The Impact of a Mental Disorder in Adolescents on Their Health - Case Study Example

ETHICAL CASE ANALYSIS SOCIAL WORK Introduction This case study has been prepared by following the case study preparation guidance provided by Palmer (Palmer, 2008). It has been stated by the World Health Organization WHO (2011) that for a given year, almost 20% of the adolescents experience mental disorder which happens mostly due to anxiety or depression. As a result of this mental disorder the risk gets increased for young people in relation to experiences of humiliation, violence, poverty, devaluation and subsequently suicide which are one of the main causes of increased amount of death among the young generation. Creating life skills in young people and adolescents and offering them mental health support in schools and in other social settings can assist in improving and encouraging them to manage their mental health. As the problem continues to grow, young people should be identified and managed by knowledgeable and compassionate health workers. It has been extensively acknowledged that the period of adolescence is a transformation phase with unpredictable stages of mental suffering, frequently in the form of anxiety and depression (Wilson, Rickwood & Deane, 2007). A child grows into an adult through various psychological and physiological changes. During this time the mind and body goes through several new experiences. This is the crucial time when they need someone beside them with whom they can share their issues and feelings (Dooley& Fitzgerald, 2012). Looking for suitable help for these mental issues before they take the form of severe consequences can lessen the adolescent’s danger for the development of other sensitive co morbid intricacy such as suicidal thoughts. As a result, encouraging proper and efficient early help-seeking attitude for psychological difficulties is vital for the deterrence and early intrusion in young adulthood and adolescence. This dissertation will therefore focus on young people with a mental health issue and their help seeking behavior. Why it is an important issue in Australia The Australian society demonstrates a very confusing picture regarding the process of transformation within the young people that leads them towards adulthood. Stepping into adulthood is not just a single happening. It involves several transitions taking place over an extended period of time. In the modern scenario of the Australian Society the transitions in the economic and social aspects can be found to have great impact on the people of the region including the young people. Earlier the general trend used to be a sequence of activities that comprised of concluding studies, getting employed, leaving for abroad, getting married and having children respectively. Today this sequence is no more followed as many young people leave their parents even before finishing their education and many adults have children before getting married (Vaus, 2004). This entire disordering of social events can be studied in association with the effects of the factors like labour force participation, marital status, education, living arrangements, financial circumstances and fertility, that influences the transition of a dependant teenager into an independent grown-up and consequently affect the mental health of the young people. Mental fitness is one of the main concerns of the Australian National Health programs. A study by the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing published in 2008 provided with the information about the people suffering from mental illness. Those who had been experiencing mental disturbances for the previous 12 months were considered to be eligible for the survey. The survey accounted for 3 of the principal disorders dominating the Australian people to a large extent, namely Anxiety disorders, Substance use disorders and Affective disorders. It also provided with information regarding the services applied for treating mental health issues, the intensity of impairment, care giving and social networks, physical conditions, socioeconomic and demographic features of the community. The following diagram shows the results obtained- The above illustration states that the people who participated in the survey included almost 26% respondents belonging to the 16 to 24 age group and around 25% respondents belonging to the 25 to 34 age group, who had gone through some mental turmoil during a 12 month time period, prior to the study. Young people and mental health issues are therefore a key public health issue in Australia. The next graph demonstrates the type of disorder present among each age group. The results obtained revealed that within the 16-24 age groups around 30% of the females suffered from a mental disorder in the last 12 months while the number of males in this respect was around 23%. The study further disclosed that females in the 16-24 age group were much more prone to have affective and anxiety issue. However in the same age group, 16% of the males experienced substance use problems whereas females for the same parameter consists of around 9.8% of the population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). As per the report by Child and Adolescent Component of the National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being (2000) it was found that almost 14% of the adolescents and children in Australia suffer from mental health problems. The report also states that the occurrence of mental health problems as obtained by the study is widely similar to the occurrences identified during some earlier studies that were conducted in the Australian and out of the country surveys. The steadiness of these findings provides a higher extent of assurance in the accuracy of the results. The report further states that the comparatively greater figure of young people having mental health problems remains in contrast to the small number of available proficient clinicians for providing help to the affected. This difference makes it implausible that specific programs based in tertiary and secondary cure settings will any day be capable of providing direct assistance to all those in Australia who are suffering from some mental health problem. As a consequence, a strong need exists for developing alternative means to lessen the incidence of child and adolescent mental health problems (Sawyer and et. Al, 2000). Findings and Analysis by researchers Authors, date & country and focus of study Study design Participants, sampling methodology Data collection Method Data analysis Findings Comments Jorm, A.F. ,Wright, A and Morgan, A.J. 2007 Country: Melbourne, Australia Research aim: To determine the intentions that young people have for seeking help if they were to develop a mental disorder. Inclusion score 9/9 The study design was Interview techniques. Sample size: 3746 Participants: Australians aged between 12 to 25 A survey company (The Social Research Centre) performed a national computer-assisted telephone survey of young Australians aged 12–25 years. Participants were contacted by random-digit dialing, covering the whole country, from 1 June to 24 August 2006. Eligible members within a household were selected by the nearest-birthday method. If the young person lived with a parent, then one parent (the one with the nearest birthday) was also invited to be interviewed. Where participating young people or co-resident parents would seek help if they (or their child) had one of the problems portrayed in the vignettes; barriers to seeking help. For adolescents, family was the main source of intended help, mentioned by 45%–60% (depending on the vignette), while general practitioners were mentioned by only a small minority (4%–13%). For young adults, family was relatively less important (21%–31%) and GPs relatively more so (19%–34%). By contrast, parents frequently mentioned GPs as an intended source of help for their children (by 40%–72% of parents of adolescents and 61%–76% of parents of young adults). For young people, the main barriers to seeking help were embarrassment or concern about what others might think, while the main barrier for parents was resistance from the child. Recent initiatives to extend the uptake of treatment for mental disorders have been centered on doctors as the initial point of help-seeking. Authors, date & country and focus of study Study design Participants, sampling methodology Data collection Method Data analysis Findings Comments Candice Boyd, Kristy Francis, Damon Aisbett, Krystal Newnham, Jessica Sewell, Graham Dawes and Sarah Nurse, 2007, Victoria, Australia Inclusion score 9/9 The research design was qualitative in nature that used students of the university who had looked for help for a mental health problem at some point in their adolescence. Sample size-6, Participants- 1st year undergraduate psychology students within the age group 17 to 21 years who looked for help for a mental health problem at the time of their adolescence years and who during that time lived in a rural region. Data collection was conducted by a semi-structured interview plan. The sequence of 8 open questions were intended to draw out the respondent’s presentation perspectives of looking for help for a mental health problem as an adolescent staying in a rural region. Audio-taped interviews were recorded and thematically analyzed by means of a steady proportional technique. respondents made prominent a variety of barriers to the approach used for looking for help for mental health problems in the circumstance of a rural society that involved: common vision, lack of secrecy, a culture of self-sufficiency, and communal stigma of mental illness. The study highlights contexts related to the value of deliverance of key mental health care to young people by means of GPs only and recommend that school-based counselors must be regarded as the 1st step in a young person’s admittance to mental health care units. Policies in Australia related to the topic This part of the dissertation deals with the policies formulated by the Australian government and the other organizations. A policy is a group of interrelated assessments made by a political representative or a group of representatives regarding the choice of objectives and the ways of attaining them encircled by a specific situation. The various mental illnesses can be categorized as follows- High prevalence disorders – Depression, anxiety, drug or alcohol problem Low prevalence disorders – Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, Major Affective Disorder (Smith & Williams, 2008). The scenario of the people seeking help for their mental disorders can be depicted as follows- The various paradigms related to psychological health disorder includes- Lunatic asylums [early 19th Century – 1920s] Psychiatric hospitals [1920s – 1960s] Deinstitutionalization [1960s – 1970s] Community psychiatry [1970s – 1980s] Mainstreaming [1980s – 1990s] Social inclusion - Recovery [1990s – till now] Mental Health Policy Development- 1983: Richmond Report NSW 1984: Smith report SA 1984: ANAMH & RANZCP push for National MH Policy 1988: Eisen – Wolfenden Report 1989: AHMAC establish MH Working Party 1990: Hon Brian Howe appointed as Minister 1990: Burdekin [HREOC] launched inquiry [reported 1993] 1992: National MH Policy / National MH Strategy launched The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the self-governing constitutional body accountable for the regular collation of information on suicide and several other reasons of death. The ABS sticks to severe coding policy and data dealing legislation for all the relevant facts and openly publishes the yearly Causes of Death, Australia publication. The National Coroners Information System (NCIS) is a nationwide web oriented data preservation and retrieval structure for the Australian coronial circumstances. The Commonwealth provide its response to the “Senate Community Affairs References Committee report The Hidden Toll: Suicide in Australia” puts focus on many interconnected aspects that work towards to achieve the possible outcomes stated within the report and frames operations to develop the quality and mechanism of reporting. The Australian Government constantly works to sustain data enhancement by the ABS by the means of association with the Mortality Statistics Advisory Group and other settings. The Committee suggests that the National Committee for the Standardized Reporting of Suicide regard alternatives for, and the viability of, expanding the range of demographic and social suicide information to be collected on a regular basis and detailed on the basis of culture, ethnicity, educational attainment, geography, socio-economic status and employment status. The Committee proposes that the “National Committee” for the “Standardized Reporting of Suicide” deem options for offering an improved entrance to non-cumulative suicide facts. The Committee further suggests that the Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Council coordinate with the Medical Research Council and National Health, the Australian Research Council, administration sections (counting the state and province departments of government) and other groups with a position in this area, to build up a significant research program for youth suicide with a viewpoint to together sustaining a synchronized and besieged research program (Australian Government, 2013). Conclusion It is evident from the entire study that the young people as well as the adults who suffer from such chronic mental illness tend to feel aloof from the entire world. They feel ashamed of themselves and find it even more uncomfortable to disclose the issue in front of unknown people. At school, college and at workplace they cautiously get the feeling that they are different from others. People stare at them with astonishment which is even more disturbing for them. Gradually they tend to hide from the world. At this point of time if someone extends their helping hand towards them and if the patient find that help to be full of care and concern, then they tend to get dependent on that source. Initially they tend to doubt the source of help but once they are assured that it’s for assisting and supporting them, they start to rely upon that person or organization (WHO, 2013). Reference WILSON, C.J., RICKWOOD, D. and DEANE, F.P., (2007). Depressive symptoms and help-seeking intentions in young people. The Australian Psychological Society: Australia. Dooley, B. and Fitzgerald, A. (2012). MY world SUrveY. NaTioNal STUdY of YoUTH MeNTal HealTH. Ireland. Retrieved from http://www.headstrong.ie/sites/default/files/My%20World%20Survey%202012%20Online.pdf Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2008). NATIONAL SURVEY OF MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4105.0Main+Features5Nov+2008 Vaus, D.E. (2004). Diversity and change in Australian families STATISTICAL PROFILES. Retrieved from http://aifs.org.au/institute/pubs/diversity/DiversityAndChange.pdf Palmer, S.N. (2008). Writing Case Reports. Retrieved from http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/AboutUs/Depart/upload/Writing-case-reports.pdf Boyd, C. and et. Al. 2007. Australian rural adolescents’ experiences of accessing psychological help for a mental health problem. Centre for Health Research and Practice, University of Ballarat, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Jorm, A.F., Wright, A. and Morgan, A.J. 2007. Where to seek help for a mental disorder?National survey of the beliefs of Australian youth and their parents. MJA, Volume 187 Number 10. Read More