Out Of The Dark

Youth Depression and Anxiety Are on the Rise, and It Can Be Hard to Know How to Offer Support. Here Two Experts Share Tools for Helping Teens Through the Difficult Times
 

- Sara Bunny

Whether you’ve been there yourself or supported someone through it, depression and anxiety are difficult things for anyone to cope with. But when you’re a young adult trying to navigate your way in the world, adding mental health issues to the mix can make life almost impossible to fathom.

It’s well documented that anxiety and depression rates are on the rise in Australia, New Zealand and much of the developed world, but it’s not just among adults – it’s a worrying trend that’s affecting young people as well. Regardless of age, gender or economic status, the number of teens experiencing mental health issues is soaring.

Australian health charity Beyond Blue says research suggests three in four adult mental health conditions emerge by age 24, and half by age 14. The organisation estimates that one in 35 young Australians aged between four and 17 experience a depressive disorder, and in the same age bracket, one in 14 people experienced an anxiety disorder in 2015. That’s the equivalent of approximately 278,000 young people in Australia battling anxiety issues in a year, and experts say on a global scale, mental health concerns are set to become the world’s biggest health pandemic by 2020.

So how do you support a young person who is struggling with issues such as depression or anxiety, or just the stresses of modern life? We talked to authors Nicole Gibson and Megan Street, both in their 20s themselves, who are leading the charge to end the prevailing stigma and engage teens in meaningful talk about mental health.

Feeling the pressure

Ask Melbourne-based high school teacher Megan Street what she thinks is helping to drive mental health stats through the roof, and she doesn’t take long to come up with an answer. Social media, she believes, is a key factor behind body image issues and low self-esteem among many teens, especially girls.