Stigma towards mental illness in Asian nations and low-and-middle-income countries, and comparison with high-income countries: A literature review and practice implications.

Background: Stigma related to mental illness (and its treatment) is prevalent worldwide. This stigma could be at the structural or organizational level, societal level (interpersonal stigma), and the individual level (internalized stigma). Vulnerable populations, for example, gender minorities, children, adolescents, and geriatric populations, are more prone to stigma. The magnitude of stigma and its negative influence is determined by socio-cultural factors and macro (mental health policies, programs) or micro-level factors (societal views, health sectors, or individuals' attitudes towards mentally ill persons). Mental health stigma is associated with more serious psychological problems among the victims, reduced access to mental health care, poor adherence to treatment, and unfavorable outcomes. Although various nationwide and well-established anti-stigma interventions/campaigns exist in high-income countries (HICs) with favorable outcomes, a comprehensive synthesis of literature from the Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), more so from the Asian continent is lacking. The lack of such literature impedes growth in stigma-related research, including developing anti-stigma interventions. Aim: To synthesize the available mental health stigma literature from Asia and LMICs and compare them on the mental health stigma, anti-stigma interventions, and the effectiveness of such interventions from HICs. Materials and Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar databases were screened using the following search terms: stigma, prejudice, discrimination, stereotype, perceived stigma, associate stigma (for Stigma), mental health, mental illness, mental disorder psychiatric* (for mental health), and low-and-middle-income countries, LMICs, High-income countries, and Asia, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation/SAARC (for countries of interest). Bibliographic and grey literature were also performed to obtain the relevant records. Results: The anti-stigma interventions in Asia nations and LMICs are generalized (vs. disorder specific), population-based (vs. specific groups, such as patients, caregivers, and health professionals), mostly educative (vs. contact-based or attitude and behavioral-based programs), and lacking in long-term effectiveness data. Government, international/national bodies, professional organizations, and mental health professionals can play a crucial in addressing mental health stigma. Conclusion: There is a need for a multi-modal intervention and multi-sectoral coordination to mitigate the mental health stigma. Greater research (nationwide surveys, cultural determinants of stigma, culture-specific anti-stigma interventions) in this area is required.

Equitable psychiatry, telehealth, and the COVID-19 pandemic: Analysis of national data.

Background: At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was foreseen that the number of face-to-face psychiatry consultations would suffer a reduction. In order to compensate, the Australian Government introduced new Medicare-subsidized telephone and video-linked consultations. This study investigates how these developments affected the pre-existing inequity of psychiatry service delivery in Australia. Methods: The study analyses five and a half years of national Medicare data listing all subsidized psychiatry consultation consumption aggregated to areas defined as Statistical Area level 3 (SA3s; which have population sizes of 30 k-300 k). Face-to-face, video-linked and telephone consultations are considered separately. The analysis consists of presenting rates of consumption, concentration graphs, and concentration indices to quantify inequity, using Socio Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) scores to rank the SA3 areas according to socio-economic disadvantage. Results: There is a 22% drop in the rate of face-to-face psychiatry consultation consumption across Australia in the final study period compared with the last study period predating the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the loss is made up by the introduction of the new subsidized telephone and video-linked consultations. Referring to the same time periods, there is a reduction in the inequity of the distribution of face-to-face consultations, where the concentration index reduces from 0.166 to 0.129. The new subsidized video-linked consultations are distributed with severe inequity in the great majority of subpopulations studied. Australia-wide, video-linked consultations are also distributed with gross inequity, with a concentration index of 0.356 in the final study period. The effect of this upon overall inequity was to cancel out the reduction of inequity resulting from the reduction of face-to face appointments. Conclusion: Australian subsidized video-linked psychiatry consultations have been distributed with gross inequity and have been a significant exacerbator of the overall inequity of psychiatric service provision. Future policy decisions wishing to reduce this inequity should take care to reduce the risk posed by expanding telepsychiatry.

The new World Mental Health Report: Believing impossible things.

OBJECTIVE: We examine whether the recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on global mental health uses severity of illness as a criterion in priority setting for resource allocation. CONCLUSIONS: The WHO does not prioritise severity in the recent landmark World Mental Health Report. It recommends instead the insuperable task of scaling-up interventions for broadly defined mental health conditions, including milder distress, amongst over a billion people, with the majority living in low- and middle-income countries. Schizophrenia, the most severe and disabling of all psychiatric illnesses, is relatively neglected in the WHO report, and the disability associated with bipolar disorder is underestimated. This is inconsistent with the ethical principle of vertical equity, where the most severe illnesses should receive the greatest priority. The global mental health movement must refocus on deinstitutionalisation, and ensure adequate community and general hospital treatment for severe illnesses, especially the 24 million people with schizophrenia.

Real-world performance of Victorian hospitals during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

OBJECTIVE: Victoria has low numbers of general adult psychiatric beds per capita by Australian and international standards. Hospital key performance indicators (KPIs) such as bed occupancy rates, emergency department waiting times and inpatient lengths of stay are proximal measures of the effects any shortfall in beds. We investigate the real-world performance of Victorian hospitals during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and the extended lockdowns in 2020. CONCLUSIONS: The Victorian inpatient psychiatric system is characterised by high bed occupancies in many regions, extended stays in emergency departments awaiting a bed, and short inpatient lengths of stay, except for patients with excessively long stays on acute units (over 35 days) who are unable to be admitted to non-acute facilities. At the end of 2020, bed occupancies were high (above 90%) in 10 regions, with three regions having bed occupancies over 100%. However, state-wide average bed occupancy improved between 2019 (94%) and 2020 (88%). Other KPIs remained steady because acute hospitals did not experience the expected pandemic mental health demand-surge. For a more complete picture of the impact of the pandemic, Australia needs interconnected, centralised data systems.

Emergency department visits for psychiatric care during the first lockdown in Melbourne.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the nature of patients presenting to an emergency department (ED) during the first lockdown in Melbourne. METHOD: This study compared adult patients in the North West Area Mental Health Service catchment area who presented to the local ED during the lockdown (16 March-12 May 2020) and the control (16 March-12 May 2019) periods. RESULTS: The control and lockdown periods included 321 and 332 patients, respectively. Compared to the control period, patients with non-English speaking backgrounds and presenting complaints of suicidal behaviour were lower, whereas patients with anxiety symptoms and needing compulsory assessments were higher in the lockdown period. Diagnostically, the lockdown period included more patients with anxiety disorders, substance use disorders and psychotic disorders. CONCLUSIONS: ED access for acute psychiatric care can vary depending upon certain patient characteristics during lockdowns.

Quality of written informed consent forms for electroconvulsive therapy in Australia: a comparative analysis.

OBJECTIVES: We compared the quality of the written informed consent forms for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in Australian jurisdictions. METHOD: For this comparative audit-type study, a checklist was developed to compare informed consent forms from different jurisdictions. The main information sources for consent forms were government health department websites and Google. The directors of clinical services were contacted if a consent form was not available through a web source. RESULTS: Majority of the informed consent forms covered information about ECT, general anaesthesia and alternative treatments, supports available for decision making, and a reference to the right to withdraw consent. Missing information affected information areas such as likely outcome if no ECT, lack of guaranteed response and cultural and linguistic supports. CONCLUSIONS: A standardised consent form that can be used across all jurisdictions can help improve the ECT practice.

Indian psychiatrists in the Australian workforce - From brain drain to brain exchange.

Worldwide doctors have been migrating from low- and middle-income countries to high-income countries for decades. This contributes to dearth of doctors, especially psychiatrists, in low- and middle-income countries - often referred to as 'brain drain'. Australia has a fair share of psychiatrists of Indian origin in its workforce. This article endeavours to re-formulate the migration phenomenon as 'brain exchange' through the experiential insight of the authors along with published literature and discusses the contribution of substantial number of psychiatrists of Indian origin to the Australian society. Furthermore, the article highlights the potential for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists to be a leader in this area by facilitating globally responsible practice by giving back to countries from which psychiatrists originate. The key observations and recommendations are transferrable to other similar countries and equally to other medical specialities.

A 6-month study on the pattern of emergency department presentations for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders during COVID-19 lockdown.

This study investigated the characteristics of patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders presenting to emergency departments (ED) for psychiatric treatment during the first six months of the COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne. This cross-sectional data-base study included adult patients in the North West Area Mental Health Service's catchment area who had visited two emergency departments (EDs) during the study period (March 16-September 16, 2020) and the control period (March 16-September 16, 2019). Compared to the control period (n = 467), the lockdown period (n = 451) had a 6.8% more psychotic disorders. This increase was particularly noted for schizophrenia and acute transient psychosis. In a sub-analysis of psychotic disorder group alone, compared to the control period, more patients were discharged to the community in the lockdown period. In another sub-analysis, compared to the mood disorder group, psychotic disorder group included more patients in 26-35 and 46-55 age groups, men, emergency triage category, and hospital admissions and higher mean duration of ED stay in the lockdown period. Overall, patients with psychotic disorders had increased ED presentations and appeared to be in an emergency state when they present to ED during the lockdown.

COVID-19 and ECT - a Victorian perspective.

OBJECTIVES: (i) to describe the operational strategies implemented to practise electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) safely, and (ii) to explore the effect of the lockdown and operational strategies on the characteristics of patients who received ECT during the initial 6 months of the COVID-19 lockdown. METHODS: At first, the operational strategies that were implemented at the Broadmeadows ECT suite were summarised. Subsequently, the characteristics of patients who received ECT in the lockdown period (16 March-16 September 2020) and in the comparison period (16 March-16 September 2019) were compared. RESULTS: Many safety measures were implemented, and there was no COVID-19 infection among mental health staff and patients. In the lockdown period, the number of patients (23.9%) and the total number of ECTs (29.4%) were less. This pattern was more prominent among the aged patients. CONCLUSION: Safe practices are essential to provide ECT during lockdowns even when the community transmission of COVID-19 is high.

Natural cause mortality of mental health consumers: A 10-year retrospective cohort study.

People with mental illness have substantially lower life expectancy than the general population, with mortality from natural causes most commonly attributed to cardiovascular diseases. The study aim was to identify characteristics of consumers who died of natural causes between 2009 and 2018 at one of Australia's largest publicly funded mental health services. Data were collected with a retrospective medical record review of 102 consumers. Mean mortality age was 52.4 years (SD = 10.7) (with females 51.9 years [SD = 12.0], and males 52.7 years [SD = 9.9]), which was more than 30 years lower than the Australian population. Cardiovascular diseases were the most frequent mortality cause (39%), followed by respiratory conditions (23%), cancers (20%), and all other causes (19%). Sixty (61%) consumers had at least three co-occurring physical health conditions. Seventy-five (74%) smoked tobacco. Consumers who died from cardiovascular diseases were less likely to attend specialist medical follow-up for their condition (P = 0.004), and more likely to die at home (P = 0.001). Consumers whose mortality age was above 55 years were more likely to have three co-occurring physical health conditions (P = 0.034). Consumers whose mortality age was below 55 years were more likely to have sub-optimal nutritional intake (P = 0.014) and higher body mass index (P = 0.008). There is a critical need to close the life expectancy gap for consumers. This requires dedicated focus on reducing mortality risk due to modifiable clinical characteristics which lead to consumer mortality. Mental health nurses play a key role in helping reduce consumers' mortality and morbidity risk through prevention and early intervention strategies.