This article was originally published in The Advertiser and is republished with permission
The nation’s doctors are sounding the alarm over wait times of up to a year for specialist mental health care for teenagers, labelling it as “simply unacceptable”.
A new study by Flinders University and Black Dog Institute reveals GPs report on average wait times of nearly two months for psychologists and four months for psychiatrists.
It finds most almost 200 general practice medicos surveyed consider the delays “unacceptable” and say young people should ideally receive care within weeks, not months.
More than 90 per cent of the GPs said long waits increased the risk of young people disengaging from treatment, experiencing worse symptoms and being less likely to seek future help.
Eighty per cent of GPs told of an increase in adolescents presenting with depression or anxiety over the previous year.
Lead researcher Professor Bridianne O’Dea, an expert in child and adolescent mental health, said while many GPs reported stepping up their own care most rated their knowledge of the most effective strategies for supporting adolescents at this time as only basic or adequate.
“For a teenager experiencing anxiety or depression, a delay of several months can feel like a lifetime,” Professor O’Dea, from the Flinders University Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing, said.
“Parents are worried, young people are struggling and GPs are doing everything they can to support them while they wait ... often under significant pressure and without enough resources.”
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ (RACGP) Dr Karen Spielman, whose special interest is psychological medicine, said the findings reinforced existing concerns.
“In fact, yesterday I received a message from a psychiatrist that they would be happy to see my young patient and could likely offer them a slot in 12 months ... this is simply unacceptable,” Dr Spielman said.
RACGP SA chair Sian Goodson agreed GPs were “increasingly managing complex patients, and spending additional time trying to navigate difficult referral pathways”.
“It can be very difficult for teenagers to access the mental health care from psychologists and in particular, psychiatrists when and where they need it,” she said.
Dr Goodson urged increased Medicare rebates for GPs to provide longer consultations, as well as improvements in referral pathways form GPs to public mental health services.
Australian Psychological Society (APS) CEO Dr Zena Burgess said there was a shortage of psychologists nationwide and more investment in “psychological science and evidence-based policies” was needed.
“(The APS) ... has for a number of years been calling for improvements to affordability and accessibility of mental health care for young Australians,” she said.
In response to the issue, Flinders researchers have created a new pilot SMS-based psychological program – While We Wait – aimed to help GPs support their young patients which they invite doctors to trial.