Top issue for youth is mental wellness
MENTAL health is one of the top issues facing young people in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs today, a new survey has revealed.
Mission Australia’s Youth Survey 2018 has revealed four in 10 young people in the region identified mental health as a top issue facing Australia.
About 900 young people aged 15 to 19 from the Darling Downs completed the survey.
The top three issues for young people in the region were coping with stress, school and study problems, and body image.
The top issue for young women living in the Darling Downs was coping with stress.
The reported levels of concern around stress for women was more than double the proportion of men, with 50 per cent of women reporting it as a concern compared with 22 per cent of young men.
The top issue for men was school or study problems.
Mission Australia state director Darren Young said it was time young people’s clear and growing concerns around mental health were listened to.
“We must acknowledge the positive effort both nationally
and internationally that has raised the public awareness and, in part, reduced the stigma of mental health issues,” he said.
“We should acknowledge the effectiveness of these efforts in the increased identification of mental health as a personal and national concern in our results.
“Yet, we do need to ensure that awareness is matched with adequate access to the right help when needed. Whatever a young person’s background or circumstances, we know that access to appropriate and timely support can make a real difference in their lives.”
The survey also revealed many young people from the Darling Downs felt confident in their ability to achieve their study or work goals after finishing schools. About one in 12 indicated the only felt slightly confident or not confident at all.
The top three plans for young people after they finish school were to go to university, get a job or to travel and take a gap year.
For young people from the Darling Downs the three most commonly cited barriers to moving out of home for the first time were housing costs (with 67 per cent expressing concern), financial stability (60 per cent) and availability of housing (31 per cent).
A larger proportion of females from the Darling Downs cited security and safety as a concern for moving out of home (28 per cent compared with 11 per cent of males), housing costs (72 per cent compared with 60 per cent), availability of housing (35 per cent compared with 27 per cent) and financial stability (64 per cent compared with 56 per cent) as potential barriers to moving out of home in the future.
The three most commonly cited barriers to finding work were school responsibilities (18 per cent), lack of skills and experience (10 per cent) and transport (10 per cent).