It was also Hats On for members and their guests to raise funds for the "Lift the Lid" campaign. Club members and guests supported this year’s Lift the Lid on Mental Illness fundraiser and wore their favorite headgear at the meeting. Hat Day is Australian Rotary Health’s National annual fundraiser for mental health research.
Having been at the "front line" of helping people to experiences more fulfilling lives, Professor Norton gave us an authoritative address on the state of mental health in Australia and was presented in three acts: the good, the bad, and the frustrating.
The first act was the bad news. Disorders of mental health are an epidemic in Australia. In just the past 12 months alone, about 20 percent of Australian adults and 14 percent of children and adolescents will have suffered from a mental health disorder. They account for about 12 percent of the overall disease burden in Australia - that's the third largest disease burden after cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Act two, the good news, is that we have an array of pharmacological and psycho therapeutic treatments that are evidence based and have been shown to be highly effective in treating these widespread and impactful emotional disorders which afflict so many.
In the last act, the frustrating, Peter discussed that while emotional disorders are extremely prevalent and can be treated effectively and consistently, unfortunately only about 15 to 20 percent of people who have an emotional disorder will ever receive evidence based treatment for their disorder. In effect, millions of Australians do not receive proper treatment for their illness.
Thank you to Mark Pinoli for his excellent summary of Peter Norton's address to Members.
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