Youth Mental Health Report

Mission Australia and the Black Dog Institute have published Youth mental health report : youth survey 2012-16 which presents data collected from young people across Australia about their levels of psychological distress and where they go for help. Their findings confirm that one in four are at risk of serious mental illness and that they seek help reluctantly. Other findings were:

• In 2016 20.8% of 15 year olds meet the criteria for having a serious mental illness, rising to 27.4% of 18/19 year olds
• 31.6% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander respondents met this same criteria, compared to 22.2% of the rest of the population
• The main issues of personal concern were coping with stress, school or study problems and depression
• From 2012-16, females were around twice as likely as males to meet the criteria for serious mental illness
• Young people with a probable serious  mental illness are most likely to go to their friends, parents and the Internet to seek help.