16 Facts About Patrick McGorry

Patrick Dennistoun McGorry was born on 10 September 1952 and is an Irish-born Australian psychiatrist known for his development of the early intervention services for emerging mental disorders in young people.

Patrick McGorry has written more than 640 peer-reviewed articles, published in journals including The Lancet, the British Journal of Psychiatry, the American Journal of Psychiatry and the Medical Journal of Australia.

Patrick McGorry is executive director of Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health and founding editor of Early Intervention in Psychiatry published by the International Early Psychosis Association.

Patrick McGorry advocated strongly for the establishment of the Australian government funded National Youth Mental Health Foundation, which became headspace, and is a founding board member of that organisation.

Patrick McGorry was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2003 in recognition of his work on the EPPIC program.

Patrick McGorry has faced a number of criticisms of his work.

Patrick McGorry has been accused of having a conflict of interest in using his position on a government advisory committee to advocate for programs that he founded.

Patrick McGorry has denied that he has any conflict of interest and a spokesperson for the Australian government stated that Patrick McGorry was just one member of the Mental Health Expert Working Group, which was made up of experts from a range of health and non-health sectors, plus consumer and carer representatives and 'while these consultations helped to inform the development of the government's record mental health package, decisions on the specific content.

Whitely said that Patrick McGorry had made overblown claims for his programs and that they had been accepted without proper scrutiny.

In January 2010 Patrick McGorry was named Australian of the Year for his services to youth mental health.

In 2013 Patrick McGorry was honoured with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Scientific Research Award, the first time the award has been bestowed upon a researcher outside of the United States.

Patrick McGorry was the first psychiatrist elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Patrick McGorry served as President of the Society for Mental Health Research, Schizophrenia International Research Society, and International Early Psychosis Association.

Patrick McGorry was a member of the Million Minds Mission for mental health launched by the Australian Government in 2018.

On 10 October 2023, Patrick McGorry initiated and was one of 25 Australians of the Year who signed an open letter supporting the Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum.

Patrick McGorry said he was driven to do so out of fear for the damage to mental health that Indigenous Australians would suffer if the Voice is rejected.