The Press SATURDAY, AUGUST 26, 1961. Conference On Mental Health

Press, Volume C, Issue 29602, 26 August 1961, Page 10

The Press SATURDAY, AUGUST 26, 1961. Conference On Mental Health

The establishment of the Canterbury Mental Health Council was in itself evidence of a change in medical and public opinion on a subject that not long ago was talked about in whispers. The conference on mental health arranged by the council for the next two weeks should demonstrate how profound that change has been and how the prospects of sufferers have improved. With the financial help of the Canterbury University Students’ Association, the council has been able to organise an impressive programme, partly for professional workers concerned with mental health and partly for the general public. For the former —doctors, social workers, psychologists, teachers, and so on—the sessions will be an opportunity to learn from each other and from eminent specialists, including visitors from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. It is difficult to over-estimate the potential value to those concerned of these wide-ranging discussions. The public for their part will be able to learn from experts something of the advances that have been made recently, of the value of proper, early treatment, and of the great help they themselves can give former patients in their readjustment to community life. Significant evidence of progress in the preservation

of mental health and the treatment of disorders can also be found in the annual report of the Health Department this year. Perhaps the most heartening information in the report is that the demand for mental hospital beds is not keeping pace with the growth of population. Advances in treatment and treatment at an earlier stage of illness combine to reduce the number of cases that become chronic. In addition, the department has been able to build up its medical staff and is employing more psychologists and psychiatric social workers. The development of outpatient services and co-operation with the psychiatric departments of general hospitals help to ensure that patients receive appropriate treatment. The department encourages its staff to take an interest in the activities of mental health associations, and will, the report says, “ particularly welcome positive moves ... to combat “ stigma and prejudice “directed against all forms “of psychiatric disorder “wherever it may be en- “ countered and wherever “ under treatment ”. In accordance with that policy the department has given its help in the organisation of the Christchurch conference, which should do much to encourage a healthier, more enlightened, and more confident attitude to mental health.