Cyclone kids to get help Screening identifies mental health cases

A TOWNSVILLE psychiatrist is leading a major mental health response for children living in Cyclone Debbie- devastated regions.

Children in the Mackay, Proserpine and Whitsundays regions are being screened for mental illnesses including anxiety, depression and post- traumatic stress disorder.

Townsville Hospital and Health Service Professor of Psychiatry Brett McDermott is co- ordinating the response, along with Dr Vanessa Cobham from Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.

Prof McDermott said natural disasters could have a significant impact on children.

“Identifying children who may be struggling after major natural disasters is difficult because they generally don’t come forward,” he said.

“We are going into the schools with a simple pen and paper survey to screen for children who may be experiencing mental health effects following Cyclone Debbie.

“If the screening returns positive results we will have mental health workers follow up with a face- to- face with the child and offer further assessment and treatment if required.”

Prof McDermott is a pioneer in proactive mental health screening for children in disaster zones, having first trialled the strategy in the aftermath of the Bathurst bushfire in 1995.

He did similar work after Cyclone Larry in 2006 and at Grantham following the Brisbane floods in 2011.

“The reason identifying these children is important is that failure to treat can see these symptoms persist for more than a year in about 35 per cent of cases and as long as five years after the event in a small per cent of cases,” he said.

“If we do nothing for these kids and they remain symptomatic it can impair their development in a range of areas including their education and social development.”

Prof McDermott said screening had begun and early results were consistent with similar natural disasters, with 10.2 per cent of children showing some signs of anxiety.

Whitsunday Mayor Andrew Willcox said tapping into emotions of children affected by the cyclone may also lead to identifying issues with parents and adults.

“Hard infrastructure like roads, bridges and buildings, you can see the damage and it’s easy to fix but as far as hearts and minds, they’re a lot more complex to mend,” he said. “If we can have someone identify there are some issues, we can give people the help required.”

Screening will recommence early next year. The response will cost $ 289,445 and is being funded through Commonwealth Government disaster recovery funding.