“I am proud to announce the new providers for the Distress Brief Support program trial, as it brings us closer to start this crucial service that will help people manage their distress before they reach a crisis point,” Victorian Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said.
As someone who, once upon a time, struggled with the deepest distress to the point where I didn’t want to live anymore, I am unsure whether I should laugh or cry.
Anyone who has ever experienced “distress” knows that it doesn’t send you a card announcing that it will be arriving for a visit.
“Dear you, this is Distress, your old and faithful friend.
“I’ll be coming for a visit soon; get some snacks; we are getting personal this time!
“With love, Distress.”
If you’ve ever experienced distress, you know it creeps up unannounced and takes you on a journey down the abyss of excruciating pain, whether you want to go on the ride or not. There seems to be no way out — and one day, you can’t even look away from it because the usual ways you numb your pain don’t work anymore.
Something or someone will trigger you, making you think you’ve had enough and can’t take it anymore. You’re ready to do anything to end your inescapable pain. You never thought you’d ever feel this way, but suddenly, ending it all seems like the only way out.
These thoughts are irrational. I was fortunate to heal with the help of ongoing mental health support, but not everyone is that lucky. Many end up in the emergency room when things unexpectedly and suddenly get too overwhelming.
The Distress Brief Support program trial feels like a band-aid solution because it fails to address the root of the problem(s).
“Australia already has a chronic shortage of psychologists, and many are ... burning out,” according to a media release from the Australian Psychological Society dating back to February 24, 2022.
“APS psychologists are desperate to help their patients but unsure how long they can keep going.
“Before the pandemic, one in 100 psychologists were unable to take new patients, this is now one in three. Australia is only meeting 35 per cent of its target for psychologists according to the National Mental Health Service Planning Framework, which makes it the biggest gap among all mental health professions.”
One of the APS’s recommendations from 2022 was to provide immediate relief with “a Federal Government investment of just $5 million to create more than 3500 supervisors and 6000 additional psychologists within two years.”
Consulting the APS might have been a wise move before launching the Distress Brief Support. Investing in long-term solutions, such as expanding an overwhelmed workforce, is far more effective than funding a program that will only last a couple of years.
Just like food and shelter, mental health is a basic human right. We need more than temporary fixes; we need real, immediate and lasting change.
