Victorian mental health services provide expert advice and support for people of all ages.
Mental health issues affect people from all parts of society.
Anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm, substance abuse related disorders, suicide, and Schizophrenia are some of the more well-known conditions.
But there are many more.
About 45% of all people will experience a mental health problem at some time during their life.
And one in five people experience mental health problems each year.
These experiences can range a great deal in how they affect people, and for how long.
In Victoria, there is expert advice available to assist you with the treatment of a mental health issue.
Governments provide many services, and there are private options available too, helping you to get the support you need.
It's important to remember that good mental health is about more than accessing professional services.
Mental health is everyone's business.
Friendship, family, community, education, safety, freedom from violence and discrimination, a good standard of living, and many more factors all help us to build good mental health.
"Sometimes people might be in an emergency and need to call 000, or they're at imminent risk and maybe they need to call 000. Or maybe the psychiatric triage number in Victoria, you know, those services are available in emergencies or in crises."
For non-emergency mental health issues, Victoria offers public and private services.
And your GP can work with you to help make the decision on what is the best treatment for you.
You might access the public system, where many mental health services for severe mental health experiences are subsidised.
Or your local doctor can refer you to private mental health services such as counsellors, psychologists, and psychiatrists, with most initial sessions eligible for a Medicare rebate.
People with a disability resulting from mental health problems may be eligible for support under the National Disability Insurance Scheme, as it rolls out.
Support and advice is also available for family, friends, and carers of people with mental health conditions.
"It's really important that people with a mental illness call out for help as soon as possible, and it's great because services like ours are voluntary and we meet people where they're at and getting help early is really important. Getting support from your doctor and its health services, is important for recovery. It's not something that people can really cope with on their own. You need your family, you need mental health services, clinical services, to be able to support people to recover."
Mental health issues are experienced by people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds.
And services can provide help for a broad range of needs.
As you and your support team move through your plan, there can be a number of different experts.
"I work on a team to provide young people and families with psychological intervention to help support them through mental health difficulties. And we also link people in with other services that might be helpful to them. We help people who are coming in with issues like depression and anxiety, but it also varies to more distressing topics as well."
"I suffered from depression and anxiety and it's helped me to learn how to channel my mind to control those things. The services are definitely far most beneficial with individual counselling. I luckily had a psychologist that I really clicked with, and that I felt really safe and secure with, to help fix it and take control of my situation."
There are many different types of mental health professionals and services that you might use.
These can include GPs, psychiatrists, nurses, community workers, social workers, occupational therapists, peer workers, psychologists, and counsellors.
"The important aspect is to develop trust and build rapport first of all. People are sharing very personal things with you, and things that are very important. So it's really important to develop that trust, and then, once you've got that, then you can go on a bit of a journey with someone."
"When Adam took me on as a client, gave me a lot more confidence boost, just having that extra support."
Support and intervention services provide immediate help and support to people with a mental illness or psychiatric disability who are acutely ill or in crisis.
These services also help people to access other specialists or support they may need.
There are mental health services specifically for older people, as well as for people from diverse cultural backgrounds, including refugees.
Child and youth mental health services offer specialised mental health services as well, and there is a rural and remote areas programme, if you live in regional Victoria.
If you need support call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
If you need urgent assistance, contact Emergency on 000.
For more information visit: betterhealth.vic.gov.au/mentalhealth