Isolated young Victorians forced to wait months for headspace counselling
DESPERATE young Victorians struggling with lockdown are waiting as long as three months for potentially lifesaving appointments at regional mental health services as its revealed another young man has taken his life.
Victoria
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DESPERATE young Victorians struggling with lockdown are waiting as long as three months for potentially lifesaving appointments at headspace centres.
Many stressed out families and young adults seeking private psychological and psychiatric help are also being forced to wait long periods, and some made to pay large gap payments.
It comes as it’s revealed another Victorian child has recently taken their life, bringing to 12 the number of child suicides so far this year.
The Geelong parents of 15 year-old Abe Knox, who took is own life on May 29 this year, said his story was a warning about how hard it is to find help.
They told the Herald Sun they tried unsuccessfully for several weeks before his death to get their son into either public or private mental health support services. Headspace was not involved in his case.
“I rang around but couldn’t get him in anywhere,” his mother Rylie Knox said.
Fifteen young Victorians, under the age of 24, have suicided in the last two months alone.
A total of 64 under that age have suicided so far this year.
A mental health expert has spoken out about the long wait for counselling appointments, revealing headspace Geelong had a 12 week wait list “for those in the highest need”, and this was reflective of the situation across regional Victoria.
“It’s typical of all the regional centres . . . my understanding at the moment, is that, at headspace Geelong, even the high risk young people are waiting at least 12 weeks for support,” Malcolm Scott, a former Geelong headspace manager and now mental health trainer and regional youth task force board member, said.
The three month wait time was labelled “a disaster” by adjunct professor at Australia’s Brain and Mind Research Institute, John Mendoza.
“A 12 week wait list is a disaster for anyone, let alone a young person trying to figure out what the hell is happening,” he said.
Headspace this week confirmed the long wait time saying: “At headspace Geelong there is typically a waiting time to start a longer program of structured counselling services of 10-12 weeks but the centre uses a range of strategies to ensure the young person is supported while they wait and engaged in managing their mental health.”
A spokeswoman said young people who contacted headspace for help were usually called within a week to be assessed.
Before the COVID pandemic, that time frame had been one to three days.
At least five times the current government funding level was needed to adequately support youth mental health in Victoria, Mr Scott said.
Self-harm and substance abuse was surging among young people struggling with worsening mental health during lockdown, with many unable to get timely help, he said.
“Protective factors . . . like attending school and engaging in social activities have been removed so they are turning to drug and alcohol in their isolation . . . they are becoming more at risk as a result of the isolation that’s been enforced upon them,” Mr Scott said.
A different mental health support model was also desperately needed for youth, with more free outreach and home-based services, he said.
Headspace chief Jason Trethowan said COVID-19 had hurt the mental health of many young Victorians.
“Young people are experiencing major disruptions to school, work and study, changes to social and family life and increasing loneliness . . . these events are occurring . . . in already critical transition periods, identified as high risk, and without the usual support structures,” he said.
Headspace research found 74 per cent of young people who received its services believed their mental health had deteriorated since the outbreak of COVID-19.
Data released by the Victorian coroner this week shows suicide rates have not surged over the COVID-19 pandemic and have remained consistently high over the last few years.
But executive director of youth mental health organisation Orygen, Professor Patrick McGorry, has said a rise is predicted by scientific modelling.
“The timing is predicted by the degree of economic collapse and other stressors,” he said.
“The warning signs (are) of increased distress, a 33 per cent rise in self harm, a surge in mental health care (and) in community distress are very worrying.”
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