Acquired brain injury and mental health services

A major disadvantage for people with acquired brain injury is that there is no  legislated form of assistance as there is for people with mental illness. Unless  people with acquired brain injury have the ongoing support of a good network of  family and friends, they find it difficult to obtain any form of assistance. As a consequence, their psychosocial functioning may be effected and many end up  living in psychiatric hospitals, boarding houses, prisons and resorting to Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) services.

Across Australia, people with acquired brain injury have difficulty accessing  mental health/psychiatric services even though they “have a greater risk post- injury of developing depressive illness and schizophrenia than the general  population”.

Download the full fact sheet: Acquired brain injury and mental health services  [Adobe Acrobat PDF -  392 KB]