MattCrawley

Hi folks. Wife and I are looking to probably moving to OZ next year, and Im busy doing my research.

My wife and I both have mental health issues (we take medication for it, thank God for the NHS) and have had some support from doctors/counsellors etc. We don't continually suffer or anything, I'm just saying that because of our treatment in the U.K we are able to carry on our lives relatively normally.

How is mental health viewed in Australia? Is it treated seriously by doctors? Is there good support available?

spouse of scouse

Hi Matt. As in the UK, the first step in Oz is to find a GP that you're comfortable with - ask for their recommendation for a psychologist/psychiatrist for you and your wife's particular conditions.

I doubt if there's any difference between the UK and Australia regarding how 'seriously' medical practitioners treat mental health. The main difference will be the cost, although there's Medicare here it's not free like the NHS.

The only negative I hear about mental health in Australia is the shortage of beds in psychiatric units - I know this from personal experience as my daughter-in-law was having a psychotic episode one night. I rang PET (Psychiatric Emergency Team, free service) and although they were fabulous, came out immediately and calmed her down a bit, there wasn't a mental health facility bed available. I know that because they rang every possible facility, only to be told 'no go'. That's only relevant to where I am though (Perth, WA), I don't know about other states.

For support in the community, it tends to be self-help groups here, who meet up regularly. There is also online groups.

Best of luck.

Edit: you could contact the primary association for your particular conditions prior to coming over, to have a chat with them. Look up 'mental health services' in the State you're thinking of moving to, there's a lot of info there.

goldchoccycoin

If you need support from a psychologist occasionally or for certain periods when your condition is worse/you're stressed etc. then you are able to get a 'Mental Health Plan' from a GP which covers a portion of the cost of the pyschologist.

For example, within a clinic I work at the cost for the clinical pyschologist is $220 per hour. Medicare [which is the Aus version of the NHS] (with a MHP) refunds $124.50, so it costs $95.50 out of pocket. You can only get a maximum of 10 medicare funded visits per year so it can be expensive.

Bulk Billed (which means the whole cost is covered by medicare) appointments are available but only to those on Centrelink (dole or disability or pension money). For a new migrant you cannot access Centrelink for 2 years - so support could be expensive.

Medication is partially funded through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme - so is not free but heavily subsidised - might be worth having a google to see how much your particular medication may cost you.

Best of luck.

Amazulu

Have you passed the Australian immigration medical? I don't know if they look at mental health issues but I'm sure others on here will be able to tell you more

As an advanced and wealthy nation, Australia takes mental health seriously but as this can be expensive there are undoubtedly some gaps and issues, but this will be no different from other western countries like the UK

Good luck

Kapri

Hi
I am a mental health nurse.
Mental health is taken very seriously here in NSW. The public system will treat you if you need a hospital admission and there are community teams to follow up or prevent admission.
For milder MH problems, there are plenty of psychologists available privately. Your GP will be able to write a mental health care plan which gives you access to 6 sessions per year (sometimes more, depending) although you will have to pay a small gap fee.
if you have private health cover there are many options including access to private in-patients facilities and also their day programmes.

MattCrawley

Thanks everyone, very helpful