>> Library of Resources: Online Articles

Mental Health of Australians
View Article

This report describes the main findings from the National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being (National Survey), which has also become known as the "Adult Survey" of mental health to distinguish it from complementary studies of mental disorders among Australians.
The National Survey was designed to answer three main questions:
1. How many Australians have which mental disorders?
2. How disabled are they by these disorders?
3. What services have they used for these disorders?

The National Survey was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on behalf of the Mental Health Branch of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care in the second half of 1997. It surveyed adults aged 18 - 99 who were identified in a cluster sample of households selected so that the results would be representative of the Australian adult population.

The Mental Health of Australians, Andrews et al, Mental Health Branch, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, April 1999.
National Mental Health Plan 2003-2008
View Article

Australian Health Ministers. National Mental Health Plan 2003-2008. Canberra: Australian Government, 2003.
International Suicide Rates - Recent Trends and Implications for Australia
View Part 1
View Part 2

Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (2003). International Suicide Rates - Recent Trends and Implications for Australia. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra.
A Better State of Mental Health For All: Effects of Multilingual Multi-Media Community Awareness Campaign
View Article

John Spiteri and Maria Cassaniti, NSW Transcultural Mental Health Centre. A Better State of Mental Health For All: Effects of Multilingual Multi-Media Community Awareness Campaign.
Glossary of Mental Health Terms
View Article

The Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre, Queensland Health (2002). Glossary of Mental Health Terms.
National Mental Health Report 2002: Seventh Report. Changes in Australia's Mental Health Services under the First Two Years of the Second National Mental Health Plan 1998-2000
View Article

Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing (2002). National Mental Health Report 2002: Seventh Report. Changes in Australia's Mental Health Services under the First Two Years of the Second National Mental Health Plan 1998-2000. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
Care-Giving and the Social Construction of 'Mental Illness' in Immigrant Communities

View Section: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Kokanovic, R., Petersen, A., Mitchell, V. & Hansen, S., 2001, Care-Giving and the Social Construcion of 'Mental Illness' in Immigrant Communities. Eastern Perth Public and Community Health Unit and Murdoch University, Perth, WA.
Reality Check: Culturally diverse mental health consumers speak out
View Article
Chronic Offenders and 'Poly-Users': Young People's Use of Social Infrastructure
View Article

It has been argued that service systems such as health, education and justice may be dealing with people who are more frequent users of services than on average. While we know that there are groups of young people who might be considered 'chronic offenders', we have limited empirical information on whether they are also poly-users of social services. This paper provides a brief overview on who are chronic offenders, what groups may be poly users, and what groups may have little to no access to resources at all. The paper argues that if our poly-users are also our chronic offenders then the clear implication is that our current armory of social services is not as effective as we are entitled to expect. After discussing this complex issue, the paper puts forward three research proposals to investigate the issue, only two of which are regarded as viable.

Emma Olgivie, Criminology Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, Australian Institute of Criminology (2000). Chronic Offenders and 'Poly-Users': Young People's Use of Social Infrastructure. Criminology Research Council Summary Report.
Matters of Public Interest - Health: Mental Illness
View Article

A speech made in Parliament by Senator Tierney, regarding mental illness. February 9, 2005.
Education and Training Partnerships in Mental Health
View Article

Prepared by Deakin Human Services Australia with funding from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care under the National Mental Health Strategy, February 1999.
Estimating the prevalence of mental disorders among income support recipients: Approach, validity and findings
View Article

Peter Butterworth, Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Estimating the prevalence of mental disorders among income support recipients: Approach, validity and findings. Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services, Policy Research Paper No. 21.
National Action Plan for Promotion, Prevention and Early Intervention for Mental Health 2000
View Article

A Joint Commonwealth, State and Territory Initiative under the Second National Mental Health Plan.
Prevention of Mental Disorders: Effective Interventions and Policy Options (Summary Report)
View Article

A Report of the World Health Organisation, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse in collaboration with the Prevention Research Centre of the Universities of Nijmegen and Maastricht.
Psychological injury in the workplace: Benefits of Preventative Strategies
View Article

Ms Di McDonald, Occupational Physician, Resolutions Pty Ltd. Psychological injury in the workplace: Benefits of Preventative Strategies, Recent Trends in Early Intervention for Psychological Injuries. Towards Australia's Safest Workplaces II Conference Paper. March 2004.
Bipolar Disorder: Costs
View Article

An analysis of the burden of bipolar disorder and related suicide in Australia. An Access Economics Report for SANE Australia 2003.
Schizophrenia: Costs
View Article

An analysis of the burden of schizophrenia and related suicide in Australia. An Access Economics Report for SANE Australia 2003.
Sexual Harassment: A Bad Business. Review of sexual harassment in employment complaints 2002
View Article

Sexual Harassment: A Bad Business. Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission.
The Dementia Epidemic: Economic Impact and Positive Solutions for Australia
View Article

The Dementia Epidemic: Economic Impact and Positive Solutions for Australia. Prepared for Alzheimer's Australia by Access Economics Pty Ltd, March 2003.
Exceptional Returns: The Value of Investing in Health R&D in Australia
View Article

Exceptional Returns: The Value of Investing in Health R&D in Australia. Prepared for The Australian Society for Medical Research by Access Economics Pty Ltd, September 2003.
Department of Defence (Defgram No. 480/2004) - Memorandum of understanding between the Department of Defence and Department of Veterans' Affairs for a strategic alliance in regard to counselling services by the Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service to Australian Defence Force members and their families.
View Article
Suicides: Recent Trends, Australia
View Article

Suicides: Recent Trends, Australia. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 1993 to 2003.
Morbidity of Vietnam Veterans: Suicide in Vietnam veteran's children
View Article

Morbidity of Vietnam Veterans: Suicide in Vietnam veteran's children. Australian Institiute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.
Newsletter of the National Mental Health Strategy: Perceptions
View Article

Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care. Newsletter of The National Mental Health Strategy:Perceptions. Issue 10, April 2000.
CSIG (Corporate Services and Infrastructure Group) People News
View Newsletter
Tackling stress in the Military: Army
View Article

Nic Paton, JDW Special Correspondent. Tackling stress in the Military: Army. Jane's Defence Weekly, November 26, 2002.
BeyondBlue.org.au Fact Sheet: Alternative Treatments
View Article
BeyondBlue.org.au Fact Sheet: Which Antidepressants Should I Take?
View Article
BeyondBlue.org.au Fact Sheet: Cognitive and Other Psychological Therapies
View Article
BeyondBlue.org.au Fact Sheet: Why Use Both Psychological Treatments and Medications?
View Article
Australian Defence Force Mental Health Strategy Fact Sheet: Depression
View Article
Australian Defence Force Mental Health Strategy Fact Sheet: Drink Spiking
View Article
Australian Defence Force Mental Health Strategy Fact Sheet: Party Drugs
View Article
Australian Defence Force Mental Health Strategy Fact Sheet: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
View Article
Australian Defence Force Mental Health Strategy Fact Sheet: Separation
View Article
Australian Defence Force Mental Health Strategy Fact Sheet: Steroids
View Article
Australian Defence Force Mental Health Strategy Fact Sheet: Suicide
View Article
Australian Defence Force Health Status Report: Workplace Injuries and Illness
View Article
Australian Defence Force Health Status Report: Mortality
View Article
Australian Defence Force Health Status Report: Mental Health
View Article
Department of Defence (Defgram No. 305/2002) - Employee Assistance Program -For Civilian Employees
View Article
Department of Defence (Health Bulletin No. 305/2002) - Critical Incident Mental Health Support Program
View Article
Department of Defence (Health Directive No. 246) - Australian Defence Force Health Promotion Guidelines
View Article
Department of Defence (Health Directive No. 260) - An Introduction to the Management of Mental Health Problems in the Australian Defence Force
View Article
Australian Defence Force Mental Health Bulletin (No. 2/03 March): Action through commanders
View Article
Australian Defence Force Mental Health Bulletin (No. 3/03 May): Sharing knowledge through the web
View Article
Australian Defence Force Mental Health Bulletin (No. 4/03 August): Information from the Nine Key initiatives
View Article
Mental health first aid training of the public in a rural area: a cluster randomised trial
Link to article on BioMed Central
Link to a PDF of the article
Major advances in bipolar disorder
Link to article on eMJA
Mental health first aid training in a workplace setting: A randomized controlled trial
Link to article on BioMed Central
Link to PDF of the article
The association between depression and isotretinoin use in acne. Isotretinoin (trade names Roaccutane & Oratane), is a vitamin A derivative - January 2003.
View article
Ng CH & Schweitzer I. (2003) The association between depression and isotretinoin use in acne. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry; 37:78-84
Schizophrenic and depressed people find smoking more rewarding.
View article
Spring B. et al. (2003) Cigarette smoking for comparably heavy smoking Schizophrenic, depressed and non patient smokers. Am J Psychiatry, 160:316-322
Faulty Gene Found to Trigger Schizophrenia
Link to article on www.abc.net.au
A faulty version of a gene involved in short-term memory has been shown to trigger schizophrenia in mice, and a similar gene appears to be common among schizophrenics, researchers announced today.
SAM-e helps mood & bone health
Link to article on www.latimes.com
S-adenosyl-L-methionine - popularly known as SAM-e (pronounced "sammy") - occurs naturally in the human body, where it plays a role in many important biochemical pathways, including DNA synthesis. In Spain, Germany and Italy, the compound is sold as a prescription drug for treating depression, liver disease and osteoarthritis.

Uses: In the United States, SAM-e is sold as a dietary supplement for improving bone health and mood. It's also taken to improve liver health, mental performance and fibromyalgia - which causes muscle and joint pain and fatigue - and to alleviate some symptoms of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

Dose: 400 to 1,600 milligrams a day for depression and liver problems, or 200 to 1,200 milligrams for bone health; taken in two to three separate doses on an empty stomach.

Precautions: Side effects are rare and mild, but include upset stomach, headache and anxiety. The supplement also may cause mania in people with bipolar disorder. Little is known about the effects of high-dose or long-term use of SAM-e.

Research: A 2002 report by the Department of Health and Human Services reviewed the results from about 50 clinical trials of SAM-e and concluded that the compound is "equivalent to standard therapy for depression and osteoarthritis." Several studies also suggested that SAM-e works faster and produces fewer side effects than many other antidepressants. The report concluded that although SAM-e was superior to placebo pills for treating some aspects of liver disease, it was not necessarily better than standard available treatments. Other trials, not addressed in the report, have failed to show that SAM-e is useful in treating fibromyalgia.
Cortisol levels as a marker for Depression
Link to pn.psychiatryonline.org
Aust & NZ Clinical Practice Guidelines for Panic Disorder & Agoraphobia
Link to www.blackwell-synergy.com
Summary of Cochrane Review that Debriefing could do more harm than good.
Link to www.informedhealthonline.org