VCE driving up anxiety
Students turn to mental health services
GEELONG mental health services are already spiking as stressed VCE students seek help in the lead-up to exams.
Headspace Geelong manager Malcolm Scott said the VCE-fuelled increase had started for the service.
“We’ve had increasing demand already of young people coming through, but also parents calling us concerned around how their young person’s coping with the demands and pressure of the VCE and the impact that’s having, and how best to support them around that,” Mr Scott said.
“It’s par for the course at this time of year … unfortunately.”
Mr Scott said the build-up began in August, when students were “realising the pressure of study and they’ve got deadlines and other things to meet, and that’s having an impact on them”.
In August last year, headspace Geelong experienced its highest demand to date, supporting 652 occasions of service; the average is 472 a month.
The service saw 170 new clients join in August 2017; the average is 104. It’s estimated the majority of the demand was VCE related.
Mr Scott said projected scores put pressure on students.
“They’re given some information around how they’re tracking, which can put some real pressure on them … particularly if it’s around a particular course and their marks aren’t where they need to be,” he said.
“That causes a huge amount of distress around having to make plans or alternative arrangements, or consider alternative courses if they’re not tracking as well as they thought they could or should be.
“(They’re) putting pressure on themselves and the parents are trying to help support them by reassuring them that it’s just a one-off mark.”
University open days are already in full swing, and the intensive three-week VCE exam period starts on October 31 with the English exam.
Mr Scott said it was better to seek help now, rather than wait until closer to the exam period.
“The treatment for anxiety, we find that young people would at least need four sessions, four to six sessions, to start seeing some change in how they’re feeling around the issues, and they need to allow time for treatment … to be effective,” he said.
“The sooner they can engage support the better, so that they’ve got someone they can trust.”
Chris Mackey & Associates practice manager Sue Mackey said the increase appeared to have started at the practice, which each year noticed “a significant spike in referrals throughout our practice for VCE-related issues from September onwards”.
“If required, it’s great for students to have an established relationship with their psychologist before the intensity of the final exam period is upon them,” she said.
“Around the exam period, we will often place VCE students onto our priority waitlist for urgent appointments.”