Mahatma Duck,
You carry out parrot-like prattling.
You try and disguise your ignorance.
You believe there are inequities and deficiencies in adolescent mental health services.
You have failed completely.
You believe there are burdens placed upon families of mentally ill adolescents.
You believe there were no mentally ill children before second-wave feminism or deinstitutionalisation.

Repeated name-calling and making generalised maligning inferences about someone is a form of “bullying”, and if such bullying is being carried out on a young person (eg in the schoolyard, at sports etc) then it can be quite distressing for them. The authors have not mentioned this, nor have they really mentioned many other causes for mental or emotional problems in young people.

You have not mentioned bullying as being a potential problem either, probably because you carry out so much of it yourself, through repeated flaming, name-calling and making maligning statements about other posters, and about 80% of your posts are normally taken up with this.

I have read over the years of various accounts of the effectiveness of mental health work, and I think it true to say that mental health treatment is not an exact science by any means. The success rate is often not much more than reading a self-help book, and prescribing drugs etc seems to be of little use in many cases, and can have many detrimental side-effects.

The authors want teachers to become more involved, but we are seeing so many children turned out of the school system hardly able to read or write, so it is questionable as to whether teachers would be al that useful in identifying or treating mental illness.

Even a good mental health worker could only treat the symptoms at best, but seldom fix the underlying problems.

If the authors want to spend more of the taxpayers money, they would have to say exactly how, when, where and why, or give some type of a guarantee that what they intend to do with the taxpayer’s money will actually work, and not be a waste of the taxpayer’s money.

I work for a child and youth mental health service. While they struggle with many issues such as identity, family, relationships, community and mental health our young clients are often seen in isolation for therapy with minimal involvement with family. Across the spectrum of mental illness, if as a therapist you are asking people to change or cope it is my opinion that family is key to this as a goal. Transition from a child service to an adult service should be coordinated and facilitated with all stakeholders involved. I think it is not a matter of throwing more money at the problem but facilitating a smooth transition and asking adult services to consider the developmental needs of their younger clients. Perhaps this could be achieved by a measured transition to an adult service with input from family, friends,mental health workers on both sides of the fence and of course the young person themselves to set reasonable goals and expectations for the type of service they want and have a right to expect. The system is not perfect and there is a lack of social justice at times but unless people advocate for themselves or have advocates systems won't change. Community and client education about there rights to service and responsibilities they have to themselves and others may also assist. All of this is off the top of my head, I am optimistic and believe that resignation to poor service serves among other things to perpetuate it.

What are the underlying causes of mental illness amongst young people?

As a young person - twenty years old - I feel that my own mental illness (an anxiety disorder) stems from three things: experimentation with illicit drugs; pressure from peers to be greedy & "successful" in a material form; and a lack of ethical intsruction from role models within the Australian community. Feeling disenfranchised leads to depression. Feeling confused and conflicted about one's own values and how they fit into mainstream society can lead to anxiety.

Inside my family unit growing up, certain ethical ideals and behaviours were developed, however the shock of the "real world" - the experience of leaving home, going to Uni and working various jobs to survive - triggered a mental/nervous breakdown. I felt at the time that there was no infrastructure in place to support me - basically I felt that my community had been "swallowed whole" by the interests of commercial and corporate enterprise. Interests which did not care if I lived or died. I had a serious case of disillusionment. Most uni-students do - but coupled with paranoid delusions - I found living my own life dangerous and untenable, untill I finally admitted that I needed help.

What I would like to do for other kids who may suffer like I have suffered, is simply to remind them that "community" still exists in Australia. People still live within ethical codes and it is OK to trust people and strangers. We do not have to be isolated from one another. And "say no" to drugs.