Depression refers to state of the low mood that has an effect on the thoughts and the behaviour of a person. Depression acts as a symptom of physical disease and it can also be the side effect of some kind of medical treatment. The depression among the adolescents is increasing at an alarming pace as they have to encounter physical and emotional changes at this age. Unrealistic academic expectation gives rise to disappointment among the adolescents in Australia. World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that depression is the leading cause of the disability in the global arena (Lawrence et al., 2015).
This report discusses about the level of depression among the adolescents within Australia. It also elaborates on the pattern of depression among the group. The report discusses about gender along with human rights issues that can pave the path for depression in society. The report also suggests health promotion intervention that can help in addressing depression. It discusses about the strategies that can be undertaken that can help in promoting positive mental health among the adolescents in Australia.
Review of level of depression of adolescents in Australia
Mental health disorder can be stated to be unique among the individuals within the framework of the Australian society. Impact of a disorder differ among the individuals having same diagnosis. Higher prevalence condition like ADHD along with Anxiety Disorders are rated as being “mild” or “ moderate” instead of “severe” impact. Major depressive disorder was a condition where “ mild” impact was less common as compared to “moderate” or the severe” impact (Azzopardi et al., 2018). It has been found that suicide along with self-harm behaviours have long-lasting effect on the individuals along with their families.
Relationship that exists between the suicide and the self-harm behaviour can be said to be strong. Half of the young people within Australia who die by committing suicide are found to have previously engaged themselves in that of self-harm behaviours. Suicide can be said to be uncommon among the young people in Australia who belong to the age group of 0-14. On the other hand, suicide accounts to be leading cause of death among the young Australians who are of the age 15-24. In the year 2013, there was less than one suicide death among per 100,000 population among the young people who were of the age group of 0-14.
It increased to that of 10 deaths among per 100,000 population for those who were of the age group of 15-19. Survey carried out in Australia has revealed the fact that 11 % of the young people who were of the age group of 12-17 did not carry out any acts of self-harming (Hoare et al., 2016). The rates have been more or less stable in the last 15 years. The females who were of the age group of 16-17 had higher prevalence of harming themselves and they have harmed themselves three times more as compared to the males of same age (Rikkers et al., 2016).
Pattern of Depression among Adolescents
Mental disorder has effect on the individuals in various ways and to that of varying extent. It has been found with the help of survey that three-fifth of the young children who were of the age group of 4-17 suffers from mental disorder. 8.3 % of all children and the adolescents suffer from the incidence of mild disorder. It was found that one quarter of the children who belonged to the age group of 4-17 had mental disorder and 3.5 % of the children were suffering from moderate disorder (Who.int. 2018).
One among seven of the 4-17 year old were assessed as having mental disorder that was severe. This was found to be equivalent to one out of 50 that amounted to approximately 82, 000 Australian children. The adolescents had three times more chances of experiencing severe mental disorder. It was found out with the help of reports that major depressive factor had great impact on the aspect of functioning as compared to other disorders (O’neil et al., 2014). It was found that 42.8 % of the case can be termed as severe and the rest 35.8 % can be termed as moderate. A large percentage of the anxiety disorders like ADHD along with cases of conduct disorder were of mild nature.
Research has highlighted the fact that two-third of children of the young people between the age of 4-17 had ADHD. 53.8 % of the young people had anxiety disorder and 58.7 % of the children (aged 4-17) having conduct disorder was assessed to have mild disorder. It was found that 3.3 % of the children in between the age of 12-17 were suffering from severe mental disorder as compared with 1.1 % of that of 4-11 year old people (Lawrence et al., 2016). The violation of gender along with human rights paves the path for depression in the adolescents of Australia. The women are often sexually abused that paves the path for depression among the adolescents of Australia. The women have to deal with role overload that is a major cause of depression in the adolescents of Australia. The Human Rights Act help in protecting the right of the people who live with mental health problems in Australia.
It was found out that around 560,000 of the Australian children were suffering from mental disorder. The males had more tendency of suffering from depression as compared to the females in Australia (16.3 % as compared to 11.5 %). It was found with the help of survey that ADHD was the mental disorder that was common among the adolescents (7.4 %). 6.9 % of the population in Australia were suffering from anxiety disorder and 2.8 % of the population was suffering from that of major depressive disorder (Costigan et al., 2016). The survey indicated that one-third of the adolescents had two or more than that of mental disorder in the same time in the last year. Prevalence of the mental disorder did not differ with that of age for the male population living in Australia. The prevalence of mental disorder was higher in the older females as compared to the younger females.
Health promotion intervention for addressing depression
The health promotion interventions that can help in addressing depression are the school based services like the counsellors and the welfare officers. They can help in providing support to the young people when the negotiation of challenges is carried out within school-based social environment. Social connectedness is a predictive factor in relation to substance abuse along with mental health disorders. Individual counselling can be provided to the children suffering from mental disorder at the school that can help in addressing the prevalence of depression among the adolescents in Australia. Headspace is another intervention service model in Australia that can be instrumental in providing mental health service to the children aged between 12-25.
Health services can be diverse and it can include- primary care service, community-based care and that of specialised mental health care facility. The general practitioners fall under the ambit of primary care service that can help in addressing depression among the adolescents living in Australia (Ferguson, 2015). Community-based care will include psychologists along with psychiatrists that can be managed with the help of state along with territory health departments. Health interventions that can help in addressing depression are the health care facilities that are provided in the hospitals. The Ecological Systems Theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner talks about the relationship that exists between individual and environment.
The individual is given emphasis in the socio-ecological model. The ecological system theory of that of Urie Bronfenbrenner states that the surrounding environment has an influence on that of the mental health of an individual (Azzopardi et al., 2018). The model of Urie Bronfenbrenner stresses that child should be studied from context of that of multiple environments that can help in reducing the incidence of depression among the adolescents in Australia. A child gets enmeshed in various ecosystems- from home ecological system to that of expansive system that comprises of society along with culture. These systems carry out interaction with every aspect in relation to the life of the children. The health intervention strategies can help in providing a supportive environment to the children that can help in the aspect of fostering the development of the children.
Conclusion
Depression is indicative of state of low mood that affects behaviour of a person. Depression can also occur owing to some medical treatment. Suicide is not prevalent among the young people in Australia between the age of 0-14. Suicide acts as leading cause of death among Australians who were of age group 15-24. Females had higher tendency of harming themselves and they harm themselves three times more than that of the males within the framework of Australian society. More number of males suffered from depression in Australia when compared to that of the females. ADHD accounted to be a major mental disorder among the adolescents living in Australia.
Counsellors can be taken recourse to by the adolescents in Australia that can help in addressing the issue of depression prevalent among the adolescents. The service of the welfare officers can also be resorted to that can help in addressing issue of depression among adolescents of Australia. The psychologists and the psychiatrists can help the adolescents in Australia in dealing with the issue of depression. Health care facilities can also be taken resorted to for addressing depression of adolescents in Australia.
References
Aihw.gov.au. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/42e2f292-4ebb-4e8d-944c-32c014ad2796/ah16-5-5-mental-health-australias-young-people-adolescents.pdf.aspx
Azzopardi, P. S., Sawyer, S. M., Carlin, J. B., Degenhardt, L., Brown, N., Brown, A. D., & Patton, G. C. (2018). Health and wellbeing of Indigenous adolescents in Australia: a systematic synthesis of population data. The Lancet, 391(10122), 766-782.
Costigan, S. A., Eather, N., Plotnikoff, R. C., Hillman, C. H., & Lubans, D. R. (2016). High-intensity interval training for cognitive and mental health in adolescents. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 48(10), 1985-1993.
Ferguson, C. J. (2015). Do angry birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game influences on children’s and adolescents’ aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. Perspectives on psychological science, 10(5), 646-666.
Health.gov.au. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/9DA8CA21306FE6EDCA257E2700016945/%24File/child2.pdf
Hoare, E., Milton, K., Foster, C., & Allender, S. (2016). The associations between sedentary behaviour and mental health among adolescents: a systematic review. International journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 13(1), 108.
Lawrence, D., Hafekost, J., Johnson, S. E., Saw, S., Buckingham, W. J., Sawyer, M. G., … & Zubrick, S. R. (2016). Key findings from the second Australian child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 50(9), 876-886.
Lawrence, D., Johnson, S., Hafekost, J., Boterhoven de Haan, K., Sawyer, M., Ainley, J., & Zubrick, S. R. (2015). The mental health of children and adolescents: report on the second Australian child and adolescent survey of mental health and wellbeing.
O’neil, A., Quirk, S. E., Housden, S., Brennan, S. L., Williams, L. J., Pasco, J. A., … & Jacka, F. N. (2014). Relationship between diet and mental health in children and adolescents: a systematic review. American journal of public health, 104(10), e31-e42.
Rikkers, W., Lawrence, D., Hafekost, J., & Zubrick, S. R. (2016). Internet use and electronic gaming by children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural problems in Australia–results from the second Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. BMC public health, 16(1), 399.
Who.int. 2018. Gender. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/gender-equity-rights/understanding/gender-definition/en/
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