Reorganisation of Mental Health

As someone who has gone through the mental health system in NZ I feel that it is lacking very much in a number of areas. Firstly I believe that rather than having seperate psychologist and psychiatrist sessions both professionals should be present so that medication, if required for treatment, can be monitored and adjusted for the patient with greater accuracy. Secondly I feel that the whole process should be less clinical I find that the approach to mental health at the moment is far too clinical and does not focus on the benefit of the patient the only focus seems to be getting them out of there as quick as possible and is in all honesty counter intuitive of what the service should be. Thirdly I believe sectioning an individual should have more sign offs or different approaches and should not be used as a threat from practitioner to patient as I have seen it used in the past, yes undoubtedly for some patients this is the best option but for others it makes them feel even more isolated than they were before. Finally, and this is quite simple, listen to your patient! If they feel that they are displaying symptoms for a certain disorder rather than dismissing it do your due diligence and look into even if you think it is improbable it will at least make them feel heard.

I believe that by incorporating this into our mental health programs in NZ will drastically improve the overall mental health of all Kiwis and promote a mentally healthy environment for them to thrive in.