Australia’s private hospitals sector is set to test just how much Australians really know about some of the nation’s most prevalent mental disorders with the launch of its large-scale campaign, ‘What do you know…. about mental illness?’
Targeting depression, anxiety, substance abuse and eating disorders, Australia’s private mental health hospitals will over the next two months strive to better educate Australians on the lesser known symptoms for these mental disorders and the innovative programmes in private hospitals to treat them.
Launching an interactive series of ‘What do you know...’ quizzes both online and within its hospitals, the Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) is also aiming to dispel negative stereotypes and common misconceptions associated with mental illness and get the Australian public more actively involved and talking about the facts.
“While public discussion about mental illness in Australia has certainly improved over the years, we still have a long way to go before we can say that we’ve fully erased negative stigmas,” said Michael Roff, CEO of APHA. “Education plays a key part in this and our campaign will look to actively engage the public in a way that will drive home the facts.”
With almost half of Australians experiencing mental illness at some point in their lives, most people will know someone who is affected and Mr Roff stresses how important it is for the public to have a comprehensive understanding of the most common types of mental illness.