Emergency-level calls to youth support services have skyrocketed, while adults in regional communities are indicating worry trends of mental health as the country continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Over the past four months, youth mental health workers at Kids Helpline saw 43 per cent spike in emergency interventions compared to the same period last year.
CEO of the service, Tracy Adams told The Daily Advertiser since the start of the year, this included 138 suicide interventions, which represents a 17 per cent increase.
"There are a lot of things going on for young people, there's a lot to deal with," Ms Adams said.
"A lot of young people are feeling anxiety with a lot of fast changes being made around them within their family relationships, changes to their social networks with schools, unis and sporting clubs closing."
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It was also a concern that a high volume of calls to the service also included indications of child abuse.
"Unfortunately, not everyone who is home is safe and it's not clear for some what the future will look like," Ms Adams said.
If concerned for a young person within the social circle, Ms Adams recommended keeping an open dialogue, and removing the expectation that the child should be the one to ask for help.
"Create a space that will invite a response. Ask, 'is everything OK' and be prepared that the answer might be, 'no it's not'. Who's available to help them? We shouldn't put the responsibility on the young person to always reach out," she said.
Even with the increase in call numbers, Ms Adams believes there is a lot of work left to do in normalising help-seeking behaviour.
"When young people reach out to Kids Helpline, even when they have taken an action to harm themselves, they're still looking for help," she said.
"It's those who don't reach out that we worry about. Some of the most humbling situations I've ever been in is when I meet someone whose life has been saved by a counsellor from the helpline. It's privilege to meet them.
"But I've also had the sadness of meeting parents who don't know why and may never know why their child made the decision to end their life. Did they ever reach out? That's what motivates us to keep going, to keep helping the next one."
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Ms Adams' harrowing account comes after a national survey revealed many adults around the nation - and particularly in regional areas - have been struggling with the COVID-19 world.
For its April survey, Relationships Australia quizzed its website users on how they were feeling about changes to workplace relations since the COVID-19 lockdown.
Of its 982 respondents, two-thirds had felt a negative impact on their mental health.
"Between 74 and 98 per cent have seen significant changes to their workplace in the past eight weeks," said Nick Tebbey, national executive officer of Relationships Australia.
"We have to remember that pre-COVID a lot of the work day was spent being social in some way."
Up to 152 of the almost-1000 respondents lived outside major cities, and indicated a slightly higher impact on their mental wellbeing.
"It tells us that we need to be aware the ongoing workplace changes will have an affect," Mr Tebbey said.
"We don't know how long it will take to get back to what it was, or if it will get back to what it was.
"Relationships are important and employers need to spend some attention in recreating the social connections at home."
Mr Tebbey recommended work teams keep the social aspect of their days structured. Whether that be by scheduling a social video meeting, or by keeping chat apps running throughout the day.
"We're all dealing with uncertainty, we all depend on routine, we all need to know we can reach out if we need to," he 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