A similar approach could be adopted for the Australian Government initiative Partners in Recovery (PIR). The aim of PIR is to support people with severe and persistent mental illness, their carers and families by coordinating and facilitating services across multiple sectors to work collaboratively (Department of Health, 2014). Once again, the eligibility requirements could be extended to include those recovering from addiction problems with anxiety based issues. In this instance, a person recovering from addiction and experiencing anxiety might greatly benefit from the increased linkages to services that PIR can offer, thus enhancing the prospect of a successful recovery. Lastly, the Support for Day to Day Living in the Community (D2DL) initiative of the Australian Government aims to support people with severe and persistent mental illness who experience social isolation to participate in social, recreational and educational activities within their community (Department of Health, 2016). This is an important aspect of recovery for people with a mental illness and those experiencing anxiety issues due to the complex journey of sobriety should not be excluded from this type of scheme. Peters (2015) argued that the key to combating addiction lies in social connection and people experiencing mental illness as a consequence of sobriety have a significant need to be socially included in order to have a better chance at avoiding relapse. Addiction Services Concurrently, when the existing Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) services are considered, there is a great need for more mental health provision within each service. While there are in fact many rehabilitation centres that do acknowledge comorbidity, little is done within the public sector to counter the anxiety-based psychosocial issues that can arise post treatment. A suggestion to address this issue is twofold. Firstly, there is a need to enhance addiction treatment services by having the provision of a mental health counsellor within the service itself, who is employed for the specific task of providing mental health support for those receiving treatment for addiction problems. Secondly, in order to counter the mental health problems for the addict once back in the community and the high potential for relapse, ongoing community-based counselling needs to be made available. GP Services The Australian Government currently has a scheme called Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS), which enables GPs to refer people to mental health professionals and counsellors (Department of Health, 2015). There is also the Better Access to Psychiatrists,
A similar approach could be adopted for the Australian Government initiative Partners in Recovery (PIR). The aim of PIR is to support people with severe and persistent mental illness, their carers and families by coordinating and facilitating services across multiple sectors to work collaboratively (Department of Health, 2014). Once again, the eligibility requirements could be extended to include those recovering from addiction problems with anxiety based issues. In this instance, a person recovering from addiction and experiencing anxiety might greatly benefit from the increased linkages to services that PIR can offer, thus enhancing the prospect of a successful recovery. Lastly, the Support for Day to Day Living in the Community (D2DL) initiative of the Australian Government aims to support people with severe and persistent mental illness who experience social isolation to participate in social, recreational and educational activities within their community (Department of Health, 2016). This is an important aspect of recovery for people with a mental illness and those experiencing anxiety issues due to the complex journey of sobriety should not be excluded from this type of scheme. Peters (2015) argued that the key to combating addiction lies in social connection and people experiencing mental illness as a consequence of sobriety have a significant need to be socially included in order to have a better chance at avoiding relapse. Addiction Services Concurrently, when the existing Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) services are considered, there is a great need for more mental health provision within each service. While there are in fact many rehabilitation centres that do acknowledge comorbidity, little is done within the public sector to counter the anxiety-based psychosocial issues that can arise post treatment. A suggestion to address this issue is twofold. Firstly, there is a need to enhance addiction treatment services by having the provision of a mental health counsellor within the service itself, who is employed for the specific task of providing mental health support for those receiving treatment for addiction problems. Secondly, in order to counter the mental health problems for the addict once back in the community and the high potential for relapse, ongoing community-based counselling needs to be made available. GP Services The Australian Government currently has a scheme called Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS), which enables GPs to refer people to mental health professionals and counsellors (Department of Health, 2015). There is also the Better Access to Psychiatrists,
Comorbidity-and-Recovery-Is-increased-mental-illness-a-consequence-of-sobriety-1.docx