Jonathan Coleman MP
National Party Associate Health Spokesman

21 July 2006

Early intervention needed in mental health

National’s Associate Health spokesman Dr Jonathan Coleman supports the Mental Health Commission’s call for more responsive mental health services for young adults, outlined in the report ‘Journeys of Despair, Journeys of Hope’.

“Young people need support and it is important that our mental health resources aren’t just focused on crisis management,” says Dr Coleman.

“It’s clear from any number of well-documented cases of tragedy in the mental health system that too often people are getting help too late.

“It is too late to wait until events escalate to an acute crisis, where the distress and fallout is so much greater than if the mental health system was able to respond to early signs that a person needs help.

“National wants our young people and their families to be able to get help from mental health services as soon as they feel they need it.”

ENDS

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