Youth mental health is an area of passion for us at Mindful Recovery Services. We see a high number of young people aged 14- 26 experiencing mental health distress & in need of support within the Central Coast community.
It is a challenge to communicate young people's needs to those who design & fund mental health services, mainly because young people themselves are rarely given a seat at the table in service planning.
Last week was significant in giving young people a voice, when the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health was released. The Commission report is the culmination of 4 years of research & consultation involving worldwide mental health professionals & those with lived experience. The findings were what many of us working in the field already know; mental health for young people is worsening & drastic intervention is needed to prevent further negative impact.
Lead author of the Commission, Professor Patrick McGorry stated;
It is now accepted that mental ill-health is the primary threat to the health, wellbeing and productivity of young people, but while it accounts for 45 per cent of disease globally in those aged 10 to 24 years – only 2 per cent of global health budgets are allocated to addressing it.
Joint Senior Author, Professor Killackey stated, “Young people are showing the most serious warning signs and symptoms of a society and a world that is in serious trouble,”.
You can read their comments, as well as details of the other authors of the Commission at the below link:
(https://www.orygen.org.au/About/News-And-Events/2024/LANDMARK-LANCET- PSYCHIATRY-COMMISSION-SOUNDS-ALARM)
Identifying the decline in young people's mental health naturally begs the question of WHY this may be happening. The Commission states,
...in many countries, the mental health of young people has been declining over the past two decades, signalling a warning that global megatrends and changes in many societies are increasing mental ill health (pp 731).
The Covid 19 pandemic, environmental issues, economic stress & political changes have all been identified as having a significant impact on the worsening mental health of young people. Social media has also been identified in playing both a positive & negative role in youth mental health.
The Commission states,
The neglect of youth mental health can be partly ascribed to the stigma-based neglect of mental health worldwide.This neglect is amplified by the perverse and self- defeating ambivalence that society continues to display towards young people and their needs. Insufficient action on climate change, an unregulated and unsafe digital world and social media environment, and social exclusion as reflected by insecure employment, reduced access to affordable housing, and intergenerational inequality have combined to create a bleak present and future for young people in many countries (pp. 734).
The Commission outlines that mental illnesses have their peak onset at age 15 years, and therefor early intervention is crucial. They found that, 'Mental health care for young people must be sensitive to this age group’s specific biological, cognitive, social, and cultural changes.' (pp. 731)
Drop-out rates from mental health care for young people were explored & the data is concerning. For young people who do access services, quality of care is patchy at best, and attrition rates are high, with a large study reporting a 42% drop out of treatment by one’s third therapy session (Seidler ZE, Rice SM, Dhillon HM, et al. Patterns of youth mental health service use and discontinuation: population data from Australia’s headspace model of care. Psychiatr Serv 2020;71: 1104–13.)
This figure emphasises the need for high quality services specifically designed with young people's needs in mind.
Furthermore, there are groups of young people who receive even more stigma & reduced access to care, which needs addressing. The Commission found,
...reform needs to address access to services for groups of young people whose needs have historically been seen as reasons to discriminate against them and to deny them services, such as those living with personality disorders or substance use disorders, and young people involved with the justice system (pp. 752).
Keeping young people engaged in high quality & effective care models can be a challenge, particularly with young people with complex needs. At Mindful Recovery Services, we have been running our gold-standard 12-month intensive dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) program since 2022. This program provides intensive & long-term support to people with complex mental health struggles. It includes group sessions, individual therapy sessions & phone support between sessions.
Since we commenced this program in 2022, 97% of young people who enrolled in the program went on to successfully complete it. This is exciting data in a field where high drop-out rates have been identified, & indicates benefits in further replication.
There continue to be challenges in our Central Coast community for young people to access high quality programs such as DBT. Financial stressors & lack of effective referral pathways continue to leave many young people in need without appropriate support.
Our team at Mindful Recovery are passionate about creating better referral pathways to our services by building relationships with community partners & other mental health services. There continues to be barriers in referrals between public healthcare services & the private healthcare sector. Policies preventing effective referral between services need to be acknowledged as no longer fit for service, & the wellbeing of young people needs to be prioritised over bureaucratic red tape.
Lived experience needs to be a key part of service, funding & policy development within the mental health service. Young people need to be asked & listened to in regards to mental health support. This means including more young people in consultation & discussion before determining services that will affect them.
Do you know a young person in need of support? Are you a professional working with young people in need of support? Reach out- we'd love to chat!!!
To read the full Lancet Commission report visit: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(24)00163-9/abstract
Author: Alex Wilson- Director; Mindful Recovery Services & the Central Coast DBT Centre
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