It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: finding out, but only when it’s too late, that your teen has been suffering a mental illness.
Sadly, according to the latest figures, mental illness will affect a staggering one in four teens, with most going without the right support or treatment.
It’s no surprise then that educators and mental health professionals have welcomed Head Strong, a new initiative funded by private insurer nib, that will train teachers to deliver an interactive seminar to year 9 to 10 students, on how to identify and cope with mental health issues.
To be implemented by mid-2012 across NSW with a focus on rural areas Head Strong presentations will cover teen challenges, at-risk personality types, coping strategies, fear for seeking help, finding support and developing resilience.
Ms Gidget Anderson, a psychiatric nurse and parent of three from Murwillumbah, said the set topics were vital to the year 9 to 10 age group.
“In those years you have a lot of schooling pressures starting to build up which can trigger anxiety or depression, and also the first signs of genetic mental health disorders can start to appear for some. Teens can experience a wide range of behaviours like obsessive compulsiveness, self harming or bulimia,” she said.
Ms Anderson added that removing the negative perceptions of mental illness would also be a major factor for teens.
“The first place parents normally take their teens is the GP where they can do a pretty good job to cover things up. They think: ‘oh no, how embarrassing, I have a mental problem’; and if the Head Strong program helps to take away that stigma it will help them to open up.”
The Head Strong program could also prevent the vicious cycle of symptoms and substance abuse that is common to our region.
“It is sad, but places like Lismore, the northern rivers and all the way up the Gold Coast we see a lot of drug induced psychosis in the teen age group. Affected teens try to self manage their mental health problems by using drugs like marijuana. The drugs offer them a temporary distraction, but with major, and sometimes life-long consequences.
“The program could help these kids to seek help before their situation comes to that crisis point,” she said.
“Everybody deserves the chance to get better, and if learning to seek support can help just one child from a suicidal situation the program has paid for itself,” she said.
Mr Paul Fua, Principal of the Tweed Valley Seventh Day Adventist College, welcomes the program, and says it will make a good addition to the support system the school already has in place.
“We recognise the importance of students’ need for support and that’s why we have invested in hiring a full-time chaplain, Marty Benard, who is a qualified social worker and counsellor. Marty’s sole responsibility is the emotional well being of the students,” Mr Fua said.
“We’ve also invested into a part-time Chaplain’s assistant – Lachlan Towned – who graduated from the school last year and is on gap year until he starts tertiary studies in theology,” Mr Fua said.
“We really believe that having that support in place at Tweed Valley Seventh Day Adventist college is what has helped put our students into a very different head space (to most),” he said.
Story: Alina Derevyanko
