Role of Social Workers for Maintaining Mental Health

Running head: ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKERS FOR MAINTAINING MENTAL HEALTH
Role of Social Workers for Maintaining Mental Health
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1ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKERS FOR MAINTAINING MENTAL HEALTH
Introduction
Mental illness is indicative of different kinds of the mental health conditions and the
disorders that have an effect on the thinking and the behaviour of an individual. Mental
illness has been found to very common within Australia. It has been found that the one out of
the five Australians who belong to the age group of 16-85 suffer from some kind of mental
illness within a year (Farrer et al. 2018). The various kinds of mental illness that is found in
Australia is in relation to depression and the substance use disorder. The mental illness in
Australia mostly affects the Australian youth who are of the age group of 18-24. It has been
found that these group has highest prevalence of the mental illness when compared to the
other age groups. There has been extensive research on the occurrence of mental illness
among the people in Australia. The literature talks about the causes that paves the path for the
mental illness among the population of Australia. There exists a gap regarding how the social
workers can prepare themselves so that they can successfully deal with the issue of the
mental illness in Australia. This literature review talks about the need of the workers for the
mental health preparation in Australia. This review throws light on how the social workers
can be prepared that can help in successfully dealing with the problem of the mental health in
Australia. The review also sheds light on the criticism of that of the conventional social work
practice and the approaches that can be undertaken that can help them in successfully dealing
with the patients of the mental health.
Mental health of people in Australia
There are various kinds of mental illness like the depression, schizophrenia, anxiety
disorder along with the eating disorders. According to Bailey et al. (2016), a concern
pertaining to mental health assumes the dimensions of mental illness in the event of the
symptoms of an individual causing frequent stress for a person. Mental illness can have a

2ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKERS FOR MAINTAINING MENTAL HEALTH
negative effect on the daily life of an individual. The mental illness that afflicts the
Australians are substance use disorders, anxiety disorders along with the depressive
disorders. It has been found that 54 % of the people in Australia having mental illness does
not take recourse to any kind of treatment that deteriorates their mental health condition. It
has been argued by Vigo, Thornicroft and Atun (2016), that the mental health of the people in
Australia are worsened owing to serious problems pertaining to detection and the accurate
diagnosis. It has been found that the proportion of the people having mental illness and
getting access to the treatment has been found to be half as compared to the people having the
physical disorders. It can be said that the access to the treatment can be said to be essential as
75 % of the people who are admitted to the public sector undergo improvements in their
mental health (Health.gov.au 2019).
The mental health care services play an important role in Australia in addressing the
signs of the mental illness. It has been found that in each day, there are six Australians who
die on account of suicide. Suicide accounts to be the leading cause of the death among the
people. The Australians have more chances of dying by suicide as compared to the skin
cancer. The men in Australia are at a greater risk of committing the suicide and they have
lesser chances of asking for help. It has been found in that year 2011, 76 % of the deaths were
from suicide among the Australian men (Aph.gov.au 2019). It has been found that there are
72 % of the males who do not ask for help in the case of a mental disorder. The groups that
face risks in relation to mental health are the indigenous Australians. The indigenous
Australians has rate of the suicide which is more than the double as compared to the non-
indigenous Australians. The LGBTI community in Australia attempts the suicide that is four
times higher when compared to those people who are straight (Bogo 2015). The attempted
suicide has been found to be an important issue and it has been found that around 65,300
people in a year want to take their lives.

3ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKERS FOR MAINTAINING MENTAL HEALTH
Need of the mental health preparation
The social workers should be prepared that can help them in dealing with the patients
of the mental health. The social workers should be prepared on account of the factor of
stigma. Stigma has been found to encompass the knowledge, attitudes along with the
behaviour of an individual. It has been found that three out of the four people having the
mental illness experiences some kind of stigma. According to Thompson (2015), the stigma
can prove to be harmful for an individual as it brings out the negative feelings in a person like
the shame, hopelessness along with the distress. The stigma that an individual faces also be
misrepresented in the form of the truth. Common stigma that is associated with the people
having the mental health is that the people are violent along with being unpredictable. It is of
increasing importance that the professionals who work with the people having the mental
illness should be capable of understanding the stigma that can greatly help the people
suffering from the issues of the mental health (Dieterich et al. 2017). Being knowledge able
regarding stigma can help in enhancing positive relationship in between the social worker and
the client.
The persons who have psychosocial disabilities have to face stigma along with
discrimination as there are misconceptions in the society regarding cause and the nature of
the mental health condition. It has been stated by Grinnell, Gabor and Unrau (2015), that the
patients feel vulnerable and hence it is important that the mental health workers should know
how to deal with the patients. The social workers should be trained that can help in properly
dealing with the issues in relation to mental health. The training can help the social workers
in offer therapeutic support to the patients. It can prove to be useful in the arena of psychiatric
evaluation that can help the social worker in understanding the case history of the patient. It
is important that the social workers are clinically trained that can help them in serving the
needs of the people who face mental health issues. The social workers should be prepared