The Great Australian Blight

Why We Should All Be A Little More Concerned About Mental Health In Our Youth

By Arend de Waal

Mental health is one of the most

widespread social issues in the
world. On every level, personal,
local, state, national, or
international, almost everyone will
be affected by mental health
problems, either through personally
experiencing a condition, or through
the suffering of loved ones. Mental
health issues in Australia could be
rightly called a pandemic. This year,
in Canberra alone, 75,000 people, or
almost a quarter of the citys
population, will suffer from the
effects of mental health issues.
Young people are particularly at risk
of developing mental health
problems, with almost a quarter of
them experiencing some form of it
between the ages of four and
seventeen. Even worse, many young
people with a probable serious
mental illness are uncomfortable
receiving support, or reaching out
and discussing their issues with
others. A report published by
Mission Australia in 2014 found that
a third of young people were not
likely to seek out help from friends
or family, half were uncomfortable
seeking help from teachers, and
60% were not willing to use
professional services to get help
with their issues.
Mental health issues among young
people can manifest itself in
different ways.

Headspace centres are the main avenue for youths to access mental health care. However, many
people are not comfortable reaching out for mental care.

There are two main categories for

mental illness; depression and
anxiety disorders, and psychotic
illness. Depression and anxiety
disorders are usually characterised
by persistent feelings of sadness,
tension or fear that are so disturbing
they affect a persons ability to cope
with day-to-day activities. The most
common examples of these
conditions are anxiety disorders,
eating disorders and depression.
Depression and anxiety together
account for a fifth of Australian
mental illness. Psychotic illnesses,
also called psychosis, impacts on the
brain and causes changes in a
persons thinking, emotions and
behaviour. People who experience
an acute psychotic episode lose
contact with reality and may
develop delusions or hallucinations.
Schizophrenia is a notable example
of this condition.

of this condition.
There are even rarer sorts of mental
health problems among young
people. Drug addiction is considered
another form of mental illness, and
will often be linked to other sorts of
problems. Often people with
depression and anxiety disorders
turn towards drug usage as a means
of escapism, and abuse of drugs can
directly cause psychotic illnesses.
Another notable mental health issue
is gender dysphoria, often called
transgenderism, in which the
person feels that their gender
differs from the gender they were
born as. Gender dysphoria is
notable as a particularly dangerous
condition, with transgender people
having almost a 50% suicide rate.

Not all mental health issues affect

the person in the same way. For
some people, they will suffer a
single incident in their entire
lifetime. Others can go years
without experiencing serious mental
health concerns. Some people who
have particularly severe cases can
require regular treatment of various
sorts, whether it is therapy or
medication or other avenues.
Mental health issues amongst
young people is not solely a concern
for young people. All corners of
society should be giving
consideration to these issues
because it impacts on all of
Australia. As the Herald Sun reports,
mental ill-health is becoming more
prevalent in this country and 30 per
cent of people on the Disability
Support Pension have psychological
or psychiatric conditions.
Approximately 3% of adults
experience a level of disability due
to the effects of mental illness.
Because of this, large amounts of
money are spent on attempting to
support people who have suffered
from these conditions. A report by
the World Economic Forum has
demonstrated that among diseases
such as heart disease, diabetes and
cancer, mental illness poses the
biggest threat to economic
productivity and will reduce the
worldwide GDP by 16 trillion dollars
over the next 20 years.
These difficulties experienced by
both young people and society at
large as a result of mental illness are
diminished greatly by early
detection and treatment of mental
illnesses. Just as in more traditional
cases of illness, early detection can
make a large difference in the
effectiveness of treatment.
However, the reluctance of

make a large difference in the

effectiveness of treatment.
However, the reluctance of
Australian people to talk about their
issues creates a situation where, by
refusing to discuss their problems,
they can often worsen their own
condition. This is especially true for
people aged from 17-25, the age
bracket in which most mental
illnesses appear and therefore the
most crucial age bracket to receive
help in. In total, only 50% of young
people with mental illnesses actually
receive professional help for their
condition.

In total, only 50%

of young people
with mental
illnesses actually
receive professional
help for their
condition.

A large reason accounting for why

so few people get professional help
for their mental health is stigma. As
the American Association for
Psychological Science
reported, From a public
standpoint, stereotypes depicting
people with mental illness as being
dangerous, unpredictable,
responsible for their illness, or
generally incompetent can lead to
active discrimination, such as
excluding people with these
conditions from employment and
social or educational opportunities.

excluding people with these

conditions from employment and
social or educational opportunities.
In medical settings, negative
stereotypes can make providers less
likely to focus on the patient rather
than the disease, endorse recovery
as an outcome of care, or refer
patients to needed consultations
and follow-up services. Because of
the stigma mentally ill people face,
they can often start to believe the
stigma against them. Often this sort
of discrimination leads to people
viewing themselves as incapable,
unable of recovering, and it can
breed a mentality that supports
giving up. This has the effect of both
stopping a person from reaching out
and accessing means to help
themselves, and actively worsens
their condition.
There are other reasons that are
also responsible for Australian
youths not accessing mental health
services. For young people in
Australia, the premier option for
mental health care is Headspace,
also known as the National Youth
Mental Health Foundation.
Headspace centres are found all
over Australia, even in rural areas,
and are often attached to facilities
such as universities. The
organisation provides a wide range
of usually free services in order to
help support mentally ill youths and
their families. Regular staff at a
centre might include a GP,
psychologist, social worker, alcohol
and drug worker, counsellor,
vocational worker or youth worker,
in order to cover almost every base
in youth mental health.

To understand the state of mental

health care for youths in Australia, it
is essential to understand
Headspace, since it is the most
readily available option for mental
health care for most young people.
It was originally established in 2006,
with the aim of increasing rates of
early intervention among young
people aged 12-25 by being more
accessible than traditional mental
health care services. However, a
review of the service published by
the Medical Journal of Australia
shows unclear data on whether or
not the centres have been useful for
improving the mental health of
young people. Almost half of young
people making use of Headspace
saw no noticeable change to their
health. Of the remainder, for every
two young people who had seen
significant improvements in their
health while receiving treatment
from Headspace, one would have
seen a decline in their health. In
addition, the lack of a control group
makes it impossible to ascertain
whether or not Headspace is an
improvement over more traditional
forms or treatment or no treatment
at all.
In all, mental health in Australian
youths could be considered one of
the most pressing social issues we
face today. It will affect almost
everyone in our community on
some level or another, and some
sufferers will be affected very
seriously. It taxes our country
economically and socially, and it can
destroy lives and leave sufferers
permanently disadvantaged, even
after receiving treatment. However,
because of cultural attitudes that
stigmatise victims, and the
reluctance of Australias young
people to get professional help, the
effects of mental health problems

stigmatise victims, and the

reluctance of Australias young
people to get professional help, the
effects of mental health problems
are amplified, and government
intervention to help with this issue
has been of debatable
effectiveness. If Australia is going to
work towards more effective
treatment of mental health
problems, it will need coordination
between both government and
individuals to break down stigma,
and ensure ready access to facilities
that are proven to be effective.

If left untreated, mental illnesses in young people can often get worse and cause serious, permament
damage.