Social media a big worry for regional youth

New headspace statistics released this month have shown that 60% of young people in regional Australia believe that the mental health of young people is getting worse,

SAFE ON SOCIAL: Headspace Warwick will be running a workshop to offer kids with information about cyber safety and how to know if you're at risk.

AS national youth mental health foundation headspace releases new data about the mental health of young people — including the impact of social media — its outreach service from Warwick is aiming to increase the support provided to Stanthorpe.

Travis Maguire, Centre Manager, headspace Warwick, said services were currently offered in Stanthorpe every Monday and Thursday including counselling and an intake process with a care co-ordinator.

He said a youth engagement officer also worked with young people fortnightly and could “walk and talk” in an effort to help those not ready for counselling, but the aim was to boost preventative work and community engagement.

Prevention work, he said, would include creating more awareness around mental health issues, ensuring young people knew support was available, and building a rapport and connections with those in the 12- 25-year-old age group.

New headspace statistics released this month have shown that 60% of young people in regional Australia believe that the mental health of young people is getting worse, and 33% of young people in regional Australia attribute social media to the cause of the supposed decline.

Mr Maguire said that while he wouldn’t say there had been a spike in mental health issues, it was a “consistent” concern.

He said the use of social media in rural areas could be a “double-edged sword” as it allowed people to have friendships outside their town, however, social media was also “relentless”.

“If you’re having bullying concerns, it’s there 24 hours a day. You can ignore that device but it’s there and there’s always stuff going on.”

Mr Maguire said social media was “at our fingertips”, but the key was to strive for balance.

“We try to encourage the positive use of devices.

“It’s about balance and finding ways we can accept social media and effectively work with it.”

Social media and online platforms, Mr Maguire said, could be used in positive ways for getting in touch with support groups and connecting with other people with similar or shared interests such as writing, sport, art, and music.

He said signs to be aware of when looking out for overuse of devices and social media were interrupted sleep patterns, irritability, headaches, sore eyes, feeling overtired or rundown, and declining invites to physically socialise.

Jason Trethowan, headspace CEO, said many factors that contributed to the state of a young person’s mental health, but as things evolved headspace needed to ensure young people were armed with knowledge and resources to build resilience to support their own wellbeing.

Originally published as