Tragedy of Tormented Teenagers: Mental Illness Hits One in Four

In an effort to transform the public mental health system, in 1963, President Kennedy proposed the Community Mental Health Act. It was the first among several federal initiatives to create a community mental health care system. Once the act was ratified, there was an intense deterioration in institutionalization, otherwise known as “deinstitutionalization”, and by 1980 there was a 75% declined of the inpatient population at many public psychiatric hospitals. In 2000, there was less than 10% of the public institutionalized just fifty years earlier. In 2009, there was even a more dramatic shift among children and adolescence whereby there was a 98% decline in

Mental illness disorders and suicide as surveys and statistics would show, affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at a higher rate than the rest of the Australian population (Elder, Evans, Nizette, 2013). Thirty percent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population aged 18 years and over experienced some sort psychological distress at a greater than normal level during the year 2012 to 2013 (ABS, 2015). Compared to other Australians, the Indigenous people aged 18 years and over were three times more prone to experiencing psychological distress than the rest of the Australian population (ABS, 2015). Mental health services treat more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in contrast with the Non-Aboriginal population, around

It is well-known that the health issue of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been constantly discussed and analysed up to the present. Indigenous Australian experience poorer health outcome compare to other population in Australian, and also they experienced significantly higher rates of mental illness within their communities, and the suicide rate approximately more than double higher than for the general population (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,2009). The purpose of this essay is to discuss the factor that associated with higher rate of mental illness and suicide behavior regard to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the concept of cultural, social and emotional well-being that triggers this phenomenon.

People with mental health issues have been viewed and treated in a variety of ways within western society throughout time. Historically if an individual displayed behaviours which disrupted their function in society and defied social norms they were viewed as lunatics, insane or even cursed (Cowan, 2008; Elder & Evans & Nizette, 2009). It is from these past issues that many people still have unreasonable thoughts about mental illness; their misconceptions have created unreasonable fears and negative attitudes toward those who experience it. This negativity brings for many the barriers of not only

Depression is “a psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendancies”. (Merriam-Webster, unknown). It is important to understand the effects of depression amongst young people, as it is a large problem in Australia. Depression effects on in sixteen Australians aged 16-24 (BeyondBlue, unknown), and the largest killer of the Australian youth is suicide (BeyondBlue, unknown). Depression can be broken down into smaller sections, and they are; the way it effects young people, the prevalence of depression, the consequences it brings upon

In addition, the program offered healing to the community still healing from the legacy of colonialism. If the federal government kept funding the suicide prevention program there would not have been a spike in suicide rates in the community. Furthermore, a psychologist at the University of Victoria, Christopher Lalonde, believes the key to stopping suicides is rooted in the communities (McCue, 2016). From two decades of researching, he found that the communities that are the least “culturally healthy” have a higher rate of youth suicide (McCue, 2016). Also, the mental wellness of aboriginal youths is not only about being mentally healthy but also having a balance between Aboriginal youths’ families, communities, and the environment (Khan, 2008). Therefore, it will be better that Aboriginal suicide prevention programs are created by Aboriginal communities to target the prevalence issues in their communities with some assistance from the government to set it up and fund

In the United States, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 10 to 14-year-olds (CDC, 2015) and for 15 to 19-year-olds (Friedman, 2008). In 2013, 17.0% of students grades 9 to 12 in the United States seriously thought about committing suicide, 13.6% made a suicide plan, 8.0% attempted suicide, and 2.7% attempted suicide in which required medical attention (CDC, 2015). These alarming statistics show that there is something wrong with the way mental illness is handled in today’s society. Also, approximately 21% of all teenagers have a treatable mental illness (Friedman, 2008), although 60% do not receive the help that they need (Horowitz, Ballard, & Pao, 2009).

The role of preventing mental health from a younger age is important because according to Beyond Blue Youth, “Evidence suggests three in four adult mental health conditions emerge by age 24 and half by age 14.” This is terrible, we should focus on decreasing this so it doesn’t lead to a bigger suicide rate. In 2012 Beyond Blue Youth states, “Suicide is the biggest killer of young Australians and accounts for the deaths of more young people than car accidents.” Preventing mental health from a younger age will not only decrease the suicide rate but how many adults have a mental health issues will decrease. As the conditions won’t emerge before the age of 24, giving the younger generations more chance to not have a mental issue in their adult lives.

Since the mid to late 1990’s, youth suicide has become a common cause of death for young Australians (Carter 2010 para. 1). The government then acted and managed to reduce the suicide rate, which was a success (Carter 2010 para. 2). After decades, the problem was re-encountered and it became one of the leading causes of death for people under 25 years old in Australia surpassing car

Mental illnesses are very common in the United States, with one in five of adolescents having a diagnosed mental illness and in the last year less than half of these adolescents have received proper treatment. The most common mental disorders, anxiety and depression, can disrupt daily life and result in suicide, which is the third most frequent cause of death in teenagers (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Ten percent of adolescents did not have health insurance in 2013 and those who did, had a very limited amount of mental health care services provided to them (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). It has been proved that it is even less likely that adolescents who are poor, homeless, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender will receive the care that is necessary for their health and even life (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Mental disorders are not only an

The 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing Results revealed that at some stage in their lives, up to 45% of Australians will experience a mental illness, with 20% of the Australians surveyed in the 16-85 age group having experienced a mental illness within the 12 months preceding the survey

The high prevalence of mental health problems is not matched by a commensurate level of service use and associated help-seeking behavior; instead there is a marked mismatch between prevalence of mental disorder and professional help-seeking. Figure 1 shows the extent of this mismatch from Australian national data. It plots the percentage of Australians experiencing a mental disorder within a 12-month period and the relative proportion of those with a disorder who sought professional help.1 At all ages there is a much higher prevalence than there is service use, although the mismatch is greatest where the need is highest, ie, for those aged 16–24 years, and decreases with age. In the youngest age group, for males, there were 23% who reported

Mental health has always been identified as one of the main areas for action in the National Health Priority Areas (National Health and Medical Research Council 2016), and depression is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions amongst the young Australians (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2017). Depression is a debilitating condition that substantially impairs individuals’ ability to function and cope with their daily life due to the experience of negative feelings (NHMRC 2016). Also, depression and suicidality have a close correlation as eighty percent of reported suicide incident was due to the burden of depression (World Health Organization 2017), and suicide is the second leading cause of death in youths in Australia (Reddy 2010). Moreover, depression can be inherited in a family through either biological or psychological way (Rahman et al. 2008); hence, youths who have the family with depression history tend to be more vulnerable and have a higher chance to get depression comparing with children from healthy family (Rice 2010). Therefore, this expo is set up for raising community awareness in the burden of depression and reducing the growth of emotional and developmental dysfunction in youths and their families through providing a comprehensive research study in related the health problem and proven intervention strategies.

Suicide rates for teenagers have increased drastically over the years, but there are no new programs being set up to try and correctly treat patients to lower the rate. Suicidal thoughts are automatically assumed to be triggered by mental deformities, like depression and anxiety. Because of this, teenagers with thoughts of suicide are given varieties of medication and forced into hospitals to try and control their urges. Strategies like this may just be making the problem worse. Should mental disorders be the ultimate primary diagnosis of suicidal attempts? Should external factors be more seriously considered in the course of prescribing treatments? As technology gets more advanced, students are exposed to a whole new scenario of harassment. On top of this stress- college tuition is rising, unemployment is increasing, and for some, bills are drastically overweighing income. Suicide rates will never attain zero percent because the reasons will always be there, permanently preventing complete happiness in every individual. The question that needs to be asked is, what causes have made suicide rates increase so swiftly? Is it the issues one individual battles inside of themselves, or problems with the outside world? This question is significant in our modern society because the correct causes need to be determined before anyone could be correctly treated. While there will always be multiple reasons for suicide, diagnosing the leading cause of

According to Maureen and Kayla (78), “adolescent depression is a serious problem affecting 10.7% of all teens and 29.9% of high school students” whereby, 17% of the latter are supposed to have contemplated suicide in general. Notably, this statistic conveys the seriousness with which the issue needs to be addressed with because, ostensibly, most of the depression cases, which ultimately lead to suicide incidences among teens, are still going unrecognized. Moreover, as American Psychological Association asserts, the primary cause of suicidal distress include social, environmental, and psychological factors (par. 2). Additionally, the former also notes that suicide risk factors vary with certain aspects including age, ethnic group, stressful life events, family dynamics, and gender among other factors. In precision, it is admissible that despite the many aspects that are supposed to be the main cause of suicide cases among teens, failure to recognize and treat, or rather, address the causative agents of suicidal conditions could be the primary reason for the rampancy regarding the issue. Therefore, if, for instance, medical practitioners and parents among other involved individuals seek to curb teen suicide, it first necessitates their understanding of the problem including reasons that might lead a teenager to develop suicidal thoughts.