beyondblue and Vicdeaf have produced the fact sheet "Depression in People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing" and Deaf Children Australia have recognised this important work by endorsing the factsheet. Vicdeaf is also represented on our National Reference Group for the 4th World Congress on Mental Health and Deafness in Brisbane.

Recent articles on deaf, hearing impairment and mental health or related news stories;

Tampa Bay Academy denies claims of abuse
Tampabay.com - St. Petersburg, FL, USA
By Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writer TAMPA — Attorneys for a mental health treatment center deny state findings that the residential program for ...

Misconceptions for Older Australians (PDF)
Centerlink, News For Seniors, Spring 2008
Hearing Device misconceptions cause social problems for older Australians, according to a new report released by Australian Hearing.

Three million deafblind by 2050: report
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
"It helped my life, made it a lot easier, plus I have had less mental health problems. I became more active ... I became busy. So I found going out in the ...

“I can’t help thinking how scary my experience was in hospital a few years ago. I could have got lost in the mental health system and it would have been much worse if I didn’t have any family looking out for me.”

I’m Anne, I’m deaf and I have experienced mental health issues throughout my life. I was diagnosed with depression when I was 30 years old and have suffered post-natal depression and post-partum psychosis. Without access to specialist support or anyone to reach out to, it has been a long hard journey.

Tara is a target for bullies. Being the only deaf kid at her mainstream school, several of the hearing kids find it hilarious and entertaining to pick on her about her cochlear implant, her sign language and her efforts to speak.

Karen Struthers, MP and Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister for Health, announced the support of Premier Anna Bligh, on Thursday 16 October launch of the 4th World Congress on Mental Health and Deafness, 2009.

The support from both the Premier’s Office and Dr Aaron Groves, Queensland’s Director of Mental Health, is an important step in this year of campaigning and events before the international Congress is held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre next year.

800,000 deaf and hard of hearing Australians also experience mental health problems at some time.

Fact: 1 in 6 Australians currently suffer from hearing loss, a rate that is predicted to increase to 1 in every 4 Australians by 2050 (Access Economics Report- Listen Hear! The economic impact and cost of hearing loss in Australia, 2006 p. 5)

Fact: 1 in 5 Australians will experience depression at some time in their life, a quarter of whom will receive treatment. (Mental Health Foundation of Australia (Victoria), Depression Fact Sheet)