MENTAL health care is set to be addressed in a 10 year, $115 million commitment from the NSW government.
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The announcement is in response to Living Well: A strategic Plan for Mental Health in NSW 2014-2024, which was released before Christmas.
The plan takes a whole of community, whole of life and whole of government perspective developed by the commission through a year-long consultation process, which included online forums as well as community visits and submissions.
More than 2000 people contributed, 800 of which were people who live with mental health problems, which made it the most inclusive mental health consultation ever undertaken in NSW.
NSW Mental Health commissioner John Feneley said the commitment would see mental health care move away from crisis response to prevention and early intervention in communities.
"Regional NSW experiences mental health at the same rate, but they have greater trouble accessing services," he said.
"Communities are best placed to look at their needs and the government is embracing that so the community can wrap around those in need.
"The needs and challenges are different around NSW."
The plan will see the barriers between primary, GPs, and secondary, hospital, care be broken down and integrated.
"The hunt for services is where we lose people, and by integrating the services that won't happen."
Mr Feneley said drug related issues raised a new class of problems.
"Whether it's the short-term effect of a drug, or someone has a mental illness that has been properly diagnosed is a problem," he said.
"An integrated point of view will look at the whole person, rather than just one symptom.
"We're very aware that people with drug or mental health issues have a life expectancy 15-25 years less than the rest of the community, whether that's due to a heart condition, misadventure or suicide."
Mr Feneley said it was important mental health was owned by the community.
"Communities need to have conversations about the issues to find solutions, because people who are struggling with mental health are then more likely to come forward to talk about it," he said.
For more information visit www.nswmentalhealthcommission.com.au/our-work/strategic-plan.