Dissociation is a common and clinically significant trauma response. Clinicians must recognise it early and respond in ways that are safe, evidence-informed, and trauma-responsive.
A psychologist colleague recently described a session with a new patient. When she asked why the person had been referred to her, the patient replied: “My GP said you were such a lovely person.” I’m sure she is. But it raises a clinical question: is “lovely” really a sufficient basis for referral, given the range and complexity of presentations seen in general practice?
The number of Australians using medicinal cannabis has surged over the past five years. Around 700,000 Australians have used cannabis for their health in the past year.
In November, the Productivity Commission released its final report on the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement (the National Agreement). It found that while some good work is being done, the National Agreement hasn't provided the vision and direction we need to build the mental health system that we all want.
New national data suggest that the “average” dose of Medicare-subsidised mental health services provided by psychologists is around five sessions per year — raising uncomfortable questions about whether publicly funded care is adequately dosed, relationally safe, and fit for purpose.
Researchers at UQ oversee the research of mental disorders for the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study – the largest ongoing study to quantify disorders and diseases in the world. They’re the only team working outside of the United States to do so, and their data influences the global agenda for mental health.
For almost two decades, the Australian Medical Association’s Public Hospital Report Card has tracked the health of our public hospital system, and in the past four years, dedicated mental health editions of the report have highlighted the unique challenges patients face when accessing mental healthcare in public hospitals.
The Brisbane-based team quantifying mental disorders for the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) has identified that somatoform disorders — a group of mental disorders characterised by physical pain with psychological causes — are likely to be second only in mental health to depression burden of disease.
Over the last 30 years, there have been significant advances in our understanding of ‘complex trauma’ — repeated ongoing and often extreme interpersonal violence, abuse and neglect, occurring at any life stage or over multiple stages. People experiencing the impacts of complex trauma benefit from medical practice which is trauma-informed.
