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Rural health fears: report

People living in outer regional areas who have had a mental health condition are more likely to suffer long-term physical illness than urban counterparts.

This is according to the first national mental health report card launched on Tuesday by the National Mental Health Commission.

The report card also found the further a person lived from a major city or inner regional area, the less likely the person was to have a GP mental health treatment plan.

NMHC chairman Allan Fels said there was still a lack of access to services for people with mental health problems and it was worst in regional, rural and remote areas.

“People with a severe mental illness have their life expectancy reduced by 25 years on average,” Prof Fels said.

“Physical health and mental health are weaved intricately together and need to be treated as such.”