We must continue to help those who need it

IT WAS early January this year, a couple of weeks before dad passed away, when I realised I needed help. It wasn’t just dad, mind you the decline in his condition was unbearable. It was a number of things.

I’m 39 years old and regardless of how blessed my life has been in countless ways, there have been just as many challenges.

Some are public, given the nature of the work I do and the media profile I have acquired, but most of them are private.

The ones that have really caused me pain have never been discussed in newspapers or magazines, and most likely never will be.

I say most likely because I never thought I’d share this either, but when I read this week that lowerincome Australians are being priced out of mental health care I felt sick.

As a new convert to this phenomenon the Americans call ‘therapy’, I feel a passionate need to speak up and use my platform.

I sat on a chair at the hospital around the corner from dad’s room and slid into the Instagram DMs of a psychologist I’d followed online for a few years.

I look back now at the message and it reeked of desperation. For good reason. It was.

My plea for help was answered and I can honestly say that I don’t know if I’d still be functioning right now had it not been.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a work in progress and it’s been brutal at times.

I’m not a ‘talk about your feelings’ kind of girl, nor do I enjoy reliving past traumas, but I can promise you that finally facing this head on will be the greatest thing I ever do. And not just for me but for my daughter.

Seeing a psychologist isn’t for everyone. I think most people would benefit in some way but some human beings are genuinely lucky enough to have life figured out for the most part and good on them.

It’s those who struggle that I worry about and I can assure you it’s far more Australians than you might think. In fact statistics confirm nearly half of us will be affected by mental illness at some time in our life.

Despite the prevalence of this illness, and the varying forms and gravity of its symptoms, the stigma surrounding mental health remains and while it might be slowly lifting, that needs to happen at a much faster rate.

Our younger generation, when facing mental health struggles, generally see things differently. They are much more open and seem to have no shame in talking about it.

And yes you might think it’s because some of them are ‘woke’ and ‘entitled’ and subscribe to a modern form of ‘victim mentality’ — and that may be true in some cases — but even then an acknowledgement of the importance of mental health must never be met with derision and must be identified as an essential first step in eradication, permanently, of that obscene stigma I’ve referred to above.

Life can be, and for the most part is, quite challenging at times for all of us. And acknowledging that doesn’t make us ‘soft’.

There are aspects of life today that older Australians would look at and think are much easier for those who have come after them.

I agree with that but I also think younger Australians are entitled to look at some elements of the ‘good old days’ and conclude that they’re the ones who are doing it tough.

It actually doesn’t matter whether you were born in the 1950s or 2000s, nor whether you’ve endured war, a great depression or Covid lockdowns — if things are getting too hard, you should be able to get help.

In a country like Australia, access to mental health services should be as easy as going to a GP and I know that’s no piece of cake these days either for a lot of people. The new government was criticised heavily for reducing subsidised psychological sessions when they came into power.

I now know first-hand how expensive it is to see a psychologist but am fortunate enough not to have to make a choice between that and paying off my mortgage.

Australians who need help and were getting it now have to stop.

The cost of living crisis is hitting hard and mental health plans are often the type of expenses that are the first to go. It should never be a choice between paying for groceries and seeking help for your mental health. Unsubsidised sessions can cost hundreds of dollars for an hour and even with a rebate this support is too expensive for far too many.

In a country like Australia your socio-economic status should never determine your ability to get medical help, whether that’s a broken bone or mental health. Most people have experienced both and I know what I’d rather deal with every single day of the week — and it’s not my head.