How Your GP Can Support Your Mental Health

Mental health is a routine part of general practice, not a separate system you have to find your own way into. Your GP is often the first and most accessible point of contact, whether you are dealing with ongoing stress, low mood, anxiety or something harder to put into words.

Starting the conversation

You do not need a diagnosis or a specific problem in mind to bring mental health to a GP appointment. Many people start with something general, such as trouble sleeping, low energy or feeling overwhelmed. The conversation develops from there. A GP can help work out what is going on and what kind of support would help.

The GP Mental Health Treatment Plan

Where appropriate, your GP can prepare a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan. This sets out your needs and goals and can provide access to Medicare-rebated sessions with a psychologist or other mental health professional under the Better Access initiative. Your GP remains involved throughout, reviewing progress and adjusting the plan as needed.

Head to Health, the Australian Government's mental health platform, is a useful starting point for understanding what support is available and how the different parts of the system fit together.

You do not have to wait for a crisis

Mental health support works best when it starts early rather than after things have become unmanageable. If something has been sitting in the back of your mind for a while, that is reason enough to bring it up.

If you are not sure where to start, book an appointment with your GP and raise it directly. There is no version of "too small to mention."

Source: Head to Health (Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing) and Beyond Blue, on GP-led mental health support and the Better Access initiative.