<\/p>\n
Mental illness is common in Australia.<\/p>\n
45% of us will experience a mental illness (or sometimes called a mental disorder) at some stage in our life. The most common mental illnesses include anxiety disorders, depressive disorders and substance abuse disorders.<\/p>\n
At any given point in time around 1 in 5 (20%) of us will have a diagnosable mental illness.<\/p>\n
For a smaller proportion of the population (around 3%, >600,000 people), their mental illness will be described as ‘severe’ or ‘chronic’, based on high intensity of symptoms, chronic duration of illness and\/or extensive disability caused. These include primarily schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, severe depression or severe anxiety disorders.<\/p>\n
Severe mental illness is not necessarily a barrier to living a life well lived, but it does commonly require ongoing treatment and monitoring.<\/p>\n
Technology is increasingly seen as a valuable tool in that ongoing monitoring process.<\/p>\n
A team of researchers from Flinders, with expertise in digital psychiatry, have developed a system that uses PBS and MBS data (the kind that is created when you have a medical appointment, or a pharmacy drug purchase) to monitor (with permission) the status of individuals with severe or chronic mental illness.<\/p>\n
They are looking for individuals<\/a> with severe or chronic mental illness to participate in early trials of the system.<\/p>\n You can find out more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Remember that participation in these kinds of trials is entirely voluntary and you can withdraw at any point. Make sure that you read the patient information page<\/a>, the patient information sheet<\/a> and the consent form<\/a>.<\/p>\n