The Mental Illness of Captain Hyndman

1979 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham A. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
South Wales

The mental illness of Captain Charles Robertson Hyndman resulted in his compulsory hospitalization in Tarban Creek Asylum in 1843 and 1864–1866. His illness, and the question of mental health law which was subsequently raised, were of great significance for the colony of New South Wales in that it led to the first specific lunacy legislation in the state. The issues raised are still the fundamental questions with which contemporary mental health law is concerned.

Mental Health Status of Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Australian Prisoners

2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 429-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Butler ◽  
Stephen Allnutt ◽  
Azar Kariminia ◽  
David Cain
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Composite International Diagnostic Interview ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Aboriginal Woman ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Aboriginal Women ◽  
South Wales

Objective: To compare the mental health of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal prisoners in New South Wales. Methods: The sample consisted of a cross-sectional random sample of sentenced prisoners, and a consecutive sample of reception prisoners. The sample was drawn from 29 correctional centres (27 male, two female) across New South Wales. Overall, 1208 men (226 Aboriginal), and 262 women (51 Aboriginal) participated in the study. Mental illness was detected using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI-A) and a number of other screening measures incorporated into the programme. Results: No differences were detected in mental illness between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal men, apart from depression, which was lower in the latter group. Aboriginal woman were more likely than non-Aboriginal women to screen positive for symptoms of psychosis in the prior 12 months and have a higher 1 month and 12 month prevalence of affective disorder; they also had higher psychological distress scores. Suicidal thoughts and attempts were the same in both groups. Conclusions: These findings confirm that the demand for mental health services in prisons is considerable, and that Aboriginal women are one of the most vulnerable groups. Services and programmes providing an alternative to incarceration are needed, as are culturally sensitive approaches to treatment.

Mental Disorder in the New South Wales Prisoner Population

2005 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 407-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Butler ◽  
Stephen Allnutt ◽  
David Cain ◽  
Dale Owens ◽  
Christine Muller
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
New South ◽  
Psychiatric Morbidity ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Composite International Diagnostic Interview ◽  
Diagnostic Interview ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
South Wales

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of mental illness among prisoners in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Method: Mental illness was examined in two NSW prisoner populations: (i) new receptions to the correctional system; and (ii) sentenced prisoners. Reception prisoners were screened at four male centres and one female centre in NSW. The sentenced population was randomly selected from 28 correctional centres across the state. Reception prisoners were screened consecutively whenever possible while the sentenced group was randomly selected as part of the 2001 Inmate Health Survey. We adopted the same instrument, Composite International Diagnostic Interview – Auto (CIDI-A), for diagnosing mental illness as used in the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Results: Overall, 43% of those screened had at least one of the following diagnoses: psychosis, anxiety disorder, or affective disorder. Reception prisoners suffered from mental illness to a greater extent than sentenced prisoners (46% vs. 38%). Women had higher levels of psychiatric morbidity than men (61% vs. 39%). Nine percent (9%) of all prisoners had experienced psychotic symptoms (due to any cause) in the prior 12 months. Twenty percent (20%) of all prisoners had suffered from at least one type of mood disorder and 36% had experienced an anxiety disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder was the most common disorder, diagnosed in 26% of receptions and 21% of sentenced prisoners. Conclusions: These findings confirm that prisoners are a highly mentally disordered group compared with the general community. Given the high prevalence of mental illness identified by this study, it is essential that prison mental health services be adequately resourced to address the demand and, at minimum, ensure that mental health does not deteriorate during incarceration.

scholarly journals Dust Transport from Inland Australia and Its Impact on Air Quality and Health on the Eastern Coast of Australia during the February 2019 Dust Storm

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Emilie Aragnou ◽  
Sean Watt ◽  
Hiep Nguyen Duc ◽  
Cassandra Cheeseman ◽  
Matthew Riley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Storm Event ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Dust Storm Event

Dust storms originating from Central Australia and western New South Wales frequently cause high particle concentrations at many sites across New South Wales, both inland and along the coast. This study focussed on a dust storm event in February 2019 which affected air quality across the state as detected at many ambient monitoring stations in the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) air quality monitoring network. The WRF-Chem (Weather Research and Forecast Model—Chemistry) model is used to study the formation, dispersion and transport of dust across the state of New South Wales (NSW, Australia). Wildfires also happened in northern NSW at the same time of the dust storm in February 2019, and their emissions are taken into account in the WRF-Chem model by using Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) as emission input. The model performance is evaluated and is shown to predict fairly accurate the PM2.5 and PM10 concentration as compared to observation. The predicted PM2.5 concentration over New South Wales during 5 days from 11 to 15 February 2019 is then used to estimate the impact of the February 2019 dust storm event on three health endpoints, namely mortality, respiratory and cardiac disease hospitalisation rates. The results show that even though as the daily average of PM2.5 over some parts of the state, especially in western and north western NSW near the centre of the dust storm and wild fires, are very high (over 900 µg/m3), the population exposure is low due to the sparse population. Generally, the health impact is similar in order of magnitude to that caused by biomass burning events from wildfires or from hazardous reduction burnings (HRBs) near populous centres such as in Sydney in May 2016. One notable difference is the higher respiratory disease hospitalisation for this dust event (161) compared to the fire event (24).

scholarly journals “No Entry into New South Wales”: COVID-19 and the Historic and Contemporary Trajectories of the Effects of Border Closures on an Australian Cross-Border Community

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 610
Author(s):  
Dirk H. R. Spennemann
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
New South ◽  
Community Integration ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Border Community ◽  
South Wales

Given its intensity, rapid spread, geographic reach and multiple waves of infections, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020/21 became a major global disruptor with a truly cross-sectoral impact, surpassing even the 1918/19 influenza epidemic. Public health measures designed to contain the spread of the disease saw the cessation of international travel as well as the establishment of border closures between and within countries. The social and economic impact was considerable. This paper examines the effects of the public health measures of “ring-fencing” and of prolonged closures of the state border between New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), placing the events of 2020/21 into the context of the historic and contemporary trajectories of the border between the two states. It shows that while border closures as public-health measures had occurred in the past, their social and economic impact had been comparatively negligible due to low cross-border community integration. Concerted efforts since the mid-1970s have led to effective and close integration of employment and services, with over a quarter of the resident population of the two border towns commuting daily across the state lines. As a result, border closures and state-based lockdown directives caused significant social disruption and considerable economic cost to families and the community as a whole. One of the lessons of the 2020/21 pandemic will be to either re-evaluate the wisdom of a close social and economic integration of border communities, which would be a backwards step, or to future-proof these communities by developing strategies, effectively public health management plans, to avoid a repeat when the next pandemic strikes.

Mental health data: A case for the African communities in New South Wales

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-80
Author(s):  
Daniel Kwai Apat ◽  
Wellington Digwa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Health Services ◽  
New South ◽  
Mental Health Policy ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Community Members ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Health Related

This paper examines mental health policies in relation to African communities residing in New South Wales, Australia and the attitudes of African communities toward mental disorders and mental health services. Current mental health policy frameworks have shown an inadequate inclusion of African communities. This may negatively affect the design of mental health interventions and how African communities engage with mental health services. The available mental health literature on African communities showed disjointed and uncoordinated data which focuses on specific community-groups within African communities. Insufficient mental health or suicide data, combined with African community members’ perception toward mental disorders and mental health services, makes it very difficult to progress engagement and interventions. There is a need for proper and sizable data on mental health related to people of African descent in NSW and Australia wide, if positive outcomes are to be realised.

The health service contact patterns of people with psychotic and non-psychotic forms of severe mental illness in New South Wales, Australia: A record-linkage study

2021 ◽  
pp. 000486742110314
Author(s):  
Rachael C Cvejic ◽  
Preeyaporn Srasuebkul ◽  
Adrian R Walker ◽  
Simone Reppermund ◽  
Julia M Lappin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
New South ◽  
Service Utilisation ◽  
South Wales

Objective: To describe and compare the health profiles and health service use of people hospitalised with severe mental illness, with and without psychotic symptoms. Methods: We conducted a historical cohort study using linked administrative datasets, including data on public hospital admissions, emergency department presentations and ambulatory mental health service contacts in New South Wales, Australia. The study cohort comprised 169,306 individuals aged 12 years and over who were hospitalised at least once with a mental health diagnosis between 1 July 2002 and 31 December 2014. Of these, 63,110 had a recorded psychotic illness and 106,196 did not. Outcome measures were rates of hospital, emergency department and mental health ambulatory service utilisation, analysed using Poisson regression. Results: People with psychotic illnesses had higher rates of hospital admission (adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.26; 95% confidence interval [1.23, 1.30]), emergency department presentation (adjusted IRR 1.17; 95% confidence interval [1.13, 1.20]) and ambulatory mental health treatment days (adjusted IRR 2.90; 95% confidence interval [2.82, 2.98]) than people without psychotic illnesses. The higher rate of hospitalisation among people with psychotic illnesses was driven by mental health admissions; while people with psychosis had over twice the rate of mental health admissions, people with other severe mental illnesses without psychosis (e.g. mood/affective, anxiety and personality disorders) had higher rates of physical health admissions, including for circulatory, musculoskeletal, genitourinary and respiratory disorders. Factors that predicted greater health service utilisation included psychosis, intellectual disability, greater medical comorbidity and previous hospitalisation. Conclusion: Findings from this study support the need for (a) the development of processes to support the physical health of people with severe mental illness, including those without psychosis; (b) a focus in mental health policy and service provision on people with complex support needs, and (c) improved implementation and testing of integrated models of care to improve health outcomes for all people experiencing severe mental illness.

Does the ‘Two Dogs’ Method of Clandestine Synthesis Use Precursors that are not Legally Regulated on the Australian East Coast?

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-28
Author(s):  
Victor Chiruta ◽  
Robert Renshaw
Keyword(s):  
Literature Search ◽  
East Coast ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Comprehensive Literature Search

In the State of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, the prosecution in criminal proceedings is seeking deterrence punishment for offenders manufacturing 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) from the precursor helional via the ‘Two Dogs’ method (TDM). The reason given by the prosecution is a presumption that the TDM does not use any unrestricted chemicals in the synthesis of MDA. A comprehensive literature search was conducted. The relevant law was searched to fact-check the assertion of the prosecution. It was found that the prosecution was incorrect. Intermediate precursors of the TDM are restricted in NSW. However, the starting precursor helional remains unscheduled in NSW, yet helional is scheduled in some other Australian States. The prosecution’s position may play a significant factor in the sentencing proceedings of offenders. Therefore, as a matter of urgency, the prosecution must review and update its position and its submissions, keeping with the factual position in relation to the legal provisions of precursors used in the TDM.

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