Richmond Foundation annual Conference

Speech by Hon Joe Cassar, Minister for Health, the Elderly and Community Care at the Richmond Foundation annual conference commemorating World Mental Health Day 2012

Mrs Gonzi,

Distinguished Guests,

Good morning.

As Minister for Health, as well as a professional,  I welcome the opportunity of being invited to events like todays, because such events promote continued professional development. This is an excellent opportunity for you to continue to develop professionally. It is an opportunity to help you become more effective in your professional role, helping you to enhance existing competences as well as developing new knowledge and skills, all of which is crucial for the provision of good quality services. 

The theme of the Conference is of special interest to many of us here because we know that many of the people we help in our work are experiencing personality issues.   Such issues are challenging for the person themselves, for their social network and, not least, for the professionals.

 Personality Disorder is an illness which requires treatment. 

It is estimated that about 1 in 20 people experience a personality disorder that warrants seeking professional help.  In the past, health care professionals used to look at a person with a personal disorder with a feeling that there was nothing to do about the condition. 

Today its a different story. I am sure that in the next couple of days you will hear about the latest developments in managing these issues. As you know, many people have only mild conditions and therefore require help only when experiencing particular moments of stress, such as bereavement.  However other people with more severe problems may need specialist help for longer periods.

The good news is that most people recover from personality disorders over time. Sometimes a psychological or medical treatment is also required.  Sometimes its only a matter of providing some sort of support. 

Of course this depends on the severity of the disorder and whether there are ongoing health issues.  Some mild to moderate personality disorders improve with psychotherapy. Persons experiencing personality disorders have been helped by different types of psychological therapies.


However, there is no single approach that suits everyone and treatment should be tailored to the individual. Not all talking therapies are effective and it is essential they are delivered by a trained therapist.  This brings me back to the importance of continued professional development.

I need to stress that in such work you encounter with people with personality disorder who deserve the utmost attention and respect because these people are not "bad" but are ill. 

Definitely they do not deserve to be made fun of, ridiculed or given up on.  I know that in today's audience there are professionals from all sectors: substance abuse, correctional services, health, social, to mention but a few.  This is understandable because people with personality disorder find themselves in all sorts of difficulties and do not only show up in the mental health sector.

I wish to take this opportunity to wish you two excellent days of sharing and learning which will only result in sharpened skills.  

I would like to thank Richmond Foundation for organising this conference.  I wish to congratulate all of you for taking the time out from your busy schedules to continue to develop your expertise for the benefit of the people you help. 

Well done.