Mental Ill-Health Stigma Researchers Australia

We would like to warmly welcome you to Mental Ill-Health Stigma Researchers Australia (MISRA).  MISRA is a network that aims to bring together colleagues from across Australia who are involved in research into stigma and discrimination about mental ill-health.

The idea for MISRA grew out of our participation in working groups supporting the development of the National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy.  We noticed that many researchers from across the country share a deep commitment to understanding and reducing stigma about mental ill-health. Yet, no academic society existed to bring such like-minded scholars together in Australia. To this end, MISRA was born. We hope to create a vibrant community for colleagues to meet and share their ideas and research, to promote opportunities for collaboration, and to enhance our collective impact in addressing stigma and discrimination about mental ill-health in Australia.

We are inviting all researchers who are working in Australia on the topic of stigma and discrimination about mental ill-health to join MISRA.  Those who identify both as researchers and as persons with a lived or living experience of mental ill-health should feel particularly welcomed. Our hope is that MISRA will provide a safe community where all members are equally valued and researchers with or without lived or living experience of mental ill-health can feel comfortable to bring their whole selves.

We are particularly aware of the diverse range of perspectives on language describing what we have called mental ill-health.  We have used the term mental ill-health to align with the language used in the National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy.  However, we acknowledge that some MISRA members may have different preferences.  We therefore invite members to feel welcome to speak in terms that feel most appropriate to them when participating in MISRA.

We thank you all for your interest in the concept of an Australian researcher network and for your support in forming the inaugural MISRA membership.  We hope MISRA will make our efforts towards better understanding and responding mental ill-health stigma in Australia feel shared and supported.

Sincerely,

Dr Chris Groot and Dr Amy Morgan.

MISRA Co-Founders.

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MISRA 2023 Symposium was a success!

The inaugural symposium for the MISRA network was held online on April 3rd and 4th, 2023.  Our thanks goes to MISRA members from across Australia who came together to create a vibrant program and kickstart our community at this first meeting.

Read more and watch presentations from the meeting program here.

Stay tuned to MISRA for information on our next event, to be held in Mental Health Week, October, 2023.

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Connect with MISRA

You can keep up to date with all of the latest on MISRA or contact us through the following channels.

Join the MISRA network and subscribe to email updates here.

Get in touch with us by email: misra-network@unimelb.edu.au

Follow along on Twitter: @MISRANewtwork

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Meet the MISRA Team

The team organising MISRA and convening the inaugural symposium work in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health and the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at The University of Melbourne.

Dr Anna Ross         

Anna is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, the University of Melbourne. Her research aims to reduce stigma towards people with complex mental illness through improved media reporting. For her PhD, Anna led a collaboration with Mindframe and other key stakeholders to develop guidelines for reporting on mental illness in the context of violence and crime . She is currently leading an evaluation of SANE’s programs to reduce stigma in the media, including the StigmaWatch program. Anna is also coordinating a trial of Mental Health First Aid’s Conversations about Suicide course in Men’s Sheds across Australia.

Dr Amy Morgan             

Amy is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, the University of Melbourne. She leads a program of work in population mental health, focusing on developing and evaluating interventions to improve mental health literacy, reduce stigma, and prevent anxiety, depression and suicide. She has undertaken consultancy work for the Commonwealth Department of Health and National Mental Health Commission to inform Australian policy on stigma reduction. She is also a member of the National Mental Health Commission’s Public Stigma Technical Advisory Group for the National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy.

Ms Beth Hobern            

Beth Hobern is a PhD Candidate in the Mental Ill-Health Stigma and Telehealth Lab in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne.  Her PhD is supported by SANE Australia's Anne Deveson Research Centre and the Paul Ramsay Foundation as part of the National Stigma Report Card.  Beth's research focusses on stigma about schizophrenia spectrum and alcohol and other drug disorders, which she is investigating both from the perspective of general public and those with lived experiences. Beth was previously the lead research assistant on the National Stigma Report Card, which was a collaboration between SANE Australia and the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences. She also completed her Honours degree in psychology with a thesis examining the public’s stigmatised personal responses to positive symptoms of psychosis.

Dr Chris Groot             

Chris is a Senior Lecturer in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne.  He leads the School’s Mental Ill-Health Stigma and Telehealth Lab, which drives research, teaching, and public engagement programs that focus on stigma about severe and complex experiences of mental ill-health.  This work addresses personal and perceived (public) stigma, the lived experience of stigma for those with mental ill-health, and stigma intervention methods.  Authentic collaboration with community organisations and individuals with lived experience of severe and complex mental ill-health is a hallmark of his work.  Chris has recently produced commissioned reports for the National Mental Health Commission to support the National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy and is a member of the Strategy’s Measurement Technical Advisory Group.

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