Portal for General Practitioners
Clinical Psychology Services
Mental Health Review
Background Information
A recent national report prepared by Professor Patrick Parkinson (For Kid's Sake: Repairing the Social Environment for Australian Children and Young People), highlighted a number of alarming statistics about the Mental Health of young Australians:
- More than 25% of young people aged 16-24 years have a mental disorder, compared with 20% of the general population.
- 24% of young people who have never experienced a mental disorder experience moderate to severe psychological distress.
- The number of 12-14 year old children hospitalised as a result of intentional self-harm increased 66% between 1996 and 2006.
- The rate of girls (aged 12-14 years) being hospitalised as a result of intentional self-harm is 600% more than boys.
- The number of 15-17 year old female youth hospitalised as a result of intentional self-harm increased 90% between 1996 and 2006.
- There has been an 8% per year increase* in diagnosed mental health disorders (other than autism).
- More than 50% the calls to Kids Helpline** now involve a mental health issue (representing a 100% increase in the past five years).
- Nationally, the number of children being prescribed anti-depressant medication has increased significantly in the last 3 years.
* New South Wales Public School Data
** Data obtained from Western Australia
In response to this report, Family Challenge takes seriously the challenge of equipping educators with early intervention and prevention strategies for the promotion of mental health among young people in our region. The following Mental Health Review serves to (a) provide an Education Snapshot into the strengths and weaknesses of school/teacher support systems, and (b) inform the development of new support systems for students.
Educational Snapshot
Thank you for taking a few short minutes to complete this questionnaire. The first section is designed to enquire how educators can be better supported in responding to student mental health concerns. The second section is designed to enquire how mental health promotion among students can be further improved.
Instructions: Your answers to the following questions are anonymous will only ever be seen by Family Challenge Staff. No one else at your school will ever know what you write, so please be as honest as possible when answering these questions. All answers will be grouped together and only ever reported as averages. This is not a test, so there are no right or wrong answers.
