

What improvements would you like to see in the mental health system in the future?

I'd like to see more education and awareness of the mental health system and related services at education institutions, especially high schools where vulnerable individuals can tend to go unnoticed and neglected. I haven't been in high school for a long time now though, so I don't know how much mental health awareness and education has changed, but I hope that it does become more important in the near future!

Education is essential @drpenguin! I share your hope that awareness will continue to grow as a priority for education sectors I definitely feel there is movement in that direction!

What improvements would you like to see in the mental health system in the future?
I would like for it to be made easier for young people to access medications, and for there to be more information provided to them about how they can cover the cost of medications. I have private health insurance but I still find myself getting confused as to what exactly it can cover. I also had no idea that you can claim psychology sessions on some health insurance plans. So, I think there should be more awareness about these kinds of things.
I also think that most people need more than 10 sessions a year. It would be great if the number of sessions on a mental health care plan could be increased somehow.

So true @ecla34! It is 100% okay to chop and change until you find the person, service or support that works for you!

@WheresMySquishy I think you have raised a really great point about learning more about private health insurance; there are a lot of things you may be able to claim through your health fund and working out what you are eligible for can really help! It is also something to think about when joining a health fund; which one is going to give you the best mental health support

Could not agree more @Bre-RO! I love your suggestion of "thinking outside the box"; mental wellbeing is broad and there are so many therapeutic areas you can build on to support recovery alongside seeing mental health professionals!

What should I do if my current treatment isn’t working?

Every person is unique, which means that what they need, what works and what doesn’t will also be unique! If something is not working for you, I would recommend having a conversation about what is working and not working with your mental health professionals, and supporters. Your recovery is about you, and it is 100% to say something is not working for you.

Sometimes a different approach, different treatments or a combination of things can make a big impact!

The good thing is that mental health and wellbeing is so broad, and there are so many different treatment approaches available. As @WheresMySquishy mentioned earlier, sometimes changing it up and seeing someone new can help you find new approaches that work for you!

I think I have three top tips from my experience when I felt a treatment or approach isn't working for me:

1. Try and have an open and honest discussion with your support system about what works and doesn't work for you
2. It can be really helpful to understand the difference between mental health professionals so that you can see the sorts of support available to you!
3. Don't be afraid to try something new. Many times I was hesitant to try new approaches when I felt like 'nothing was working'. But with support from my family, and mustering some courage to be open to new ways of supporting my recovery, I've learnt a diverse toolkit of skills and resources I can use

What improvements would you like to see in the mental health system in the future?

What a question, there are so many things I would like to see but I think they all boil down to four key principles or approaches:

• Connection and Partnership: I want to see mental health services continue to work together in partnership to support those accessing services to have a more seamless experience no matter where you enter the system
• Lived Experience at the centre!: I feel like this is an area that is gaining a lot more recognition, and I want to see the voice of lived experience continue to drive all decisions services make to improve their services
• Holistic approach to wellbeing: Wellbeing is so broad and encompasses all aspects of life, mental health is one aspect but to live a fulfilling life I would like to see the system focus on all aspects of life from social, physical health, housing, work, study etc
• Working within families and communities: We are not islands, and I am happy to see services challenge themselves to think about the role of family and community 

@Jess1-RO  I agree that families can make a big difference in the mental health of individual members. I have seen people from particular cultures deal with individual members' mental health issues through a more 'collective' approach that places less responsibility on the individual to 'make themselves get better'. It's a bit hard for me to explain here, but this approach has benefited people from particular cultures and societies.

What apps are available to help me navigate the health system?

The really exciting thing about living in a digital age is that new technology is helping us address gaps and make self help and mental health support more accessible!

Head to Health is a service that collates the best of online supports and apps across the country and is differently worth a look!

ReachOut has the Next Step tool which can be a helpful tool to connect you with relevant services!

We also spoke about the WayAhead directory and Health Direct which can be so helpful in finding resources. Also, my health record is another opportunity to be able to share your story and experiences across different health professional!

There are so many, that we may link even more tomorrow!

Thank you for sharing all those links @Jess1-RO 

We've had a really uplifting conversation tonight, which is the perfect way to finish Mental Health month. There has been a lot of chatting about recovery, treatment and healing which has been so heart-warming to read through  

We had a question that is an important one. What happens when you're feeling like you don't have options and start to feel at risk. We had the following question from a courageous member: 

What happens when no one in the system will help?

What happens when no one in the system will help?

Thank you to the incredibly brave person who raised this question I cannot begin to describe the number of times I have asked myself this question, and worked with others who have asked this question. 

I could not more highly recommend reaching out to a crisis or helpline. They are there 24/7 (or longer hours), willing and ready to lend an ear. Even if we are accessing support, often our counsellors and mental health workers are only accessible during short hours. If we aren't accessing support, then it can feel like there even less options. That is why helplines are there... to offer support in the moment when you need them  

If you are feeling like you need support, feeling distress, or starting to feel unsafe- you are not alone and someone is there to hold the load with you. There is eheadspace, kids helpline, lifeline, beyondblue, suicide call back service and so many more on our urgent help page!

Thank you for sharing those crisis lines @Jess1-RO. 

That wraps up our Ask A Pro Live on Navigating the Mental Health System. If anyone has any questions following tonight's chat please feel free to share  

We will also be getting back to anyone interested in getting involved in advocacy, committees, sharing experiences etc.. 

Thank you to everyone who participated tonight and to everyone who asked questions  

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions for this discussion tonight! There are still so many more we didn't get to, so please feel free to ask any further questions here 

HUGE thank you to @WheresMySquishy @drpenguin and @ecla34 for jumping online, sharing your thoughts and experiences- you are all such inspiring and strong leaders in this community 

And and thank you to @Bre-RO for leading this discussion tonight! 

Good night everyone! 

@Jess1-RO  Thank you for sharing your experiences. I learned a lot of new things.

@Jess1-RO thank you so much for sharing your experiences and advice it was really helpful and so amazing to read through

Have you had experience of developing a Mental Health Care Plan? And if so, what advice do you have for someone who may be thinking of seeking mental health support through this avenue?

That you're not obligated to stick with the same professional for all 10 sessions, and that ultimately you're allowed to choose what you want to focus on. You're definitely allowed to pause and say: this isn't working for me, what needs to change? This is something I think was covered well by other people earlier in the chat 🙂