Early help makes a big difference
Youth mental health services are experiencing exponential demand increases in WA. While it’s encouraging that people are reaching out, the rising need for support paints a poignant picture of the very real mental, emotional and social struggles young West Aussies are facing.
More than 75 per cent of common mental health problems start before the age of 25. And too many young lives are tragically lost to suicide each year — it is a leading cause of death for young people in Australia. In 2020 alone, 58 young people aged between 15 and 24 took their own lives in WA. Alarmingly, the figure rose 48 from the previous year.
Accessing timely, specialist youth mental health support is fundamental to improve resilience, reduce the potential long-term impacts of mental ill health and prevent suicide.
Youth Focus is a specialist non-government youth mental health service in WA. They offer free counselling, mentoring, outreach and community education services to young people aged 12 to 25 years. “We equip people with the support they need to tackle challenging issues and lead meaningful lives,” says Arthur Papakotsias, chief executive of Youth Focus. Their face-to-face and telehealth counselling services and youth mentorship programs are producing positive and effective outcomes.
Rose, 15, was diagnosed with anxiety after experiencing over three months of debilitating stomach pain. Regular trips to hospital, specialist appointments and nightly panic attacks impacted her ability to attend school.
“When you’re a teenager and don’t understand what’s happening, it can be frightening and quite isolating and thinking you’re the only one going through all of this,” she says. “I felt very lonely, sad and anxious and I didn’t see much of a way out of what I was feeling. It was hard to deal with the anxiety without knowing what was going on.”
Rose was referred to the Youth Focus through her school and started many months of counselling before transitioning into the mentoring program. She was introduced to Aimee, who provided life-changing mentoring support for 12 months: “Aimee became like my big sister. I could talk to her and get help. I still have my moments but now I can overcome them. And I can see a future full of hope and happiness.”
The Youth Focus mentoring program supports young people who are experiencing depression, anxiety, self-harm and thoughts of suicide and are accessing counselling services from the organisation. Volunteer mentors undertake comprehensive training and education. Their role is to help young people enhance skills relating to self-esteem, communication, goal setting, social skills, trust, relationships and conflict resolution.
“We created this mentoring program to help young people with mental health challenges develop positive relationships with someone they can trust and confide in, who supports them on their road to recovery,” says Mr Papakotsias. Last financial year, Youth Focus supported 4599 young people through its counselling, assessment and headspace services and another 7696 people through school and community education programs at 48 schools.
Youth Focus has launched a fundraising appeal for their mentoring program. A single mentoring journey costs $1000 and one mentoring session costs $40. You can find out more about this vital youth mental health services and the end of financial year appeal on the Youth Focus website.
With rising demand, support for youth services is critical and investing in them produces a valuable return. Early and timely support can make a big difference in a young person’s life, and even help save one.
Youth Focus: 08 6266 4333 Lifeline: 13 11 14
This article was first published in The West Australian in Renée Gardiner’s weekly column in Agenda, 4 June 2022.