COUNSELLING CONNECTIONS

I apologise to the loyal readers of this column that the last edition lacked a counsellor’s input. Unavoidably isolated for a week, I am now back to full strength.

What Do We Know about the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adolescents?

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports statistics regarding adolescents. Mind you, these statistics do not yet count the effects of Covid which we all know has increased strains on the whole population, and, I would suggest, acutely on adolescents.

I offer this perspective on adolescent mental health for the following reasons:

• So that parents understand that this is an issue widely experienced  by adolescents in our families
• This is a societal issue, not one of blame or fault of families or parents in particular
• It is something that all parents need to be on the alert for and ready to respond to.

Key findings

• In 2013-14, 1 in 5 (20%) young people aged 11-17 had either high or very high levels of psychological distress (13% and 6.6%, respectively).
• In 2017-18, an estimated 339,000 young people aged 18-24 (15%) experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress.
• In 2013-14, an estimated 245,000 young people aged 12-17 (14%) experienced a mental disorder, with males more commonly affected than females (16% compared with 13%).
• In 2019, there were 461 deaths by suicide among young people aged 15–24, a rate of 14 per 100,000 young people. For more information, click HERE.

Here are some pertinent and revealing statistics regarding the following:

Challenging the Myth of Social Media

There is a myth going around … that social media is necessary, even compulsory to adolescents even for you and me. It’s a myth and one can survive, even thrive without the plethora of facebook, twitter, snapchat and the deluge of ‘sames’ that wander the wifi. (You might note that I am not prepared to even capitalise these aggressively opportunistic marketing enterprises that seek to monetarise the users for profit, with little regard for personal safety let along respect for individuals.)

Here is a link to a resource that says it all in its title.

I welcome your feedback on this newsletter article or previous ones, suggestions of further topics or any concerns that you would like to discuss with me regarding the wellbeing of our young people.

To contact me:

brroger@cns.catholic.edu.au   

07 4052 9135