Asylum seekers with mental disorders have a “practically non-existent” social network to support their safe return to the community, according to Mental Health Commissioner John Cachia.
This was a “worrying feature” given that 15 per cent of those placed in involuntary care over a seven-month period were asylum seekers.
“A new vulnerable group for mental disorder is emerging rapidly within our society,” Dr Cachia said.
The figure backs up concerns that emerged over the years about the mental health of migrants. Between 2007 and 2013, more than 530 migrants had been to Mount Carmel Hospital, according to statistics published in 2013.
Community involuntary care is timidly becoming the preferred option of following up difficult cases
Last December, the Jesuit Refugee Service issued a damning report describing the conditions at Mount Carmel as being so bad for migrants that many of them treated there asked to be sent back to detention. The report focused on the 74 migrants receiving inpatient psychiatric care at some point during their detention period between December 2013 and June 2014.
Dr Cachia said that when the Mental Health Act came into force, in October last year, it introduced patient-centred structures for involuntary care – forced care for the benefit of patients.
In the first seven months since the implementation of the law, his office received and processed 184 applications for involuntary admission, that is, about one a day. The majority – 96 per cent – were adults and the rest under 18. The gender ratio was two males for every female.
Dr Cachia said it was encouraging to see that 74 per cent of involuntary admissions were either discharged or continued to receive inpatient hospital care on a voluntary basis. Only 26 per cent required further treatment against their will.
He acknowledged the data was still scant given it was based on seven months from the implementation of the new Mental Health Act. But Dr Cachia said certain trends were already evident.
“Patients are being followed up within time frames established by law. Although not strictly comparable, length of stay in involuntary care is diminishing radically...Community involuntary care is timidly becoming the preferred option of following up difficult cases,” Dr Cachia said.