Mental Health Crisis: Depression in Australian Teenagers Essay

This essay investigates the significant issue of depression among Australian teenagers, highlighting its prevalence and comparing it to the broader population. It explores the various causes of depression, including study pressure, poverty, and poor relationships with family and friends, particularly in major cities like Melbourne and Sydney. The essay examines the social determinants of health that contribute to the problem, such as study demands, economic hardships, and social relationships. The impact of depression on teenagers' health is also discussed, including the increased risk of self-harm, suicide attempts, and substance abuse. The essay emphasizes the importance of parental support and the role of schools and colleges in creating a supportive environment to prevent and manage depression. The findings reveal that depression is a major concern for Australian teenagers, especially in urban areas, and underscores the need for intervention and support to address this growing mental health crisis.

8/30/2019
Running Head: Depression in Australian Teenagers
Depression in Australian Teenagers
Essay

Depression in Australian Teenagers 1
Introduction
Depression in teenagers is a common health issue. Most of the teenagers are facing
extreme pressure of study and career-building pressure that creates depression among them.
Australia is one of the countries where a large number of teenagers are facing mental health
issues like depression, anxiety, and mental stress, etc. However, the teenager population in the
country is more than 1.3 million. The pressure of depression in Australian teenagers is so
common as they are facing strong pressure of study and some of them facing tough family
conditions. The major causes of depression in teenagers include study pressure, poverty, and
poor relationship with parents. The purpose of this essay is to show the situation of Australian
teenagers who are facing depression and compare it to the rest of Australian population. This
essay also shows the situation of teenagers in some major cities of the country.
Depression in Australian Teenagers (Between 15 to 19 years Age group)
Australian teenagers are more than 1.3 million in the country and it is well known that
teenagers play a significant role in nation-building because they are future of the country
(Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2016). There are number of people facing depression in the
country but depression in teenagers is a serious problem for the country. There are several
reasons for depression in teenagers such as mental pressure of study, the stress of building a
career, the stress of study, parental expectations, poor relationship with friends or family
members, etc. There are a many types of depression such as melancholia, psychotic depression,
Seasonal affective disorder, Dysthymic disorder, antenatal and postnatal depression, Bipolar
depression, etc. (Perich, Hadzi‐Pavlovic, Frankland, Breakspear, Loo, Roberts, & Mitchell,
2016).
According to a research of Black Dog Institute, every 1 out of four teenagers between the
age of 15 years to 19 years are facing extreme mental illness. It means 25% of Australian youths
are facing extreme pressure of depression and these statistics is increasing from 18.7% (in 2012)
to 22.8% in 2016. The likelihood of depression in teenagers is increasing by 20.8% in 15 years
old age teenagers to 27.4% in 18/19 years old age people. Apart from this, according to a data
collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in every three Australian teenager is facing a
sever stage of depression in their life (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2015). However, according
to a research conducted by Mental Health and Wellbeing on teenagers, it has been found that

Depression in Australian Teenagers 2
14.4% young people and teenagers between the age 12 years to 17 years are facing mental
depression in last one year and among them, more than 23.1% young people had severe
depression issue.
(Source: Beyond Blue, 2018)
The number of depressed teenagers is so high in the Aboriginal and Torres Staite Islander
teenagers and the stats show that they are facing an extreme situation of depression. Every three
out of ten (almost 31%) of Aboriginal and Torres Staite Islander teenagers are suffering from
serious depression issues while these stats are 22.2% in the non-Aboriginal Torres Staite Islander
teenagers. However, in the next five years, the chances of increasing the number of depressed
Australian teenagers in Torres Staite Islander is too high. The severe issue of depression in
teenagers is really serious and it is found in 17% among the people who are facing depression
(Beyond Blue, 2018). Depression is a major cause of suicide attempts in teenagers who are
facing stress in study or failure in their relationships. It has been found that one in every thirteen
children have seriously considered that suicide attempt can resolve their mental health issue. It is
a serious issue in front of the Australian government (Rahman, Todd, John, Tan, Kerr, Potter, &
Brophy, 2018).
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, people who live in Urban areas like
Melbourne, Sydney, and Victoria, etc. are facing higher depression. As per the stats of the
government, there are 16% of teenagers are facing strong mental health issues like depression in

Depression in Australian Teenagers 3
the urban areas and socio-economic areas. However, these stats are 18% in adults and 20% in the
overall population of the country (Bayes, Dong, & Loo, 2019). It has been found that three in
every five teenagers who are facing depression in their life are addicted to cigarettes and alcohol
products, which is destroying their life in both mental and physical ways. The teenagers are
facing challenging time between during the age of 15 to 19 year because they are suffering with
various mental and physical developments in their bodies. The mental health issue in teenagers
increases the chances of suicide attempts and alcoholism in teenagers. It has been found that in
urban areas of the country one-third of teenagers who are suffering from extreme depression are
addicted to smoking and alcoholism (Taubman, Parikh, Christensen, & Scott, 2019).
Health Issues
The major risk with depression is that it encourages teenagers for self-harm or suicide
attempts. Between the age of 15 to 19 years old depression and mental health issue is the major
cause of death, and most of them have attempted suicide. Most of the teenagers are facing
depression in their school times and in their adolescent age period (Modini, Joyce, Mykletun,
Christensen, Bryant, Mitchell, and Harvey, 2016). Most of the youngsters who faced depression
in school time were found to be addicted of alcohol consumption and drug addiction. However,
this creates another issue for the teenagers that causes several other health issues. It means
depression leads to various other health-related issues in young people and it is a serious concern
for the Australian government and health department (Nasir, Toombs, Kondalsamy-
Chennakesavan, Kisely, Gill, Black, & Nicholson, 2018). Depression is the major cause of many
other mental illnesses in the people and sometimes it leads to death as well. It has been found
that 1 in every four teenagers who faced depression in their life are addicted to Cigarette and
alcohol and this also destroy their life both physically and mentally. The age of 15 to 19 years is
a particularly challenging time for young people as they are facing various mental and physical
development in their bodies and focusing on building their careers (Christensen, 2016).
The number of depressed teenagers is very high in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide,
Victoria, and Perth. In these cities, teenagers face a string depression situation and the major
reason behind this is the unsupportive nature parents (Harriss, Kyle, Connolly, Murgha, Bulmer,
Miller, & Campbell, 2018). Most of the parent is working in the house and it leads to string
depression issue in the teenagers. The number of mental health specialists and researchers has

Depression in Australian Teenagers 4
found that there are many reasons for depression in teenagers. Loneliness, isolation from society
or friends, and study pressure are some of the common and major causes of depression in
teenagers. However, it has been found that personal factors are more responsible for depression
in youngsters while in teenagers social factors cyberbullying, bad behavior of friends or parents
or by loved ones, or failure in study some of the major causes in teenagers (Shen, Radford,
Daylight, Cumming, Broe, & Draper, 2018).
Strong mental developments and ability to cope up with stressful situation is a necessity
of handling life stress, which is the major cause of depression. The parent and school teachers
can play the best role to help the teenagers to handle such type of situation as they can treat the
teenagers with love and with friendly behavior (Ogbo, Eastwood, Hendry, Jalaludin, Agho,
Barnett, & Page, 2018). The parents should maintain an open relationship with the children and it
is really easy for them to talk about the issue of their children. The support of parents can be
helpful in reducing or preventing depression in teenagers. Apart from this, schools and colleges
should prepare their curriculum in such a way that not create any mental pressure on teenagers.
The work should be given as per capabilities of the student or teenagers that helps them to grow
rather than depressed from the study (Lee, Barendregt, Stockings, Ferrari, Whiteford, Patton, &
Mihalopoulos, 2017).
Social Determinants of Health
Many social, economic, and environmental factors affect the health of teenagers in Australia.
This is because most of the researchers found that various societal factors are directly embedded
with depression and other kinds of mental health issues in the young generation. There are so
many social determinants that cause depression. Some of the key social determinants of
depression in teenagers are as follow:
1. Study pressure: study pressure on teenagers is a serious concern and major cause of
depression. Today the youth generation is focusing on getting high paid jobs and to
achieve the rank. The pressure of study and building careers are some of the major issues
in youngsters that affect mental health. For example, many cases have been found that a

Depression in Australian Teenagers 5
student failed to achieve good marks in their high school attempted suicide after poor or
unexpected results.
2. Poverty: Poverty and poor economic conditions in the family may lead to depression in
teenagers. Poverty is a major cause of many health-related issues. Poverty also forces
teenagers towards unethical acts like theft and crime (Parker, Paterson, McCraw, &
Hadzi‐Pavlovic, 2017). This type of act normally teenagers do because they are depressed
with their poor economic condition. In Aboriginal and Torres Staite Islander teenagers
and indigenous teenagers are facing extreme pressure of poverty that leads to depression
in teenagers. They are not getting their rights of education or health because they belong
to rural areas where the government is not focusing to provide any healthcare or
educational facilities for youngsters or even for the children (Burns & Birrell, 2014).
3. Friendship and Relationship: Teenagers are more desperate to make new relationships
and friendships. However, a poor relationship with a friend or fighting with loved ones
may lead to depression in teenagers. Especially, the love relationship which is the major
cause of depression in teenagers. The teenagers are more emotional towards their
relationship and towards those people to whom they love. In such a scenario, a small
misunderstanding leads to some serious concerns and mental health issues for teenagers.
However, the relationship with parents is also crucial for teenagers. It has been noted in
the urban cities that parents left their children alone and went for their jobs. The situation
of loneliness may lead to depression in teenagers (Callahan, Liu, Purcell, Parker, &
Hetrick, 2012).
4. Poor Relationship of Parents with Teenagers: It has been seen that teenagers who are
living with their parents have very fewer chances of depression. Although with those
teenagers who are living with their stepmother or stepfather are facing extreme situations
of depression because of the bad behavior of their parents. The cruel behavior of
guardians with children in this age force the teenagers towards the severe depression
issue. However, poor relationship with the real parents also causes depression in young
people and it is one of the primary and key concerns behind depression (Knopf, 2017).
5. Social crime: Another social determinate that forces teenagers towards depression is a
social crime. Most of the teenagers are sensitive and emotional. In such a situation, crime
news or crime scene may lead to a serious concern of depression in teenagers and it is

Depression in Australian Teenagers 6
really dangerous for the teenagers to face such type of situation (Rice, Haynes, Royce, &
Thompson, 2016).
Conclusion
In conclusion, depression is a serious concern in Australian teenagers and it has been
really dangerous in the urban areas of the country. Although the percentage of depressed
teenagers in Aboriginal and Torres Staite Islander and indigenous areas is high (31%) but the
number is small than the big cities of Australia. However, the major causes of depression in
teenagers are study pressure, poor relationship with parents, poverty, and social crimes. Although
a failure to maintaining love relationships and friendship are also some of the key causes of
depression in teenagers. To avoid such type of mental issues in the teenagers it is the
responsibility of parents and teacher to treat these teenagers with love and care. The parents need
to talk with them as their friends about their stress and issue. This strategy can affect or reduce
the cases of depression in the young generation. The teenagers can also take the help of any
psychiatrist or any mental health specialist to avoid severe depression issues.

Depression in Australian Teenagers 7
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