Why is funding available from NDIS for mental health?
Despite the amount of people that want to belittle those who need support due to their mental illness, the reality is many cases of severe mental illness can be just as (if not more) debilitating than certain physical illnesses. The term for debilitating mental illness is psychosocial disability, and many mental illnesses can fall under that umbrella, such as the following:
- Chronic Major Depression
- Anxiety Disorders
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Bipolar Disorder
- Schizophrenia
People with debilitating cases of any of those disorders need support. According to statistics collected by the ABS in 2018, 95% of people with a psychosocial disability said they needed assistance or were experiencing great difficulty with one-or-more day-to-day tasks and/or activities.
People in such situations may need NDIS for Mental Health support, particularly due to the flow-on effect that mental health issues can often have on people. Think about the amount of people with mental illness who become homeless – it doesn’t happen overnight. It can start with something as simple as a mentally ill individual forgetting basic self-care and personal hygiene, which then becomes a downward spiral to further health complications, unemployment, lack of basic resources, etc..
How would someone with a psychosocial disability obtain NDIS funding?
Put it this way: psychosocial disability is basically defined as mental illness that is severe to the point of incapacitation. For example: someone with a severe anxiety disorder may have trouble leaving the house, or someone with schizophrenia may be unable to work safely in a social environment. People in such situations may be eligible to receive NDIS funding for mental health. So, in order to receive funding, the person suffering from a psychosocial disability (or someone very close to them) must provide evidence to the NDIA of their psychosocial disability and how it affects their ability to fully function in their daily life.
If you’re living with a psychosocial disability and need help to carry out everyday tasks involving mobility, social interaction, communication, learning, self-care and self-management – you may be eligible for NDIS for mental health funding.
So, what’s the process?
You are required to complete an application called NDIS Access Request Form (available online through NDIS website). Your treating health professional (GP or Specialist) is also required to complete part of this form. The absolute first basic step for someone who wants to obtain NDIS funding as a participant is to see a GP – whether your condition is physical, mental, a learning disability, or anything eligible for NDIS funding. They can provide proof and evidence that these services are needed for you to live as independent a life as possible. They do this through detailed medical records and referrals to specialist support. In the case of mental health issues, you need a formal diagnosis from a GP or mental health specialist, and evidence of treatment.
In order to successfully receive NDIS funding, you must be able to show that your illness has been treated appropriately and adequately and there is no other avenues for treatment that could lead to significant improvement. In addition, you need to provide evidence that your illness causes you disability that leads to impairment and interferes with your daily functioning. If your application is successful, you must wholly articulate your areas of difficulty in your daily life into a set of goals that could realistically be met with the assistance of the NDIS. Your requests for funding must be necessary and reasonable. Let’s say you had OCD, and your obsessive habits often prevent you from leaving your home – Your NDIS goals could be “I want to be able to go out without anxiety and to uphold every commitment I make.”
To help you understand what is required to successfully receive NDIS funding, you can contact a local area coordinator (LAC) partnered with your state or territory, and they will help you determine whether or not you are eligible for NDIS funding and what the next steps to take are. LACs have experience meeting with people with disabilities and understanding their needs. This experience makes the application process easier and less stressful for both parties.
NDIS Mental Health Tips and Pointers
There are a number of ways to increase your likelihood of successfully obtaining NDIS funding for mental health. Consider the following ideas:
- Ask your doctor, your therapist, or any other medical professional that you see to print off your medical history and/or reports in a collection that you can show to NDIS assessors.
- If you choose to make a written statement to submit for NDIS consideration (which is entirely optional), ask your friends & family to add an outsider’s perspective to the statement: ask them to comment on your day-to-day functional ability, and suggest what NDIS supports could be utilised by you, the participant.
- If you have a psychosocial disability, then you probably have some days that are better than others, right? To get a full picture of what kind of support you can benefit from, keep a detailed (but relevant) diary of what tasks & activities you have trouble with on a day-to-day basis. This will help NDIS assessors not only determine whether you are eligible for funding, but what the funding should be utilised for.
If you are unclear about any of this, talk to your local area coordinator. They can go through the entire process with you, including what needs to be procured in order to obtain funding.
