The 2010 Australian of the Year, who is also executive director of youth mental health organisation Orygen, said \u201cmegatrends\u201d in society over the past two decades, including increasing economic insecurity for young people, intergenerational inequality, housing costs, educational fees, and climate change \u2013 \u201ceverything that seems to be making the lives and futures of young people much more insecure than in previous generations\u201d \u2013 were having an impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe already knew it was a big problem back 20 years ago but, over that exact period, we\u2019ve seen a 50 per cent rise in prevalence of these mental health conditions,\u201d McGorry said.<\/p>\n
Carr credits being alive to the mental health treatment she eventually received, and says every young person in Australia should have access to high-quality and affordable care.<\/p>\n
She was referred to a tertiary public youth mental health service at Orygen, which specialises in complex mental illness. But, when this period finished, Carr was referred to an adult service.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe adult mental health services weren\u2019t supporting me in the same way that Orygen was,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt really alone in my recovery journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Once she turned 18, Carr sometimes found it impossible to get a public hospital bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not just competing for a spot [with] other teenagers. I\u2019m competing with like five different age demographics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
McGorry, whose own son, Niall, attempted suicide as a teenager, said the public health system fails to adequately service youths in the \u201cmissing middle\u201d who require additional resources for their mental health, but do not present severe symptoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got a primary care system which is able to treat mild conditions. [But] even the common mental disorders like anxiety and depression, there\u2019s about 50 per cent of them that need to see a more specialised level of care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Channel 10 US correspondent Michelle Stone was inspired to create Mental Wealth, screening on ABC iview<\/a>, after her own lived experience as a mother with a mentally ill child.<\/p>\n \u201cI really wanted to start a conversation, particularly for parents … people were having these conversations in hushed tones and there was an element of shame that some parents were feeling around the fact that their kids were unwell mentally,\u201d Stone said.<\/p>\n In this year\u2019s election campaign, Labor pledged more than $700 million<\/a> towards youth mental health services.<\/p>\n McGorry said the funding was a major step in the right direction. The key will be prioritising specialised, accessible, evidence-based care, he said.<\/p>\n Labor\u2019s $700 million commitment to youth mental health<\/p>\n Having recently become a mother, Carr knows how close she came to missing out on the life she has now. She cannot help but think of her newborn daughter\u2019s future and \u201cwhat a mental health system looks like for her in the future, should she need it\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes me emotional for the people who are in their darkest points now who don\u2019t have access to that help because now, coming out on the other side, I know that there is a lot for people to miss out on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline<\/a> on 131 114, Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 or Beyond Blue<\/a> on 1300 224 636.<\/p>\n