Mindful Margaret River and social workers note adverse trend for youth mental health

The region’s peak community mental health body has voiced concerns about increasing calls to support young people living within the shire. While the Times last week reported the WA Country Health Service noting a 14 per cent increase in mental health presentations at Capes hospitals as within expected trends, Mindful Margaret River project officer Erin Statz said the greatest cause for concern among residents was the wellbeing of young people. “Early intervention is the space that is being requested, in particular where there are gaps in support and services in our area,” she said. Feedback from social workers and clinicians reflected a view there was more pressure on the system, and outreach services were not meeting rising demand. “It is reported that presentations to the emergency department have increased post-COVID-19 and the age of presentations is decreasing in relation to non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal ideation, which is a new trend,” Ms Statz said. “Youth may not be doing as well as adults in the post-COVID-19 recovery period.” Meanwhile, a report released last year on public mental health services for children and teens in WA found that between 2017 and 2020, the number of emergency department admissions related to a suicide attempt or suicide risk increased by 50 per cent. WA Association of Mental Health chief executive Taryn Harvey said her group released a report last month into the community mental health needs for the South West, Wheatbelt and Midwest which found serious concerns. “A consistent message in those consultations was that communities want to see increased investment in the development of local community mental health capacity rather than outreach or ‘drive-in, drive-out’ service models from large regional centres,” Ms Harvey said. “They talked about these approaches not being sustainable or responsive, and not supporting the development of local capacity building which they clearly prioritise.” While appreciating the State Government’s investment in acute care, Ms Harvey said outreach projects could help people at the start of their distress, before it led to emergency presentations. Youth suicide prevention expert Nicole Hill, from Telethon Kids’ Institute, said that teenagers and young adults were increasingly at risk. “Developmentally, when we look at early adolescence, it’s a period of significant social and physiological changes, and we do see suicide and self-harm increase during this period,” she said. However, two-year lag times in reporting of data hampered efforts to tackle the issue. “I think it’s a real gap in terms of suicide prevention here in WA,” Ms Hill said. Mental Health Commission acting commissioner Lindsay Hale last month told The West Australian it was working on developing a WA suicide monitoring system, but access to data would require approval from the State Coroner. Ms Harvey said her group would support improvements to gather better data. Ms Statz said residents groups were asking Mindful Margaret River to deliver more seminars and mental health first-aid training, which was now becoming the group’s key focus.