More than a third of young Australians experienced mental health disorder in past 12 months

The increasing rate of mental disorders among young people is an international phenomenon being driven by three megatrends: concern about the climate emergency, the cost of living and the increased breakdown of social connection. Photograph: Dmytro Betsenko/Alamy

“I always knew that I had this really bad feeling but I just thought that was normal,” Sam Tickle says. “I’d pull up in the bus to school and I just thought everyone got this disgusting feeling inside of you – the panic, basically.”

It wasn’t until 2021 when Tickle was diagnosed with anxiety and depression in year 11 that he understood he was living with a mental health disorder. “Anxiety in particular is something I’ve been suffering all my life, I just didn’t know I had it.”