The youth mental health crisis in Australia continues to escalate, with almost 40 percent of people aged 16-24 living with a mental health disorder. This alarming trend is exemplified by Susannah Mannie, a 23-year-old who battled mania and depression throughout her teenage years.
Lacking the necessary support, Susannah’s mental health deteriorated, leading her to drop out of school and attempt suicide at the age of 16. She moved to Melbourne briefly to live with her sisters, hoping for better access to mental health care.
“I felt like I wasn’t going to get any help,” she said.
Recognizing her deteriorating mental health and living with undiagnosed bipolar and complex post-traumatic stress disorders, Susannah attempted to seek help from a school psychologist.
Unfortunately, that support never materialized, as her parents were faced with the difficult choice between covering the cost gap for a Medicare-subsidized psychologist appointment or using that money for essential expenses like petrol to access a free clinic.
“It came down to needing to drive to the shops or taking me to my appointments, and the shops won because we needed the food. So I had to stop going to my appointments,” Susannah recounted.
The pressing issue of inadequate support is not unique to Susannah. Thousands of Tasmanians have struggled to access school psychologists, and the average waiting time to see one in Tasmania was 168 days in June. The ratio of full-time psychologists to students in Tasmania stands at an alarming 1 for every 801 students, far worse than the national ratio of 1 to 500 recommended by a House of Representatives committee on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in 2021.
The increasing prevalence of mental health disorders among 16-24-year-olds, rising from 26 percent in 2007 to 39 percent last year, underscores the urgency of addressing the crisis.
In Tasmania, access to mental health support is particularly challenging. A survey conducted by the Mental Health Council of Tasmania revealed that 43 percent of respondents had been on a waitlist for six months or longer to access mental health services. Shockingly, 80 percent of those waiting for over six months received no assistance.
Paul Bertoia, who served as a school psychologist in Tasmania’s public schools for over 16 years, emphasizes the pivotal role of school psychologists in transforming lives. They offer early assessment and intervention, including counseling and psychotherapy for mental health disorders, and provide proactive preventive measures for entire classes and schools.
However, the shortage of school psychologists is taking a toll on those working in the profession. Being stretched thinly and having to serve more schools can lead to burnout and staff leaving, according to Bertoia.
In Tasmanian schools, teachers and principals are grappling with students’ mental health needs, which are becoming increasingly complex. David Genford, a teacher with over 20 years of experience and the president of Tasmania’s Australian Education Union, is concerned that teachers are taking on roles as social workers or psychologists for which they lack training.
The shortage of school psychologists makes it difficult to provide proactive support in schools, a gap that could be addressed by having more school psychologists available. Australian Psychological Society president Catriona Davis-McCabe highlights the importance of providing children with support in a familiar and cost-free environment, preventing them from “falling through the cracks.”
