The unfolding crisis in NSW public psychiatric services coupled with the national emergency of domestic and family violence could create a catastrophe of epidemic proportions.
The already stretched mental health services are in a dire emergency phase, with up to 200 psychiatrists threatening to leave the public system after being locked in a dispute with the state government, and 60 mental health beds in public hospitals already closed.
Meanwhile, 2024 will be remembered as one of the worst yet for violence against women. According to Australian Femicide Watch, 101 Australian women were killed last year.
The collision of these two crises is set to have a devastating impact on the lives of women and children trying to escape domestic violence, making it near impossible for victim-survivors to find mental health support and increasing the risk of suicide.
Dr Kathryn Drew, who recently resigned from her position as a psychiatrist in northern NS W and has worked in public mental health for over 30 years, told me, “It is appalling that public mental health services do not provide a range of evidence based cost effective psychological interventions for a range of disorders, including trauma based conditions. These are services that should be available in any adequately resourced universal coverage health system.”
Statistics on the number of deaths by suicide following the trauma of domestic violence are sparse in NSW, but figures released late last year by the Victorian Coroner’s Court showed that up to 25 per cent of people who had taken their lives, had experienced family violence prior to their death. Research by ANROWS (Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety) revealed that in Queensland 35 per cent of women who died by suicide had a history of family violence. ANROWS also found a significant link between domestic and family violence and youth suicide.
Professor Chris Ryan told ABC radio this week that in his 34 years as a clinical psychiatrist he has never seen the public mental health system in worse shape. He described it as almost apocalyptic.
Sadly, his observations mirror our experience in the domestic and family violence sector. At Mary’s House Services, our Sydney-based domestic and family violence refuge and support service, it is common for women and children seeking our help to be living with mental illness caused by their experience of violence and trauma.
Addressing clients’ mental health needs is critical for their care and recovery, but it is already near impossible to find the support they need. Even our clients who are fortunate enough to be allocated funds via the government’s Victims Support Scheme, struggle to find a counsellor with any availability.
Thanks to generous donations from the public, Mary’s House Services has been able to engage an experienced trauma counsellor, but only once a week, and so much more is needed if we want to save lives and improve the health of the women and children we support.
We recently supported a woman, Sophie*, who was at risk of taking her own life.
Because of the already limited number of allocated mental health beds and psychiatric staff in NSW, it required extensive strategising by our social workers to have Sophie admitted to a public hospital and get her life-saving psychiatric care. Even so we knew, because of the long queue of other patients with mental health critical care needs, that Sophie would be discharged too quickly and that would mean she would once again be at risk of homelessness and abuse. Sadly, our predictions came true.
Last year another client, Jennifer *, who had no financial resources, was attending the emergency department of public hospitals on a regular basis, seeking help for her significant mental health concerns, but being consistently turned away due to lack of hospital resources. It proved impossible for our determined and expert social workers to find an available psychiatrist, who would agree to provide pro bono or low-cost services that Jennifer desperately needed for a medication review.
Reports claim that NSW has the lowest spend per capita for mental health services in Australia. Yet rates of psychological distress have almost doubled in the last decade.
So, despite the best efforts of organisations like Mary’s House Services (which incidentally is not funded by government) the support needed for women like Sophie and Jennifer is already woefully inadequate. The worsening NSW psychiatric care crisis will exacerbate the problem and mean that women and children trying to escape domestic and family violence will be among the most deeply affected.
Talk to your GP or a health professional if you are experiencing symptoms of mental illness.
If you need support, help is available.
Lifeline 131114 www.lifeline.org.au
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467 www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au
Kids Helpline 1800 551 800 www.kidshelpline.com.au
If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au for online chat and video call services.
Feature image: Yvette Vignando, CEO of Mary’s House Services.