Youth mental health support services have been inundated following the summer's catastrophic bushfires and current COVID-19 crisis.
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Since this time last year, nationally-run service Kids Helpline has received 40 per cent more calls and online contacts.
Helpline CEO Tracy Adams said the service has been receiving a call every 69 seconds or 9000 calls a week as compared to the 6500 calls last year.
That statistic has been on an upward trajectory for a while but has been particularly stark nationwide in the wake of the bushfires and health crisis.
"Largely it's attributed to all the change we're experiencing because of COVID-19 and the anxiety of how it's impacting us," Ms Adams told The Daily Advertiser.
"That's on top of what's already been a difficult year."
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With students migrating to online learning processes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the service has also seen enormous growth in web chat contacts.
"That is in line with what we've seen in recent year, it's the modality of choice and what young people are most comfortable with," Ms Adams said.
"Young people are home more, they're online for a significant amount of time every day and they're interacting within their family relationships.
"They're feeling anxious for those around them, they might be experiencing financial pressures."
It has meant that the service has had to extend its operations, increasing its available response counsellors by another 15 operators. Now there are 125 counsellors available at all hours of the day or night.
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Riverina Bluebell CEO Allen Hunt believes the experience of children is emblematic of how society is coping.
"Looking at the overall picture, kids are representative of how their parents are going," he said.
"The fires put pressure on, then the health crisis came. Kids end up trying to meet the needs of their parents."
Working through the intangible hypotheticals and worst-case-scenarios children can generate within their own minds during a crisis can be a challenging thing to navigate.
As Mr Hunt said, children are often not at an age where they can see reason beyond their initial feelings.
"For children, the emotional centre develops first, and logic hasn't really developed yet," Mr Hunt said.
To begin the process of dealing with a child's distress at this time, both Mr Hunt and Ms Adams recommend beginning a sincere conversation.
"We need to keep the lines of communication open and have genuine conversations affirming the feelings, and giving a sense of positivity where possible," Ms Adams said.
"We will get through this. Remember, social distance is physical but you can keep in social contact."
Similarly, Mr Hunt recommends encouraging the young person to keep in contact with their peer group as well.
"I think talking to their mates is a great place to start though. Acknowledge, yes, I feel scared or confused or worried, and I should feel that. There's nothing wrong with that.
"Have a chat with each other, being vulnerable with each other lets us know that we're not alone. When we think we're the only one feeling like this, then it lets shame in."
But regardless of age or maturity, Mr Hunt said it was important to recognise that the health crisis is having its toll on everybody in society.
Particularly, for those living in the Riverina and fire-affected Snowy Valleys regions, the stresses have compounded one after the other for a long time.
"The brain is like any other muscle, so if we're looking at the situation all day long trying to think about how we can solve it, when it can't be solved in a day, of course at the end of the day we're going to be tired," Mr Hunt said.
If you, or someone you know needs help, contact:
- Lifeline - 13 11 14
- Suicide Call Back Service - 1300 659 467
- Kids Helpline - 1800 55 1800
- MensLine Australia - 1300 78 99 78