Julia Baner, 26, has bravely opened up about her 13-year mental health journey to call for government action to address the chronic shortage of affordable and accessible treatment.

She says hundreds of others facing financial hardship and a lack of family support are falling through the cracks of a broken system.

The successful film and TV editor attempted to take her own life last Monday.

“When you’re in such a depressed state and you’re so down like that, your mind is only focused on one thing,” she said.

“You don’t see any light.”

Ms Baner’s partner was at home when she made the attempt and raised the alarm with her mum.

The next thing the 26-year-old remembered was waking up in a hospital bed.

She spent three days in a coma and was released within eight hours of waking up.

“They released me from the hospital when I was talking nonsense,” Ms Baner said.

“I was answering questions in complete delusion - I was not in a good state.”

Ms Baner has lived with mental illness throughout her teenage and adult life.

She was diagnosed with anxiety and depression at age 14.

“I just remember slowly feeling more and more down,” she said.

“I was a very bubbly kid and very sociable - I was definitely the centre of attention.

“When I hit my teens, I was bullied a lot in school. I think that had a severe impact on the way I was feeling.”

She has spent more than a decade trying different medications, therapies and other treatments but is yet to have a “breakthrough”.

One therapist she saw charged her $250 for one 50-minute session.

“There is no help whatsoever in the public (health) system,” Ms Baner said.

“In the private system, it’s so expensive.

“Mental health facilities should be so much more accessible to everyone.

“What about people who don’t have money, don’t have family support or don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend each week on a therapist they can only talk to for 50 minutes?”

The need for more help

Construction has started on a new 40-bed secure mental health rehabilitation unit at Gold Coast University Hospital.

Gaven MP Meaghan Scanlon said the facility was the first of its kind in the region.

It will provide a contemporary and therapeutic environment to treat those with severe and complex mental health disorders, with no out-of-pocket cost.

The building is expected to be complete by late 2024, but the facility will not open until early 2025.

A Queensland Health spokesperson said specialised acute mental health inpatient services were available in 21 public hospitals throughout the state.

“We continue to invest significantly in suicide prevention, including providing $1.64 billion in additional funding over five years for mental health, alcohol and other drugs services,” they said.

“This includes funding for rapid response teams to provide assessment and community follow-up services to children and youths in mental health crisis, and their families.”

Clinical director of the mental health and specialist service Gold Coast, Sandeep Chand, said services were trying to meet the needs of the community.

“We have seen a surge in presentations in mental health (in the past 12 months) and they are far more acute and complex than they used to be,” he said.

Suicide Prevention Australia’s March quarter community tracker found more than a fifth of Queenslanders (21 per cent) had sought advice from a suicide prevention service in the past 12 months.

It also found 18 per cent had experienced some form of suicidal behaviour.

SPA’s acting CEO Matthew McLean called for urgent action from all levels of government to address rising rates of distress and suicide.

“Upcoming budgets at the state, territory and commonwealth level require further investment in mental health and suicide prevention,” he said.

“We need to accelerate the delivery of existing commitments, deliver more help for those at risk and pass Suicide Prevention Acts in all jurisdictions.”

The Treasury was contacted for comment on how the May federal budget would address the need for further investment in mental health and suicide prevention.

A spokesman referred these questions to federal Assistant Minister for Mental Health Emma McBride.

Her office said she was unable to answer these questions until after the budget was handed down.

Crowdfunding for mental health treatment

After Ms Baner’s most recent suicide attempt, her desperate family and friends launched a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the cost of her recovery treatment.

Through a GoFundMe page, they have raised almost $19,000 to send the 26-year-old to a 29-day intensive mental health recovery program on the Sunshine Coast.

The treatment costs $17,500.

“This is not the first time Jules has tried to take her own life, we have come dangerously close to losing her before and we’re absolutely terrified of what the next time could mean,” the fundraising page read.

“Julia deserves a chance at life. We want more than anything to provide her with that opportunity.”

Ms Baner recognised many other people who were struggling did not have access to the same support she had.

“I would not be here if it wasn’t for my family or my partner. I don’t know how other people make it through.”