With over 75 per cent of mental health issues occurring before the age of 25, anxiety and other mental health challenges are becoming increasingly prevalent.
Ellie was 10 years old when she first experienced panic attacks, a symptom of anxiety.
‘I was feeling like I didn’t know why I’m feeling this way, but it was just something that’s making me feel down and making me feel upset. Sometimes there was not something to distract me, so I just start crying,’ says Ellie.
CatholicCare Victoria offers a range of free and affordable services to support mental health and wellbeing for young people.
Ellie’s mother, Jem, shared that at first she struggled to afford support for her daughter. ‘Initially we were referred to a psychologist, and the appointments were $170. I put it off for a while and it made me feel awful, because I was like, well, if I can’t afford this for my child, what kind of mother does that make me?’ Jem said.
CatholicCare Victoria offers a range of free and affordable services to support mental health and wellbeing for young people. These include our family wellbeing support service, family and relationship counselling, and our school counselling program, which offers support to students, as well as families and school staff.
Children and families learn to implement effective coping mechanisms to manage stress, loss or challenging life transitions.
‘School counsellors act as a useful resource for healthier communication styles. It helps children have sound emotional regulation, understand their thoughts, emotions and how they interact with others,’ says Angela, senior manager of the Schools Unit at CatholicCare Victoria.
‘Children and families learn to implement effective coping mechanisms to manage stress, loss or challenging life transitions. These skills are vital in their understanding of their world and how they can navigate future difficulties.’
Our school counsellors and mental health practitioners have noticed an alarming rise in anxiety levels for students and young people: ‘It’s fairly common for children to not know what their anxiety triggers are, because there’s usually not a trigger. It’s because they’re becoming aware of emotions, and these parts of the brain are now growing. We’re seeing it a lot, especially after COVID-19,’ says Jasmine, a practitioner in CatholicCare Victoria’s family wellbeing support service.
Our extensive hands-on experience working with students, families and schools has also revealed an increase in ADHD and autism diagnoses, self-harm tendencies, suicidal thoughts, and interpersonal struggles such as bullying and peer pressure.
CatholicCare Victoria’s school counsellors are supporting students to work through these challenges, as well as other challenges around family relationships and breakdown, trauma and grief, gaming addiction, and school attendance and engagement.
