‘Unprecedented’ number of young people permanently incapacitated by mental illness, Mark Butler says
An unprecedented number of people in their 20s and 30s have been labelled permanently incapacitated, mostly because of depression and anxiety, the federal health minister says.
Mark Butler says the Federal Government has been forced to grapple with the impact of more mental health diagnoses, including a “distorting effect” on workforce distribution, healthcare access and care models.
However, the government had not taken a stance on whether the increase is an artefact of overdiagnosis, Mr Butler told the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists’ annual conference on Tuesday.
“[Do they] reflect that there were significant gaps in our mental health provision, particularly in primary care and youth mental health? How much reflects that gap in treatment that has been a feature of mental health systems across the world for a long period of time?
