Depression among Australian Teenagers

Running head: DEPRESSION
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Depression
Institution
Student
Date

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Community Health and Disease Prevention
Depression among the Australia Teenagers
Depression is such a significant health issue across all Australian age groups and experiences of
this disorder can have weighty impacts on the health of teenagers. The occurrence of plausible
serious mental illness amongst Australian young people has continued to increase every year. It
has also been noted that the burden of possible serious cases of depression are borne more
seriously by young females than young males. Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal teenagers
are also more probable to meet the criteria for a likely severe depression than their non-
Indigenous counterparts. According to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, (2007), 1 in 4
adolescents are living with a depression and 9% of teenagers (aged between16-24) undergo very
high levels of mental distresses. Individuals aged 18-24 years experience the highest
pervasiveness of depressions of any other age group and adolescence suicide is the principal
cause of deaths among youth aged 15-24. Start of depression among the Australian teenagers is
characteristically around mid-to-late teenage years and it is significant to recognize the early
forewarning signs and symptoms. Early intervention normally prevents the development of a
severe depressive sickness (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2007).
The Australian teenagers are at the highest risk of depressions owing to profound vulnerability
and exposure to unfavorable economic, social, and environmental circumstances, interrelated
with gender. Disadvantage among this subgroup begins at birth and accumulates all through life.
Risk factors for various common mental problems especially depression are greatly associated
with social inequalities, wherein the bigger the social inequality the greater the inequality in risk.
Every person has right to proper mental health and wellbeing and thus it is paramount that

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actions are taken to enhance the teens’ conditions of daily life. In order to ensure proper
intervention, interpersonal models of depression can be applied. Interpersonal models of
depression have acquired noteworthy attention since social relations support the teenagers during
moments of distress. A number of researchers have endeavored to give details concerning
pathways to depression wherein social communication efforts forecast the chronology and
etiology of depression (that is interpersonal models) (Thapar, Collishaw, Pine, & Thapar, 2012).
Figure1: Theoretical framework between quality of relationships, coping strategies,
loneliness, and depression
Source: Ara, E. M., Talepasand, S., & Rezaei, A. M. (2017). A structural model of depression
based on interpersonal relationships: The mediating role of coping strategies and
loneliness. Archives of Neuropsychiatry, 54(2), 125.