Prof Tony Jorm and Dr Steve Carbone from Prevention United have written an article for The Conversation on the importance of flattening the ‘other’ coronavirus curve: our looming mental health crisis.
They argue for a focus on preventing new cases of mental disorders and on growing the capacity of our mental health-care system to manage any increase in people needing help.
Watch the full video here which has been embedded from YouTube.
The increased availability of treatment has not reduced the prevalence of mental disorders, suggesting a need for a greater emphasis on prevention. With chronic physical diseases, successful prevention efforts have focused on reducing the big risk factors. If this approach is applied to mental disorders, the big risk factors are adverse childhood experiences, which have major effects on most classes of mental disorder across the lifespan. While the evidence base is limited, there is support for a number of interventions to reduce adverse childhood experiences, including an important role for mental health professionals. Taking action on adverse childhood experiences may be our best chance of emulating the success of public health action to prevent chronic physical diseases and thereby reduce the large global burden of mental disorders.