The growing prevalence of depression among adolescents and young adults should prompt expanded support services for Australia's young people, a leading mental health institute says.
A new report from the Black Dog Institute found there had been a 72 per cent increase in the prevalence of affective disorders - including depression - among Australian young adults in the last 14 years.
A significantly higher proportion of adolescent girls reported symptoms of depression than boys, new data has shown.
About 15 per cent of adolescents reported clinically significant depression symptoms in data collected between August 2019 and March 2022 from 6388 high school students.
While just 7.6 per cent of boys reported depression symptoms, 19.1 per cent of girls reported symptoms and the rate was higher among gender and sexuality diverse adolescents.
Will O'Meara, 18, experienced severe bouts of depression, coupled with drug use, when he was in high school in Canberra.
"It felt like, almost, I wasn't allowed to have problems like that because I've had it too good to be able to feel like that," Mr O'Meara said.
Cathy MacMaster, Mr O'Meara's mother, said no one in the family had experienced depression before and the family had not seen it coming.
After Mr O'Meara had tried to take his own life, Ms MacMaster said he was sent home from hospital with no other help than an appointment in six weeks' time.
"No one was able to chart a path for us at all. I found that really difficult, to be cut loose with a couple of numbers to ring. No one gives you any sort of path or way forward. As a parent, I needed that," Ms MacMaster said.
But with significant family support, Mr O'Meara was able to get help - including a diagnosis of and then treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He no longer takes drugs and wouldn't describe himself as being depressed.
Mr O'Meara said mental health care needed to be streamlined, accessible and adapt depending on each person's need.
"There's definitely a lot of problems in the mental health sector in getting help that you need. It's really hard: there's not enough people and sometimes it's hard to find the right person to talk to," he said.
Black Dog Institute executive director and chief scientist Professor Sam Harvey said depression had become more common in adolescents and young adults over the last decade.
There were also signs of an increase in depressive symptoms in children since the coronavirus pandemic, he said. "This report calls for expanded support and a more holistic approach for future work to prevent and treat depression. The research and analysis in this report shines a light on what we need to begin doing to turn the tide on these rising rates of depression," Professor Harvey said.
The report also found screen time and symptoms of depression were closely linked in adolescents, with girls more likely to engage high levels of recreational screen time.
"Another explanation to consider is whether the association between screen time and depression occurs in the opposite direction to what is typically assumed. That is, rather than being a consequence of higher levels of screen time, depression may actually lead adolescents to engage in higher levels of screen use," the report said.
- Support is available. Telephone Lifeline 13 11 14; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636.
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