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Date: 10 October 2006 Location: Hervey Bay (from the Fraser Coast Chronicle) - By Andrew Piva FRASER Coast psychologist Elizabeth Benson-Stott thinks the federal government is moving in the right direction in the battle against mental illness. Starting next month, Medicare rebates will be made available to patients whose GPs provide early intervention, assessment and management in relation to mental disorders. Mental illness affects about one in five Australian adults. Ms Benson-Stott, who is a senior psychologist at Aggregate Corporation, said the rebates would help combat what was a growing but still sensitive problem. "Mental illness has a lot of stigma attached t oit and it is on the rise both in this area and within Australia," she said. "It's probably related to a lot of adversity created by a number of different situations like family, lifestyle, cost of living and those types of things." The rebate expansion is worth $538 million and was launched by Prime Minister John Howard in Canberra yesterday to mark the start of Mental Health Week. Under the new rules, people referred to mental health professional by their GPs and patients seeing psychiatrists for the first time will also be eligible for the rebates. A psychologist who has helped treat people with mental disorders for more than 12 years, Ms Benson-Stott said the rebate expansion was long overdue. "I think it is a very good start and a step in the right direction," she said. "Before there weren't a number of serices clients could actually go to and receive services they could receive a rebate for. "There was difficulty in clients looking beyond services where they could get different experiences from psychologists. "I think we need to keep focus on this positive direction and I believe this will open more positiive doorways to help clients in the future." <end> For more information on this topic visit: Fraser Coast Chronicle 
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