Teen Mental Health

Since the Australian social media bans were introduced, I have been asking every 12 to 15 year old I see the same question: have you been blocked from social media, and how are you coping without it? First, I want to be clear that I strongly support protecting young people from the risks that exist online. I genuinely hoped this policy might make a meaningful difference. But I have been surprised by what I am actually hearing. The vast majority of this age group are still act

Mental health is still the most common reason someone comes to see me as a GP. Sadness, anxiety, burnout, grief. Raw emotions, and a feeling of being lost. Increasingly, the person sitting in front of me is a child or a teenager, and their family has run out of places to turn. Not long ago a mum sat in front of me and cried, not knowing what she was meant to do next for her child. Her 13-year-old daughter had been to our local children's hospital emergency department four tim