The first Australian to be elected president of the World Psychiatric Association says she wants to put a focus on women’s mental health issues.
Melbourne University Professor of Psychiatry Helen Herrman was elected at the association’s three-year World Psychiatric Congress in Madrid on September 16.
Professor Herrman, who has researched mental health in marginalised groups for more than 20 years, said she would pursue inclusive care for women and young people during her time in the position.
“One of the very important areas is the needs of women before, after and during pregnancy,” she said.
“Depression can be a big problem for women and their families and affect the development of children.
“There’s a huge amount we can do to work with the women and their families to ensure they get effective help.”
The World Psychiatric Association supports about 200,000 psychiatrists from around 120 countries to improve the standards of clinical care for people with mental illnesses.
Professor Herrman will eventually replace the association’s first gay president, Dinesh Bhugra, when she takes over the role in 2017.
Improved mental health a ‘moral and economic’ obligation
Professor Herman said there was a moral and economic imperative to improve mental health care.
“Those living with [mental] illness have pain and their families suffer,” she said.
“We also consider the economic case that society needs people who are mentally healthy to be productive.
“It’s a question of politics and public health.”
Professor Herrman also said she was concerned with progress in Australia’s approach to mental health and resources allocated to service providers.
“I think we’ve been one of the countries that has made more advances than most, but a lot of that was happening 20 years ago,” she said.
“Some of the advances in creating community-based services for people with mental illnesses and ensuring the specialist mental health services are linked up well with our primary health care services … are being challenged.
“We need to keep up the momentum, keep up the development, keep up people’s view that these things are important and can be tackled.”
Her colleague, and one of Australia’s leading mental health experts, Patrick McGorry said Professor Herrman was a “great humanitarian”.
“She is ideally placed to lead the psychiatric profession worldwide during a challenging time when psychiatry needs to find a more confident way forward, balancing humanity with a more effective search for novel therapies and implementation of evidence-based care,” he said in a statement.