Page 77 - Retail Pharmacy Magazine October 2020

MENTAL HEALTH 75 CORONAVIRUS TRIGGER POINT FOR MENTAL HEALTH Covid-19 has elicited much interest in the country’s mental health as a result of the media abounding with articles of a mental health epidemic in the pipeline and an increase in suicide rates. By Nerine Zoio. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the nation’s mental health problems, which were already worrying, with one in five surveyed Australians reporting they had a mental or behavioural condition in 2017-2018. This is according to the ‘Australia’s health 2020’ report, with Scientia Professor Henry Brodaty from UNSW Medicine, an advisory board member of the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare, saying the expectation is that the impact of Covid-19 will lead to further increasing this proportion. “So, it’s more important than ever to publicly acknowledge mental health and those that work in the sector through the Australian Mental Health TO PAGE 76 RETAIL PHARMACY • OCT 2020