A manifesto about what's wrong with Australia's mental health system and a guidebook for how to treat it, by a neurotic shrink who lives it every day.

Psychiatrist Dr Mark Cross has spent most of his adult life working in the mental health system. He also suffers from anxiety, as do three out of four Australians at some point in their lives, so he knows first-hand the challenges, successes and failures facing both patients and professionals. What he has discovered is that while Australia's physical health system is world-renowned, its mental health system falls miserably short. From soaring out-of-pocket costs to excruciatingly long wait times and overworked nurses to inhumane treatment conditions, we are failing people at all stages of their search for clearer, calmer minds. In this manifesto, Dr Cross takes a deep dive into mental ill health - who suffers, why, how we treat them and what we need to do better.

Written in Dr Cross's warm and entertaining style, Mental State includes his own stories of working inside the system, as well as the experiences of consumers attempting to navigate it and the practitioners working within it.