Political convulsions exacerbate ‘age of anxiety’, says Gillard

Political convulsions like Brexit, fake news and the election of Trump have exposed individuals to the age of anxiety.

Julia Gillard believes we are living in an “age of anxiety” that affects not just individuals but entire communities and nations.

Julia Gillard believes we are living in an “age of anxiety” that affects not just individuals but entire communities and nations, and is partly fuelled by “political convulsions” such as Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and “fake news”.

Delivering the Annual Hawke Lecture in Adelaide yesterday, the former prime minister praised Bob Hawke’s legacy and said Australia needed to draw on his approach of “consensus leadership” to address anxiety, depression and suicide.

“It is commonplace now to analyse contemporary politics as being shaped by high degrees of community anxiety,” Ms Gillard said. “Certainly, events like Brexit and the election of Trump show there is a backlash, those hit and hurt by change want to lash out.

“Think of the circumstances of unskilled or semi-skilled Western white men. Challenged by economic change, the gender revolution and the migration of people, culture and ideas, every reality they thought they could rely on has given way beneath them.

“Anxiety is an understandable response. Add to this the phenomenon of ‘fake news’ and the ability of individuals to exist in self-reinforcing bubbles of opinion divorced from facts, and it all is a recipe for even more anxiety — not to mention anger.”

However, the focus of beyondblue, which Ms Gillard chairs, is to address the chronic and debilitating impact of anxiety experienced by many every day. Anxiety, she said, was linked to depression and suicide, and new approaches were needed to address it.

Ms Gillard said beyondblue would lead a “nationwide conversation” and “plan of action” on anxiety, which she described as “the most common mental health condition” faced by Australians.

The system for dealing with mental health is a “patchwork” of often “unco-ordinated and incoherent” programs that is not “sustainable” and needs attention, Ms Gillard said. There must a focus on acute care but also improvements to preventive care and early-intervention programs.

She encouraged people to seek help if they suffered from chronic anxiety and has launched a new campaign — “know when anxiety is talking” — that will sufferers help recognise the condition, learn from how others are managing it and where they can get help.

“Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, you don’t have to tough this out on your own,” Ms Gillard said. “Some will hear the word ‘anxiety’, see our campaign material and wonder if beyondblue is medicalising an ordinary human experience. We’re not.

“There’s nothing ordinary about debilitating anxiety. Some might say this is a second-order issue compared with suicide or depression. It isn’t. Anxiety can be debilitating in its own right.

“Not only that — untreated anxiety can lead to depression, substance abuse, self-harm and suicide. In other words, anxiety, depression and suicide are connected. Intervening early on anxiety helps cut that connection.”

Ms Gillard spoke warmly about Mr Hawke’s prime ministership in an address titled “Learning from the Hawke Legacy in an Age of Anxiety”.

“Bob demonstrated an unwavering belief in one certainty: that our nation needs to stand together and we need to look out for each other ... we need to keep the Hawke example before us as we strive to reform mental health and prevent suicide in Australia.”