ABSTRACT
The major mental illnesses and disorders cause suffering world-wide, regardless of socioeconomic group. The entire expenditure in Australia arising from mental illnesses and disorders is yet unknown: it includes Commonwealth, state and territory Government funding; voluntary agency funding; and an unknown level of support from family and friends. This chapter purposes clarifying economic behaviour arising from mental illnesses and disorders. For an economist to attempt to define mental disorder would be to step into a minefield of medical, legal, social and ethical judgements that change with time and context. In between mental disorder and the quest for achievement or self-fulfilment is a group of people in a grey area of emotional and mental health problems. The chapter focuses on a narrower issue, on just one aspect of the factors associated with the living standard, on mental health care itself. An understanding of the economic nature of mental health care outputs is useful, among other reasons, for evaluating mental health care.
