It's not easy being a young person today. Login or signup to continue reading The great social media experiment is shaping young brains in highly questionable ways. And the prospect for many of never being able to afford to buy your own home can't be a good thing for the mind.
The cost of living is also a big issue and the changing climate isn't exactly reassuring. Baby boomers gleefully spending the inheritance is another sucker punch for youngsters. Although, many would say, the boomers deserve to spend up and live large.
Earlier this month, Monash University released its 2024 Australian Youth Barometer. The survey of 620 young people found that more than one in five rated their mental health as poor or very poor Chris Gambian, of Australians for Mental Health, said: "This is no time for generation wars or 'back in our day' nonsense: youth mental health is in crisis" Of course, many young people will be successful and find a way to overcome the obstacles they face in society. A free mental health program for young people in Port Stephens, called "Jupiter - Space to Talk", is helping young people see this path.
It has helped more than 1300 young people in Port Stephens in five years. The service is cost-effective, but on the brink of closure due to a lack of funding. It has four counsellors and costs about $400,000 a year to run.
Geoffrey Basser, vice president of COPSY (Caring for our Port Stephens Youth), has been sending emails to state and federal governments seeking their help to continue the Jupiter service. "None of them are responding to emails or requests for a meeting," Mr Basser said. "All we get is they 'don't have any money'.
" Mr Basser said Jupiter was "giving kids hope". "What greater value in life is there than helping young people be successful, get satisfaction and not be a cost on society." The federal government funds Headspace centres in Newcastle, Maitland, Cessnock, Gosford, Lake Haven and Wyong.
Port Stephens, though, doesn't have a Headspace. So it seems fair that the Jupiter program should attract regular government funding. Headspace's annual report said it received $85.
5 million in revenue from "government grants and other operations" and had 154 sites in 2023. A key part of providing mental health support to young people is preventing them getting worse in future. The region's mental health crisis cannot be explained in clearer terms than the number and rate of intentional self-harm hospitalisations.
It's a sad fact that the Hunter health network recorded 6594 of these hospitalisations in the past five years. The fact the Hunter network, which includes Central Coast and New England, has the highest amount of these hospitalisations is alarming enough. With this kind of data, though, officials point to the rate per 100,000 people as being an important statistic.
Well, the Hunter network had the highest rate per 100,000 people in the state for females and males for intentional self-harm hospitalisations in 2022-23. It also recorded the most self-harm hospitalisations in the state for females (745) and males (435) in that period. It's accurate to say, then, that the Hunter network is a hot spot for mental health challenges.
So the fact that a program like Jupiter is struggling to survive shows something is rotten in the state of Denmark. ISSUE: 40,311 DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update.
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