Mental health nursing in Australia

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
Mental health nursing
Name of the author
University name
Author’s note

1MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
A) Depression and suicide management in Australia......................................................................3
B) Analysing the risk of depression and suicide.............................................................................5
2. Factors affecting mental health condition....................................................................................6
3. Ethical principles related to mental health care..........................................................................7
4. Interventions for high priority mental health risk........................................................................8
5. Identification of the mental health concern and relevant interventions.......................................8
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

2MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
Introduction
The current study focuses on the aspect of depression management and prevention of
suicides in youth in the Australian context. Depression is one of the perils which have been
hugely affecting the present century. Mostly the feeling stems from internalization of negative
feelings and comments which are either circumstantial or may have genetic predisposition.
Depression management is a prime concern among the youth which could be attributed to a
number of factors. Some of these factors are constant demand to keep up with the constantly
changing society and utmost peer pressure. Additionally, unreported depression may have severe
consequences resulting in development of suicidal feelings in an individual. The present
assignment focuses upon the risk factors of depression along with the plausible interventions
which could be provided for the management of the same.
Task 1
A) Depression and suicide management in Australia
Decoding depression in the Australian context
The current decade has seen an alarming rise in the rate of suicide and depression within
the Australian population. Depression is a common peril affecting individuals globally and needs
immediate care and retrieval. The cause of depression may be deep rooted within the current
Australian population. The present youth had been suffering from a number of issues such as
loneliness, drug abuse among other factors such lack of as peer pressure. As commented by
Butow et al. (2015), the lack of sufficient support and social concern cam add fuel to the
grievances of these teenagers. Depression is the second most common health issue after cardiac

3MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
ailments. However, as argued by Ridani et al. (2015), most of the time people lack sufficient
knowledge about the onset or the presence of depression and fail to receive adequate amount of
care services.
The causes of depression can be broken down into a number of components such as past
or family history of depression, sensitive and self critical personalities, possessing chronic
medical conditions for a very long time. As commented by Staples et al. (2015), submission to
alcohol and other forms of sedatives can form a basis for loosing cognitive control within an
individual. Depression is a rather huge and complex area and the causes for the development of
melancholy within the individual may vary based upon individual predisposition and
circumstances (Cummins et al. 2015). It is mostly attributed to the development of chemical
imbalances within the brain. The mood balance within an individual in mainly regulated by the
presence of optimum levels of serotonin and dopamine. However, as argued by van Dooren et al.
(2013), turbulent social environment along with disturbed family conditions can trigger the
development of such feelings of dejection within an individual.
Statistics about rate of suicides
There has been an alarming rise in the rate of suicides in the current Australian scenario.
As reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), between the years 2011-2015, the
average number of suicides was recorded at 2867. In the year 2015 alone there were 3027 deaths
by suicide alone, the average being 8.3 deaths by suicide each day in Australia. The highest age
specific suicide rates was noticed within the males of 85+ age group with 68 deaths ("About the
Australian Bureau of Statistics", 2017)