Being locked in the emotional storm of your adolescent years has always been challenging, but as the rates of poor mental health among the youth of Australia continue to spike, hospitals and units are struggling to accommodate the surge.
I’m writing as someone with experience in this area: not as a doctor, psychologist, or politician, but as a young person, not even two decades into life, who has struggled for years with mental health issues. I am one of the many young Australians behind the headlines signalling a so-called epidemic in youth mental health.
I was admitted to both public and private psychiatric units multiple times between 2022 and 2024 for anxiety, depression and trauma.
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