Page 143 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 May 1989
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SCHIZOPHRENIA WEEK
Ministerial Statement
MR BERRY (Minister for Community Services and Health), by leave: The Chief Minister and I have just attended the launch of the ACT Association for Mental Health's publication "Out of Sight, Out of Mind". This publication is the result of a cooperative venture by the Schizophrenia Association, the "Canberra Times" and the Canberra City Rotary Club and is an expression of their concern about the issue of mental illness in our society.
The publication and the launch itself are significant because they provide an opportunity to address some of the fears about mental illness and put right some badly distorted pictures of what schizophrenia is about. Schizophrenia is much more common than many people realise. Prevention of the illness still eludes us.
Schizophrenia is common to all societies. It affects people regardless of their position in society. The illness tends to show up at an early age - in particular amongst adolescents and young people who are going through the stressful transition to adulthood and moving from the school environment to the pressures of joining the work force. The safe transition to adulthood usually leaves the possibility of developing schizophrenia behind us all, but a few middle-aged and elderly people can still develop the disease.
It is estimated that 150,000 Australians will suffer from schizophrenia at some time in their lives. This means that 150,000 Australians will need strong support, understanding, care and consideration of individual families, friends, work colleagues and the resources our society can provide.
The perception among us that a sufferer of schizophrenia has a "split" personality is incorrect. We are talking about a whole person - one who is subject to chemical imbalances which lead to periods of disordered thinking and unusual behaviour. It is a condition where the whole person is sometimes removed from "reality". There is a rare condition which has to do with multiple personality but this is not schizophrenia.
The illness of schizophrenia can most often be associated with genetic, biochemical and environmental factors. This does not mean that a person is born with the illness - no one is born with schizophrenia - but at birth some people are predisposed towards the illness.
There is no conclusive evidence about the way that biochemical factors are involved in the illness, but it seems that certain substances in the brain are involved.
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