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ACQ Volume 11, Number 3 2009 131
Mental health
mental health problems. Difficulties can range from mild to
severe and may interfere to a minimal or high degree on a
person’s day to day functioning.
The focus of this issue, Mental Health, is relevant to
everybody as all speech pathologists deal with matters of
mental health. Therapeutic services may be preventative in
nature and reduce the risk of mental ill health, or they may be
remedial, thus building skills, improving social and emotional
functioning and enhancing resilience.
The issue was initiated as a joint project of the National
Peer Supervision Group, comprising senior speech
pathologists working in child and youth mental health
services in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. The
mental health discus has, however, travelled metaphorically
around Australia and beyond, with articles also submitted
from NSW, Western Australia and New Zealand. The issue is
diverse and thought-provoking and, in keeping with mental
health practice principles, it is also reflective, with clinicians,
students and a consumer sharing their stories. We hope that
the issue will inform, challenge and inspire you.
The Discobolus, or discus thrower, was known in ancient
Greece as a symbol of the Olympic Games and signifies
the Greek values of a “sound mind in a sound body”.
he discobolus became an emblem of balance, power, and
rhythmical grace that the Greek culture held in high esteem.
At the Olympic stadium in Sydney there is a large discus built
for the Olympic Games held in 2000. The inscription states
that its circular shape is a symbol of perfection or excellence.
The flight of the discus represents a connection between
distant places and times and its resemblance to the modern
day CD is described as a fitting symbol of the advances in
knowledge and technology in modern times. I liked it when I
saw it, because as a clinician working in a mental health
service, a “sound mind in a sound body” is the goal that is
aspired to for clients. In mental health services we also
recognise the impact of one’s past on the present, aspire to
excellence through innovative practice and actively seek to
acquire, expand and disseminate knowledge about mental
health via modern day technology and research.
Mental health affects all ages and is present or absent
across the lifespan, from the newborn infant to the elderly. It
can be compromised at any age. Often what is described as
“mental health” is actually mental ill health. The World Health
Organisation states that “Mental Health is a state of well
being in which the individual realises his or her own abilities,
can cope with normal stressors of life, can work productively,
and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”
).
Mental ill health encompasses both mental illness as well as
Introduction
Andrea Murray
Andrea Murray
Correspondence to:
Andrea Murray
Speech Pathologist and Infant Mental Health Clinician
Future Families
CYMHS, Royal Children’s Hospital
Children’s Health Services, Queensland
email: