Mental health in Manly Warringah

Mental health is a huge issue on the peninsula.

More than 30 people – mostly males – have taken their lives in the area in the last 12 months.

There is a coalition of mental health and suicide prevention services locally, including Avalon Youth Hub, Community Care Northern Beaches (CCNB), Lifeline Northern Beaches, One Eighty, Brookvale Community Health Centre, Community Northern Beaches, headspace Brookvale and Northern Beaches Hospital (NBH).

But frontline staff have been frustrated at the lack of communication between services, meaning locals have been falling through the cracks, with devastating results.

In one of 150 submissions to the NBH parliamentary inquiry in August, CCNB – which supports those at risk of suicide or have attempted suicide – claimed a man who presented to the hospital’s emergency department from attempted suicide was discharged without CCNB being informed. Tragically, he took his life 24 hours later.

Manly MP James Griffin spearheaded August’s first Northern Beaches Mental Health Summit at Parliament House on August 27, where more than 60 representatives from Northern Beaches organisations, government, community-based service providers and advocates met to explore how they can improve mental health service delivery.

“Thankfully, we have been very well-serviced by mental health providers and organisations, however, the collaboration and referrals between organisations and services can be improved,” says Mr Griffin.
 
“Having had the opportunity to meet and hear from a multitude of mental health services and groups, we knew it was time to do something.”

CCNB supports more than 2000 people at any one time, including through its suicide prevention program called Seasons, which is commissioned by the Sydney Northern Primary Health Network.

CCNB is also funding and delivering The Northern Beaches Suicide Prevention Communication Protcal Project, which is a collaboration between Northern Beaches Police Local Area Command, Lifeline, the Local Health District and Northern Beaches Council.

The project delivers a coordinated care response to a person and/or their family immediately after a serious suicide incident. In this instance, every time there is a serious suicide attempt or a death by suicide, the first responder (usually police but not always) contact CCNB who respond and support the affected family and friends within 24 hours. As well as offering support, the project will capture data and identify service gaps that again will help improve services.

Lifeline Northern Beaches, which provides immediate crisis support services to the local community through the 24-hour crisis line, has just reached 50 years of service.

With a team of 20 personal and financial counsellors available for appointments Monday to Friday, in conjunction with Northern Beaches Council, Lifeline has also been providing community training sessions on how to support someone in a crisis.

The Balgowlah office also offers a face-to-face counselling service, and CEO David Thomas says, “Lifeline Northern Beaches’ purpose is to create connection with people in crisis and help them through it.

“We fulfil our purpose by offering a number of free and low-cost mental health support services.”

It recently launched its new crisis text service, Text4Good, which gives people who don’t want to speak on the phone an opportunity to connect with a crisis supporter between 6pm and midnight.
 
“During the trial period of Text4Good, more than 40 per cent of help seekers said they would not have used another Lifeline service if text had not been available,” says Mr Thomas.

In February, then Education Minister Rob Stokes, announced $88.4 million over four years to fund a counsellor or psychologist for every public high school.

Meanwhile, Northern Beaches councillors Vincent De Luca, Stuart Sprott and Kylie Ferguson recently submitted a motion for Council to become a model for leadership in suicide prevention. They want to develop innovative ways to support peninsula residents and those in our regional sister city, Brewarrina, to support indigenous leaders in their suicide prevention initiatives, and have invited councillors to sign The National Suicide Prevention Charter.

“I am alarmed the Northern Beaches is experiencing the same suicide statistics now as to the 1990s, which is when there were the highest rates,” states Cr De Luca OAM, who was a delegate to the first Australian Youth Suicide Prevention Convention in Federal Parliament in 1997.

“One death is too many, and by uniting to talk, support and encourage help-seeking, we can save lives.”