Mental Health in the Community: Psychosocial Issues, Informal Supports, Professionals, Gaps, and Advocacy

MENTAL HEALTH IN THE COMMUNITY 1
MENTAL HEALTH IN THE COMMUNITY
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MENTAL HEALTH IN THE COMMUNITY 2
Mental health in the community
Introduction
It is estimated that in Australia, 45% of people will experience mental health disorder
during a time in their life. There are close to 1 million Australia adults who are depressed and
another close to two million who experiences anxiety yearly(Wells, 2013). This calls for
agencies and professionals to think of ways to help people suffering from these mental health
conditions to access better mental health services (Schneider et al. 2010). Mental health is not
about illness alone, but rather the mental wellness and means the ability to take daily life
activities satisfactorily and with pleasure(Shin and Liberzon, 2010).Depression comes in many
types and can range from minor symptom which is still dangerous to very severe
depression(Schneider et al. 2010). The most common mental health condition in Australia is
anxiety disorder and also comes in different types. This paper will reveal a scenario in a case
study and try to analyze it and review literature available for mental illness.
What are the psychosocial issues for the person in the case study?
The Psychosocial issues in John’s case include a problem with the personal relationship,
withdrawal, denial, sad and angry towards caregiver, friends, himself and school(Silberbogen et
al. 2009). His girlfriend braking off the relationship with him seems to have threatened his
integrity hence may be feeling unworthy socializing with his peers fearing they may ask him
questions or laugh at him (Tol et al. 2011).
What informal supports are available to john?

MENTAL HEALTH IN THE COMMUNITY 3
Informal support means the social supports that are exercised by the family members, media,
friends, bosses, teachers and core workers, etc. to control social behavior and they may include
sanctions (Shin and Liberzon, 2010). Sanctions refer to the mechanism of social control which is
a form of external control and are either positive or negative (Sasaki et al. 2015). When they are
positive rewards are used and when negative punishment is used for social control (Schneider et
al. 2010). Positive sanctions that John's mother could be rewards such as telling him that if he
doesn't eat, he will grow thing and no woman will ever look at him(Schneider et al. 2010). This
means instead of taking something away from a person to punish them; you present them with an
undesirable outcome to control theirbad behavior(Sasaki et al. 2015).Positive sanctions
(punishment) means, “Presenting a negative consequence after an undesired behavior is
exhibited, making the behavior less likely to happen in the future”(Sasaki et al. 2015). Some of
the known positive sanctions are praise, suggestions, flattery, persuasions, slogan, and rewards as
discussed earlier. She could also use the negative sanction which may include ceasing to talk to
him(Sasaki et al. 2015). Some common negative sanctions are gossip, laughing, censorship,
overt action, threat, and commands. There are additional four identifiable types of informal
support and are:(1) informational support (e.g. receiving advice), (2) emotional support (e.g.
emotional support in a crisis), (3) appraisal support (e.g. being listened to) and (4) instrumental
support (e.g. getting help to get to and from hospital).
What professional and/ or agencies are involved or likely to be involved with John?
Therapeutic professionals
Though there has been considerable evidence that psychodynamic psychotherapy in traditional
time was not helpful, it continues to persist even though it has been feared to even cause harm. It