Treat mental illness and drug use together, experts urge

Sam is now 20, but he first started using alcohol and cannabis when he was in year eight.

He was forced to leave two schools, and as he got older his drug use got worse.

Sam had always been worried about mental illness because of a family history, but one day it finally hit home for him.

"I got in trouble at one of my jobs I was ... sort of broke down, and I can't even remember much, I sort of just remember there was a guy that was a bit of a sleaze and said something that was a bit rough, and I sort of took a swing at him," he said.

"At the time I was working with my mother at her work... I sort of came to, locked in a meeting room, in tears, and didn't really know what was going on."

Sam decided to get help for his problem, and was referred to a service through a friend.

He was lucky - he found a professional who looked at all the issues he was facing.

"He didn't just deal with my addiction or anything like that, he sort of dealt with me as a whole person, my general state of mind and soul, and spirituality and stuff like that," he said.

"So it wasn't just focusing on one thing, it was focusing on everything."

But there are thousands of young people who do not have that kind of experience.

Compound problems

Psychologist Sophie Morson, from the Child and Youth Mental Health Service in Brisbane, has told a conference in Melbourne this week that many services are not set up to handle both drug and mental health problems.

She sees young people being turned away because although they have dual problems, they ask for help at a place that is only set up to deal with one.

"Someone might present with those issues to a service, such as a mental health service, with a coexisting drug and alcohol problem," she said.

"The person on the other end of the phone might hear that and think, 'The mental health problems are caused by the drug and alcohol problem, so if you just get the drug and alcohol problem fixed, your mental health problems will be sorted,' and may then refer them on to a drug and alcohol service.

"Unfortunately the drug and alcohol service might read the same thing into it and actually say, 'We can't help you, go back to the mental health service'."

The problem then is that these people feel that no one will help them. Ms Morson says they get discouraged and slip through the cracks.

"Young people may have that as their first attempt at seeking help, whether it's initiated by themselves or someone else on their behalf," she said.

"If they think that that attempt was futile and didn't end up anywhere, and that a service, which might already be quite stigmatised by them, such as a mental health service, isn't going to offer any support, they may tar all services with the same brush."

'No wrong door' policy

Ms Morson advocates what's known as the 'no wrong door' policy. In other words, it doesn't matter which service's door someone walks through: they should be treated for everything.

The policy is gaining some traction, and is the basis for a new federally funded mental health program called Headspace.

Ten Headspace centres, each with all the specialists under one roof, are being set up around Australia, and more are to come.

Headspace chief executive officer Chris Tanti says the centres will be able to deal with compound problems.

"If they need more specialised help for a particular presentation - so they need rehabilitation, for example, or a detox - then they would go to that specialist service to access that sort of help," he said.

Mr Tanti hopes the centres will particularly help young Australians.

"What we know about the people within this age range is that they find it very difficult to ask for help, so we want to make it as easy as possible for them to access help," he said. © 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation