Depression among Adolescents in Australia

The primary purpose of this report is to elucidate on the level of depression among the adolescents of Australia. The report elaborates on the pattern of depression of the adolescents in Australia. The report also suggests intervention strategies that can help in the promotion of positive mental health among the adolescents in Australia.

Running head: DEPRESSION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN AUSTRALIA
Depression among Adolescents in Australia
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1DEPRESSION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN AUSTRALIA
Executive Summary
The primary purpose of this report is to elucidate on the level of depression among the
adolescents of Australia. The report elaborates on the pattern of depression of the adolescents
in Australia. The report also suggests intervention strategies that can help in the promotion of
positive mental health among the adolescents in Australia.

2DEPRESSION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN AUSTRALIA
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Review of level of depression of adolescents in Australia........................................................4
Pattern of Depression among Adolescents.................................................................................5
Health promotion intervention for addressing depression.........................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

3DEPRESSION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN AUSTRALIA
Introduction
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.

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Review of level of depression of adolescents in Australia
Figure: Mental Disorder among 4-17 year olds
Source: Aihw.gov.au., 2018
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

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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).

6DEPRESSION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN AUSTRALIA
Pattern of Depression among Adolescents
Figure: Severity and Kinds of Mental Disorder
Source: Aihw.gov.au. 2018
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

7DEPRESSION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN AUSTRALIA
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.

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Figure: Kinds of Mental Disorder
Source: Health.gov.au., 2018
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.

9DEPRESSION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN AUSTRALIA
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

10DEPRESSION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN AUSTRALIA
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.

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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.
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Hoare, E., Milton, K., Foster, C., & Allender, S. (2016). The associations between sedentary
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