Opinion
Maths, English, Mental Health – why schoolkids need a new subject
Dr Addie Wootten
Smiling Mind CEOWhat if there was an opportunity to radically reduce the number of people experiencing mental health and wellbeing challenges? I believe we have that opportunity right now, and it would reward us for generations to come.
Focusing on improving mental wellbeing early in life can reduce the prevalence of mental illness by a factor of eight. That means if we work hard during childhood to build skills and strategies and ensure kids are feeling supported, connected and safe, we could see eight times fewer people experiencing mental illness later in life.
Educating children about their mental wellbeing is key to long-term health.Credit: iStock
In my years of working as a clinical psychologist, I learnt that our mental health is complex and multi-faceted. Sitting across from broken adults with unfulfilled potential who are struggling through life was heartbreaking, the all-consuming dark cloud above them a sobering reminder that our mental health underpins everything we rely on in life. It is the very fabric of our society.
Our experiences during childhood lay the foundations for us into the future. Fifty per cent of all adult mental illness is onset before the age of 14. Alarmingly, 70 per cent of the most common presentations to paediatricians in Australia are for mental health concerns. Nevertheless, more than half of children experiencing mental health challenges are not currently receiving professional help.
Time and time again during my clinical years, I was prompted to consider the different trajectories that life could have taken for many people had they been equipped with the right skills or supports when they were children. The early years are critical. Waiting for mental illness to manifest in adults is sending our children and young people on paths for life that evidence shows can largely be avoided.
We’ve heard about rising rates of mental illness and suicide for the past decade. Our acute services are overwhelmed and stretched beyond breaking point and those seeking help, their families and clinicians have been left to navigate this environment. This is clear across all age groups but no more so than for Australian children and young people.
Recent data indicates a 50 per cent increase in disorders such as social anxiety and ADHD in the past two years for children aged six to 12. Our psychologists are hamstrung by waitlists. One in three are simply unable to take on new clients – a stark contrast to pre-pandemic times when that number was only one in 100. To say the system is bursting at the seams is an understatement.
Mental wellbeing isn’t just something that develops over time. A child needs the right balance of structure, support, learning opportunities and challenge to develop those skills that underpin mental wellbeing and resilience. We must consider it as a crucial development focus – as we do reading, writing and arithmetic.
This transformative approach isn’t radical or new. Our paediatric colleagues and early years educators have been working in this way for years. Although these pockets of work are good, the approach needs to be rolled out across the spectrum of services to have any sustained impact. It requires significant investment from policymakers to ensure every child has access to what they need to build strong emotional wellbeing.
If we could prevent even a small proportion of the almost half of Australians destined for mental health challenges as adults, we could significantly change the experience of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people.
While so much has improved around the stigma associated with mental health, it seems we’re still wedded to the notion that mental illness or mental health challenges only need to be addressed when the problem is visible or critical – when problems are seen. This needs to change. We need to act much earlier to build mental wellbeing and prevent mental illness.
Through years of research, we know how to give young Australians a fighting chance to become resilient, mentally healthy humans. The only question is, what are we waiting for? Smiling Mind and others are calling for action and this starts with a petition to create a federal minister for children.
Dr Addie Wootten is chief executive of Smiling Mind, a not-for-profit web and app-based meditation program developed by psychologists and educators to encourage mindfulness.